Chemically-treated curls are back, but did they ever leave?
Beauty trends are like a boomerang—they always come back around. Even the ones you thought were totally done and dusted: pencil-thin brows, mullets, and most recently, the perm. Once a hallmark of the 1980s, perms (short for ‘permanent waves’) were a fixture in Hollywood. Think of Meg Ryan’s bouncy curls in When Harry Met Sally, Jennifer Beals’ shag in Flashdance and the sky-high spirals Dolly Parton sported at just about every point in her career. Iconic, yes, but does it translate 30 plus years later? Sort of. These days, the perm wears a totally new face.
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“There is no question that perms are having a major comeback,” says hairstylist and Mela & Kera founder Jason Lee, who has been wearing a perm since earlier this year. “For decades, people who had curly hair would straighten their hair to feel beautiful, but now wearing your natural curl pattern is widely embraced,” he says. “That movement flipped into a new trend and now those with straighter [texture] want some movement in their hair, driving the comeback of the perm.”
But in South Korea, the perm has never really fallen out of style. K-pop idols have been sporting perms and influencing fans for decades. And as Lee points out, stars like JungKook from BTS are only contributing to the continued popularity of the trend. Even The New York Times took notice, linking its rise to the explosive growth of K-pop culture in North America and the undeniable impact of TikTok. “Korean and Japanese salons have really evolved the perm since the ‘80s,” says Lee. A digital perm, or hot perm, does exist, and if you’re aiming for a more natural or relaxed appearance, many Korean and Japanese salons offer this service. “The difference is that they saturate the hair with a thicker perming solution and then roll the hair into…
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