Permanent in the masculine | And how cool it is!

Emblematic of the 1980s, the perm is once again carving out a place in hair salons, this time mainly among men. Take a look at this obvious trend.

Bacil Marcelo, 27, has long searched for THE magic product that would give his straight hair a little hold. Until he found the solution last year, while browsing social networks: first of all, he needed a perm.

One Saturday morning in February, at the Hair Anatomy studio in Old Montreal, Bacil Marcelo gets curlers applied by hairdresser Jay Alfonso – his third perm since September. Jay will then apply a product to loosen the hair structure, then another to fix it in the curly position. Exactly like we did in the 1980s. “In Toronto, a lot more people are doing it,” says Bacil, who left the Queen City for Montreal last year. Here, I didn’t really know which salon to go to…”

In Quebec, the men’s perm has been gradually taking hold in recent years, according to Jay Alfonso, who makes it his signature hairstyle. “At first I had maybe five customers coming in for it, but now I see new faces every week or two,” he says.

The style mainly appeals to young men, but also many teenagers, who often request the popular cut type (gradient at the bottom of the head, long on top).

Bacil, for his part, today opts for a look halfway between cuts type and mullet – yes, yes, this legendary cut which made Longueuil famous in the 1980s and which is also making a strong comeback.

It’s the versatile side of curly hair that appeals to Bacil, but also its practical side. “We get out of the shower and we’re ready to go,” he sums up. “When you have straight hair like mine, you have to dry it to give it direction, apply the right product, sometimes fix it… With curls, you don’t need to worry,” adds Jay Alfonso , which uses TikTok to promote the trend.

Social media is doing a lot to popularize it, with hairstylists like Jay posting their creations there. TikTokers also post videos of themselves with curlers, “before/after” images or even tips for maintaining curly hair. In short, the hashtag #menperm is trending.

Jay Alfonso attributes the origin of the trend to K-Pop stars in Korea, many of whom have sported curly or wavy hair in the last decade. Naturally curly soccer players, like Neymar or Harvey Elliott, undoubtedly have something to do with it too, as does the actor Timothée Chalamet, standard bearer of neglected curls.

A very “assumed” fashion

At the other end of Highway 20, Sophie Cadorette also sees the trend coming. She is the owner of the Imagin’hair hair salon, in Lévis, and a private hairdressing school. And for three years, she says, 80% of students’ permanent exams have been on young boys.

While she previously did three perms per year, Sophie Cadorette saw up to three clients per week a year, a year and a half ago. “The boys arrived at the salon and, without really knowing how it was done, they asked for “the curly cut,” she recounts with a laugh. You can’t really cut them curly, but you can make them curl! » Again at Christmas, she says, her team put curlers on a dozen teenagers.

It’s very assertive. I thought they were going to be funny with the rollers on their heads, but no, it’s serious. Boys think they are beautiful.

Sophie Cadorette, owner of the Imagin’hair hair salon

She also finds them beautiful: “It gives more polished looks,” she says, pointing out that the curls are looser than they were in the 1980s.

Sophie Cadorette smiles when thinking of her childhood. She and her sister also had a perm in the mid-1980s, and a pretty similar cut, in fact. “It’s proof that we don’t reinvent anything! », says the one who is nevertheless charmed by this return. “It’s fun for guys to have a trend of their own,” she concludes.