My Lifelong Frizz-Ease Addiction

You can tell the exact year I discovered Frizz-Ease by looking at my school portraits. One year there was a mop of curls atop my head; the next there was a shellacked helmet. I'm smiling, bigger than I ever have before, thanks to John Frieda’s famous product. Looking back at that proud moment now, I'm ashamed. Somehow, through the magic of commercials, Tiger Beat, and the cruelty of teenage girls, I had become convinced that my hair was something that needed to be “tamed.” I didn't have curly hair, I had frizz.

Frizz-Ease was launched in 1989, only a few years before I hit puberty, and. The product, a silicone-based potion, promises to turn anyone's tresses into glossy, stick-straight strands or perfectly-formed ramen noodles. The reality, of course, is more complicated.