If you’ve ever watched a light drizzle threaten your freshly blown-out hair on an autumn morning, you can thank him. Hairdresser John Frieda passed away at 75, leaving behind far more than a famous name: he was responsible for one of the most widely used hair-care innovations in the world.

Freshly blown hair threatened by light autumn drizzlePin
A light drizzle can undo a fresh blowout — the problem Frieda set out to solve.

He’s remembered for cutting his teeth in the heart of Swinging London, marrying pop star Lulu, and in 1976 creating the now-legendary short hairstyle for Joanna Lumley on The New Avengers, which drew crowds to his salon. Society pages will note that clients included Lady Diana and Twiggy. But his most transformative contribution didn’t occur in upscale salons so much as on the shelves of mass-market stores.

In the 1980s, Frieda wanted his clients to keep salon-fresh results at home. Yet one persistent enemy stood in the way: humidity, which could turn the neatest blowout into a halo of frizz. The answer emerged after he teamed up with entrepreneur Gail Federici, who knew the problem well. Together they developed a serum that smooths strands and shields hair from moisture. By the late 1980s Frizz Ease was born, and by 1990 the product had broken into the U.S. market. It was a bold move—charging nearly £6 for a small bottle at a time when supermarket hair-care items were far cheaper—but consumers embraced it and the product became a sensation.

Hair-care bottles displayed on retail store shelvesPin
Frizz-fighting treatments moved from salon counters to supermarket shelves in the 1980s.

Frieda’s true stroke of genius was refusing to keep the product exclusive to salons. He put it straight onto retail shelves. The launch was modest: the line appeared in just 40 Boots shops across the UK. Six months later, it was available in more than 1,000 outlets. The risk was clear—at £5.99 a bottle, Frizz Ease was considerably pricier than typical supermarket hair treatments—but shoppers were willing to pay for a reliable way to control their frizz. That small bottle demonstrated that a professional-grade hair treatment could earn a place in everyday shopping carts.

More than thirty-five years on, even after Frieda’s business was sold to Japanese company Kao for $450 million, the signature formula has remained on supermarket shelves. For millions of women it’s still a go-to lifesaver costing under €15: two pumps into the palms and worked through damp hair, and the threat of rain no longer inspires dread.