DOWN · Straightment · for men
Takes the fight out. Leaves the hair.
Bulk, frizz and the sides that stick out, calmed down so the hair falls where your barber put it. Not poker-straight. Not shiny. Just yours, on a good day.
- 1–2 hrsin the chair; short hair is quick
- Naturalfinish, never polished
- 2–3 monthson a short cut, with no line
He just didn't want to look rebellious
Straightment Demi · ↓ DOWN TREATMENT · c7 → s2 · from the archive, Nov 2025
Watch on YouTube →Which one, and who decides
On men I use Straightment Demi or Straightment Permanent. I choose which one, on the day, with your hair in my hands. You don't have to name the chemical. That's my job, and the price is the men's price whichever I use.
Straightment Demi takes out the bulk and softens the curl; on men the win is almost always bulk rather than curl. Straightment Permanent is for strong curl: 80%+ of the curl out, for good on the hair it treats.
Only the sides misbehaving? That's a smaller job: the sides only, sometimes called a down perm.
What it actually does
- It reduces bulk, not identity. The hair stops fighting the cut, the sides lie in and the crown behaves. You keep looking like yourself.
- Volume down 60–80%, frizz down 80–90%, on the kind of hair men usually bring me.
- It works with your cut. Short hair is denser at the crown and cut to a shape, so it's treated to sit inside that shape, not to hang.
- No grow-out stage. You cut every few weeks, so the treated hair leaves your head before a line can form.
I get it. I've done it for years.
I've been doing this on men since 1991: every hair type, every problem. I've done so many that I usually know what you want before you've started talking.
You've probably seen it on someone else and thought: I want that. You've probably also told yourself it'll look done, it'll smell, it's for women, your mates will notice, you haven't got the time. I've heard every one of those, more than once. None of them should stop you.
It's easier than you think. You sit down, you tell me what annoys you about your hair, I sort it, and you get on with your day.
I stop short. On purpose.
Every man who sits down here gets the same instruction from me before he gives me his: this has to look like your hair. Not treated hair, not styled hair. Your hair, on a day when it happened to behave.
Shiny, flat, uniform hair is the failure mode in men's work, and avoiding it is most of the skill. So I stop short. I leave a bit of texture and a bit of movement, and I stop well before it reads as a treatment.
You can always come back and have it taken further. You cannot un-flatten hair that has been overdone, and every man who has ever been overdone remembers it.
What it costs your hair, and what you get back
It works inside the hair, not on the surface. That's exactly why it keeps working between haircuts when product gives up by eleven.
Done right, on hair that can take it, it doesn't wreck it. On a short cut, whatever it costs the hair is gone with your next few haircuts. Bleached or very fragile hair changes the answer, sometimes to a lighter strength, sometimes to no, and you hear that before anything is mixed.
In the chair
Read and clarify
Pattern, frizz, damage and history, then a clarifying wash. Product build-up is heavier on short hair than most men realise.
Apply and develop
Section by section, timed to the hair. Short hair develops faster, which is part of why the appointment is short.
Dry and direct
Dried in with direction: the sides in, the crown down, the top where your cut wants it. This is where the result is decided.
The iron
Thin sections, controlled heat. On short hair this is precise work close to the scalp.
Home
I tell you when your first wash is, and you get on with your day.
Who it suits, and who it does not
- Ideal: medium to thick wavy or curly hair worn short, where cutting it shorter has made it worse, not better.
- Very good: tight curl and Afro texture where the complaint is bulk and drying time, and grey that has gone wiry.
- Usually no: badly damaged hair, or when a cut is the real answer. If that's you, I'll say so.
What it costs
Men's StraightmentDOWN · Demi or Permanent, I choose which
- Top only, short£139.95
- All over, short£169.95
- All over, 4–8 in£219.95
- All over, 8–14 in£279.95
Before you book (optional)
- Online consultation (questions and photos, then I call you)£9.95
- In-person consultation£74.95
- Consultation in the chair on the dayIncluded
Prices come straight from the online booking system.
Questions men ask
Will it look flat?
No. Flat, shiny hair is the failure mode in men's work, so I stop short on purpose.
How long does it last?
Around two to three months on a short cut, because your haircuts take the treated hair away. No line.
Can my barber still fade it?
Yes. Clippers don't care.
What if only my sides stick out?
Then it's a smaller job: the sides only, sometimes called a down perm.
Does it smell?
On the day, yes. It clears.
Straight talk before you book
- It'll smell on the day. Heat plus chemistry plus whatever's already in your hair. It clears.
- A grey blend from the barber can warm or lift. You hear it from me before, not after.
- Your barber can still fade it. Clippers don't care.
- Bleached? Then it's a lighter strength, a not yet, or a no.
Don't cook your hair.
More for men
As seen in
All press →Not ready? Fair enough.
Online consultation £9.95 from anywhere, or in person £74.95.
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