The year is 2009. Obama is president. Taylor Swift just released Fearless. Everyone plays Farmville on Facebook. Jacob and Isabella top the baby name charts. And Jersey Shore, a reality show following eight guys and gals as they get messy drunk, produce stinking clouds of cologne, and slowly nurse future melanomas, is an MTV hit.
Of course I watched, mainly so I could debrief post-episode with a family friend I thought was cute. (Several years later we would go on one frozen yogurt date and make out in his parked car, the groundwork for which I am certain was laid by our mutual interest in TV trash.) Despite the fact that Jersey Shore cast members lived like unhinged frat bros, each kept a strangely regimented personal care routine: they were tanned, toned, and hairless as sphynx cats, save the hair on their heads which they fastened into whimsical silhouettes. Particularly noteworthy was DJ Pauly D’s spiky ‘do—I once tried to replicate it on my younger brother, and used so much gel a baseball cap could hover delicately atop the plasticized hairs.
Post-Shore, DJ Pauly D (who may or may not be a practicing DJ) was the first cast member to receive his own spin-off and later appeared on three separate dating shows. He never abandoned his signature hairstyle, so I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that a decade later he’s forayed into branded goop. A couple days ago I received an email alerting me that Pauly D’s limited edition collab with Göt2b, the repetitively named Glued Styling Spiking Glue, was BACK in stock on Amazon. Feeling the email’s urgent tone I shared the news immediately.
Suddenly, my Instagram DMs were flooded. In addition to keeping Pauly D’s famous spikes in place, it turned out the gel was one of those niche beauty hacks you only stumble upon once in a blue mascara. My friend Kira, a makeup artist who I met in aesthetics school, shared that “this bad boy is made to party” when it comes to brushing up thick brows. Another beauty pal told me she “heard this product actually goes OFF for hair and brows.” But the nail in the coffin was a recommendation from MUA Mollie Gloss, whose opinion on makeup I trust like gospel. “It’s the best brow gel EVER,” she wrote, “better than soap ‘cause it actually stays.”
To give your eyebrows the signature Pauly D treatment, apply a little gel on a spoolie and drag the hairs up. That’s it! But do be aware, if they suddenly request vodka shots and a trip to Karma, wash off immediately.
—Ali Oshinsky
Shop Göt2b Glued Limited Edition Spiking Glue by DJ Pauly D:
Photo via MTV
