Why Men Are Getting Perms Again
A note on the word “perm”: everywhere in this post, a perm means adding wave or curl. In much Black-hair usage “perm” means a chemical relaxer, which is a straightening service - the opposite direction. If that is what you are looking for, start with our straightening guide instead.
If you had told a barber in 2015 that men would be booking perms in numbers a decade later, you would have got a laugh. The word still carried the 1980s with it - tight, uniform, faintly comic. That is not what anyone is asking for now.
The service being booked today is a soft one. It is meant to look like your hair simply grew that way, which is a harder thing to do than a tight curl and a very different conversation in the chair. If you want the mechanics of how it works, that is on our classic perm guide; this piece is about why so many men are suddenly having it done.
WHAT IS ACTUALLY DRIVING IT
Three things, and they reinforce each other.
The aesthetic shift: The sleek, flat styles that dominated the early 2010s have given way to texture and movement, and a perm delivers that on hair that will not hold it otherwise. Salon coverage through 2026 has been consistent on this point: the modern men’s perm is deliberately undone, and stylists describe clients asking for results that read as natural rather than styled.
Korean influence: Korean-style perms have been standard in East Asia for years, using digital and cold wave techniques that produce a softer, more natural result than a traditional Western rod perm, and they have been filtering into UK salons over the past few years. If you have seen a men’s cut with loose, effortless waves and wondered how it holds, that is often what you were looking at.
Time-saving practicality: A perm gives fine or straight hair something to grip. Men who were spending ten minutes every morning trying to make their hair do something are, in effect, buying that back.
WHAT THE BOOKING DATA SHOWS
Fresha’s analysis of UK hair and barber bookings, comparing January to May 2026 against the same period in 2025, puts texture services broadly up: curly haircuts rose 13.1% nationally, and hair consultations - usually the first step before a significant change - rose 14.7%. Search interest in male perms has risen alongside the wider trend.
Manchester is the standout in that data rather than London: hair appointments there rose 28.6% year-on-year per active provider, with the number of active hair businesses on the platform up 36.8%.
Social media gets credited for a lot of this, and there is clearly something in it - the look travels through short video faster than through any salon window. But it is worth being precise: the trend is well documented, while the specific claim that a single platform drove it is not something I would state as fact.
WHAT IT ACTUALLY INVOLVES
Expect two to three hours in the chair, depending on length and what you are after. Your hair is wound onto rods, a lotion is applied that breaks the internal bonds, and a neutraliser locks them into the new shape. It works at room temperature. Nothing gets hot, and you are not attached to a machine - that belongs to a different era entirely.
Rod sizing: The size of the rod decides the result. Large rods give a soft bend and volume, which is what most men are after; that is closer to a body wave than to a perm in the traditional sense. Smaller rods give a defined curl.
Length requirements: Hair has to wrap around the rod at least two and a half times for a proper wave to form, and on a large rod that needs a reasonable amount of hair to work with. Very short back and sides with a longer top is workable - the top is what gets permed. A full crop generally is not.
WHO IT SUITS, AND WHO IT DOES NOT
Ideal candidates: It works best on hair that is straight or slightly wavy, in reasonable condition, and long enough on top to wrap. Fine hair often benefits most, because the gain in apparent thickness is the most visible change.
Absolute dealbreakers: It is refused outright on bleached hair. Bleaching permanently changes the bonds a perm needs to work with, and no product bridges that. If you have gone platinum or heavily lightened, the answer is no, and any stylist telling you otherwise is one to leave. The same applies to hair that has had a hydroxide relaxer.
Everything else gets tested first. It takes a few minutes and it is the difference between a good result and an expensive haircut.
WHAT IT COSTS AND HOW LONG IT LASTS
Three to six months for a soft wave, longer for a tighter one, growing out gradually rather than falling out on a particular day. Price depends on length and on how much of the work is in the wrap - current prices are always on the booking page.
The maintenance is real but small: a product in damp hair, scrunch, leave it alone. If you brush it dry it will go fluffy, which is the single most common complaint and the easiest to avoid.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Will it look like an eighties perm? Not unless you ask for one. The rod size decides that, and the modern version uses much larger rods for a loose bend rather than a tight curl. Bring a photograph - it does more work than any description.
How short can my hair be? The hair needs to circle the rod about two and a half times, so a longer top with short sides is usually fine and a full crop usually is not. A stylist can tell you in about ten seconds.
Can I get one if my hair is bleached? No. This one is not a judgement call. Bleach permanently converts the bonds a perm needs, and proceeding would break the hair rather than curl it.
Does it damage your hair? It is a real structural change, so it has a cost. Whether that cost is acceptable depends almost entirely on what condition your hair is in beforehand, which is what the consultation is for.
How soon after the perm can I wash my hair? Do not wash your hair for at least 48 hours after the service, and ideally 72. The rebuilt bonds need that time to harden fully; washing sooner can drop the wave permanently. The same window applies to heavy brushing, tight styling and swimming.
What happens when it grows out? It softens gradually and the new growth comes in straight. There is no hard line the way there is with colour, which is one reason the loose version has become the popular one.