Once again, Bella Hadid is leading the charge on a trend. But this time, it’s not her shoes or her watch we’re talking about — it’s her hair. In March, the model swapped her straight locks for big, tight curls, a look straight out of the ‘80s. You probably saw the switch-up all over TikTok (or on Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar) and now, there’s no denying: The perm is back in style.
Joining a slew of recently resurrected hair styles like mullets and shags, the perm — popularized in the ‘70s and ‘80s — has a shiny new reputation. The likes of Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski, and Irina Shayk have been photographed rocking newly flowy waves and pin-tight curls. Perms have also reached a new male demographic, thanks largely to their adoption by K-pop stars and Korean actors. And on TikTok, the hashtag #perm boasts over 2 billion views.
It may be a trend, but the perm is anything but new (and in some places, it never went out of style). What is new is how we’re talking about perms in the U.S., and what we’re leaving out of the conversation. Namely: what the term “perm” means, the physical and social toll it can take on the wearer, and, critically, the intersection of race and curly hair.
According to New York-based hair consultant Mickiēla Mbatha, a perm is a “permanent chemical process that manipulates the hair into any curl texture,” from elongated waves to bouncy coils. Mbatha notes that our understanding of perms can differ depending on race and cultural background. For those with naturally straight or even wavy hair (typically non-Black folks) perms are used to add curl. But in the Black community, the term “perm” is often used interchangeably with “relaxer,” a cream or lotion used to straighten the hair.
Four years ago, Quia Bethea walked into a hair salon in Seattle, Washington in search of a perm. She wasn’t looking for curlier hair. She wanted to loosen her 4B hair type to something between a 3A and 3C curl, a straighter texture…
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