My Fluffy Disco Curl Dreams Are All Thanks To This One Product

Like many young girls who grew up in the ‘90s, I had no idea I had wavy hair until I hit high school. Up until that point I would simply brush it post-shower, maybe run a “smoothing” cream through the ends and blast it with a hairdryer (believe me, my technique is nothing worth noting). And to be honest, it wasn’t until my interest in beauty led me to dig into some of the leading heritage brands — the kind of products that would show up in coveted backstage photos at New York Fashion Week with models sitting for hairstylists like Guido, Garren, and of course, Oribe — that I started to understand my texture. So when I was in college, desperately trying to emulate these fantastical updos and styles I saw in magazines, everything changed when Oribe launched his Dry Texturizing Spray in 2010.

It’s a bit ironic really that I wound up becoming a beauty editor since my patience with styling my hair is... diminutive. So any product or tool that requires a whole lot of specialized technique receives a hard “no” from me. My hair styling goals can be best described as quick and dirty — tousled hair, imperfect texture, a bit of frizz, and if I’m feeling feisty, tons of volume. Essentially, everything that Oribe and his co-founder and brand president, Daniel Kaner, had in mind when they launched the brand’s most well known product.

“A lot of editors called him the go-to guy for big hair,” says Kaner when I sit down with him during a recent visit to Los Angeles to celebrate the brand’s latest special edition Dry Texturizing Spray. “[Oribe] was really talented. He could draw, he could sculpt. He created these really robust tools and he didn't like brushing [something like a pomade] through because it left a residue in the hair and it was too gritty. So we created something to his specification in styling.”

Anyone familiar with the Dry Texturizing Spray knows that it’s practically fool-proof to use to obtain that sexy, tousled, voluminous hair a la ‘90s supermodels. It’s much more forgiving than hairspray (which can get sticky fast if you’re not strategic with application) and because it’s both invisible and buildable, you can play around with spritzing different sections of your hair and no one will think that your style is overly “done.”

“It took a long time to get the right mix” says Kaner of the cult-favorite formula. “When Oribe would go out [to shoots], we had such a small crew — it was essentially me — and he would go out and he would test the products on Naomi [Campbell], Cindy [Crawford], Claudia [Schiffer], Kate [Moss]. We were testing lab samples in market. And he really knew what he wanted.”

But just because the founders tested what would soon become their best-selling product on seasoned cat-walkers doesn’t mean that the Dry Texturizing Spray is meant to stay sequestered backstage at fashion shows or photo shoots. “[Oribe] designed it with the consumer in mind, [who] is not going to be able to drag a hair stylist home with her or him, so you don't want them to get in any trouble [with their look].” And since I — being somewhat lackadaisical with my hair styling skills — am basically the target Oribe customer, it’s no surprise that in my lineup of hair products, the Dry Texturizing Spray will always remain front and center.

So, if you’re also on the hunt for ways to get that trendy fluffy hair look (which, not coincidentally, Oribe himself helped popularize in the ‘90s and Y2K era), or you’d like to mimic my preferred look for a big night out — disco pin curls — then check out the steps you’ll need to achieve the style at home. (Hint: it requires refreshingly few steps, if a little bit of arm strength).

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