Just Dippity Do It!

By Lori Ferraro

Back in the day our hair gel options were endless…tubes of Dep, L’oreal Studio Fix and LA Looks covered drug store shelves.



I was a certified gel junkie, and only one reigned supreme due to its glue-like texture.

Two words: DIPPITY-DO.

My ‘do needed some Do…that’s fer sure.

“For all the crazy looks inside of you, Dippity-Do it!

That commercial brings back huge memories of huge hair — the jingle will forever be in my brain. I loved the edgy, new wave-y actors in this ad, especially the red haired girl and her cute curly bangs, and how the guy was transformed into a spikey haired leather-jacket-wearing-punk at the end.

Because this stuff could DO IT ALL.

The commercial shows Dippity-Do in tubes but I remember it in the early 80s coming in a big ‘ol tub that you unscrewed. Nothing like reaching into a container of aqua green, cold goop first thing in the morning! The lid to the jar was always sticky with product, as I would try to screw the lid back on with a handful of hair gel.

Dippity Do

Dippity-Do would make my naturally curly hair extra crunchy – there was no danger of any boy ever running his fingers through my locks. This gel did stave off the humidity and the frizz factor which in Tampa, Florida is really saying something. But again, Dippity-Do made the curl crunch factor go off the charts.

I remember marveling at how I could take the tub and turn it upside down and not a drop of it would fall out. The consistency should have given me some sort of clue as to the incredible power it would have.

Dippity-Do would make my naturally curly hair extra crunchy – there was no danger of any boy ever running his fingers through my locks. This gel did stave off the humidity and the frizz factor which in Tampa, Florida is really saying something. But again, Dippity-Do made the curl crunch factor go off the charts.

I remember marveling at how I could take the tub and turn it upside down and not a drop of it would fall out. The consistency should have given me some sort of clue as to the incredible power it would have.

Dippity-Do has been around forever…women in the ‘60s used Dippity-Do Setting Lotion to set their curlers at night before going to bed.

The last time I used it was in college — I was in a play where my hair had to look wet and be slicked straight back (which as you can imagine, was extremely attractive.) I knew just what gel to reach for, the one and only product that could get the job done.

I dippity-did it.

And it was just as gluey as I remembered; my hair didn’t budge. It remained in a helmet-like state for the two plus hours I needed it to.

‘Ol reliable…

If I can still find it in the screw top tub I’d give it another try. It would be awesome to have some big, crunchy curls again for old time’s sake.

Author: Lori Ferraro

Lori is a writer and actor living in Portland, OR. Her website, Drawn to the 80s, is where her 5 year old draws the greatest music hits of the 1980s. She is a blogger for The Huffington Post and her own blog, Once Upon a Product, is where she writes about important things like beauty products, music, her obsession with Mick Jagger and of course...the 80s.

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