How Bumble and bumble’s Surf Spray Became the Ultimate Cool-Girl Hair Product

What makes a beauty product transcend all others? Maybe it's the first of its kind, introducing a multi-generational phenomenon. Or perhaps it levels up an entire category with innovation that pushes the boundaries of what's possible. At its core, it's an industry hero that does or will stand the test of time. In Recipe of an Icon , InStyle traces a legendary product's history, evolution, and long-term impact.

Every beauty editor has an origin story. Mine begins with a bottle of Bumble and bumble Surf Spray.

I was recently a guest on the beauty podcast Fat Mascara , and when host Jessica Matlin asked about the first beauty product I ever fell in love with, my answer was instantaneous: Surf Spray.

Growing up on Long Island, Bumble and bumble had this almost mythical status. Long before I became a beauty editor, the brand was already woven into my idea of iconic New York. My mom still loves to tell the story of getting her wedding hair done at their original townhouse flagship on East 56th Street—for free—in the late '80s. (She was going to do it herself, but her friend, who had a connection, called in a favor.)

Two decades later, Surf Spray became my own introduction to the brand. When I got my hands on the unmistakable black matte bottle in the early aughts, I was a teenager cautiously experimenting with—gasp!—embracing my naturally curly hair after years of straightening it into oblivion. The only time I ever liked how it air-dried was after a day at the beach. Call it the Blue Crush effect.

The early aughts were dominated by glossy blowouts and commercials featuring curtains of sleek, flat-ironed hair. Surf Spray offered something different. It felt like it was giving me permission to let my textured hair look like itself—just cooler. As Matlin puts it: "It was the first product created to create that piecey, gritty texture you'd get from hanging out after a day at the beach."

Years later, when I began working on photoshoots and reporting backstage from fashion shows, I realized Surf Spray wasn't just my nostalgic favorite—it was everywhere. It was a hero product in hairstylists' kits, used not only to evoke fresh-out-of-the-Caribbean-sea texture but also to add grit, body, and touchable movement to all kinds of editorial looks.

Twenty-five years after its debut, it has truly stood the test of time. In honor of its anniversary this summer, there's no better moment to look back at how Surf Spray became an icon.

Bumble and bumble Surf Spray $35

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The Origin

Surf Spray began where so many great beauty product ideas do: on the set of a photoshoot. It was 2001 in Tulum, Mexico, and Bumble and bumble's then-artistic director Laurent Philippon noticed that after model Georgina Grenville went for a dip in the ocean, her hair had exactly the kind of texture he had been trying to achieve with products. As Philippon puts it, it set him on a quest "to find that perfect product that would bring grit, separation, and sexiness."

​At the time, no single styling product, at least not one available on shelves, could recreate that effect. "Before Surf Spray, hairstylists would often cocktail their own products to get that sexy, tousled, undone, done hair," says David Hutchinson, senior vice president of marketing for Aveda and Bumble and bumble.

Launched in 2001 in its distinctive black bottle—inspired by a neoprene wetsuit and scuba tank, naturally—Surf Spray turned a frolic in the waves into an everyday styling ritual.

The Innovation

What made Surf Spray different was that it didn't just create texture; it captured a very specific kind of texture. A mood, really. The goal wasn't perfect waves; it was the grit and separation that gives hair an effortless, lived-in vibe.

"It bottled that tousled, just-took-a-dip-in-the-ocean hair that epitomized an era, making it easier for everyone to achieve what had previously only been in the hands of editorial stylists," says Hutchinson. But the appeal extended beyond the look itself, with stylists quickly discovering the formula was as practical as it was aspirational.

It was a magical balance. "From the moment I first used it, I couldn't get over how easy it was to mist through the hair, creating an even application that was never 'wet' but always just right to enhance texture," says Matt King, director of pro education and artistry at Bumble and bumble. The finish, he says, is unlike anything else: "a matte finish that looked like salt water dried in the hair…but soft and touchable."

The Evolution

Surf Spray arrived at a very specific cultural moment. On the heels of '90s minimalism, sleek, polished hair dominated the early 2000s. But as both a product and a burgeoning cultural phenomenon—it felt impossible to pick up a magazine at the time without seeing or reading about it—Surf Spray helped usher in an aesthetic that came to define the Y2K era.

"It was the beginning of It Girls sporting piecey, almost slightly-dirty looking hair, and Surf Spray allowed you to create that gritty, sexy look that everyone was after," says Hutchinson. A precursor to Indie Sleaze, if you will. Think: Kate Moss on the streets of SoHo with her signature bedhead, or M.I.A. thrashing on stage with sweat-dampened waves.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's signature boho bends were another defining example of Surf Spray's cool-girl appeal. Longtime hairstylist Mark Townsend revealed just how central the product was to creating their undone look: "I can't even think of how many bottles of Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray we have gone through over the decades," he told InStyle in 2024.

But Surf Spray can't be tied to a single era. As styling trends have shifted from Y2K to the 2010s through to today, it continues to be a go-to, from Charli XCX's Brat-era waves to Benson Boone's tousled shag. Editorial hairstylist Matt Benns, who works with Charli XCX, credits that staying power to the product's many uses. "Surf Spray is still a product I always reach for backstage because it gives me the most versatility," says Benns. "It creates a bit more definition at the ends of hair, but also grit and texture at the roots when you need volume. And it has a really great grip which allows you to maneuver it into something very quickly."

The enduring appeal isn't lost on Philippon, either. Put simply: "It's just a really sexy product, and I still use it today."

Over the years, Bumble and bumble has also expanded the Surf franchise with additional products—like Surf Infusion , which offers a softer, more conditioning take on beach texture—while staying true to the OG ethos.

"The way stylists and consumers use the product may have varied slightly to reflect the latest hair trends," says Hutchinson, "but the fact that Surf Spray ultimately celebrates and amplifies natural texture speaks to its universal appeal."

The Impact

Over the past 25 years, Surf Spray has become one of those beauty products people vividly remember discovering. For me, it was my introduction to aspirational styling—but more importantly, it was the first thing that made my natural texture feel worth embracing.

It's a sentiment Hutchinson hears often. "We've heard so many stories from stylists about how Surf Spray was one of the first products they ever used," says Hutchinson.

Maybe that's the clearest sign of its staying power: Twenty-five years later, Surf Spray still represents a feeling as much as a finish.

Read the original article on InStyle