So, everyone that knows Neal knows that he’s got a hair complex. I have my theories on why he’s so incredibly particular about his hair, but I’ll spare ya the details. Neal’s got a couple of nicknames, but one of them is “Hollywood” bestowed on him by his college friends because of his obsession with is hair.

He doesn’t use gel. He uses hairspray. A lot of it. He used to use some brand that they no longer sell. So he searched the hair product aisle with two main criteria – strong hold and cheap.

For a while he’s been using this:

Yes, you are reading right. He uses a purple bottle of Aquanet. Now, I’m a total sucker for hair bands ( I saw Bon Jovi and Poison in concert), but I don’t necessarily need my husband to take after them. But whatever, I don’t really care.

(Side note: Ferris likes to lick Neal’s hair, and so we have dubbed him “Aquanet breath.”)

OK, so we had friends over Friday, and my friend Michelle snickered when she saw Neal’s bottle in the bathroom.

Then, we went to the in-laws and hung out on Saturday. Neal’s brother is seeing a girl who is a hairstylist. It slipped out that Neal uses Aquanet and she looked positively horrified.

So, Neal ran to the grocery store today. I had some things I needed him to get since we are having friends over. For one recipe, I needed corn syrup.

Neal came home and carried the bags in the house. I unpacked and pulled out a bottle of this:

“What’s this?” I said, holding up the new bottle of hairspray.

“Uhh, ummm,” Neal stammered, grinning sheepishly. “They were having a deal. Buy corn syrup and get a free bottle of hairspray.”

Right…