Hello I’m Agent A and I’m back in Beauty Undercover to try out a relatively new trend for Men… MALE PERM!
When most men think about Perm, they tend to think:
- I don’t want my hair to turn out curly
- Noooo I don’t want to look gay!
- Are you sure its for me?
Until… they realize that many male stars from Korea to Hong Kong and the US actually perm their hair as well!
Bradley Cooper
Korean Artiste Kim Soo Hyun
Hong Kong Artiste Raymond Lam
Not someone to shy away from new and trendy hairstyles, I am really excited to try out a Male Perm. I eventually discovered stylish Air Salon and decided to go ahead with it!
Background
I’ve been sporting the undercut style for the past few months which meant that I had mid length hair on the top and short hair on the sides. The last time I cut my hair was 3 months ago, back in mid-December.
Experience
The appointment was set one week in advance without much hassle. Upon arrival at the appointed time I was immediately welcomed in and presented with hot tea and a warm towel.
After a short wait – while enjoying Aveda tea – Vin my stylist for the day came over to talk to me while taking a look at my hair condition. As I have not coloured or permed my hair before, no treatment was required before the perm. Vin was very detailed in examining the condition of my hair, explaining in detail about both the health of my hair and scalp. I had thinning hair so Vin helpfully gave me advice on how to take greater care of my scalp!
It was reassuring to be in the hands of Vin, a hairstylist who understands the needs of his customers and whose goal is to ensure that the hairstyles he creates are easy to maintain so that his clients can achieve the same look they see at the salon, back home. I find this philosophy quite impressive.
Very quickly, with his experienced hands, he proceeds to trim my hair and shave the sides. After the quick snip, Vin takes the time to explain why he has chosen a certain cut and to check if I am satisfied with the cut. He also takes great care to make sure that the cut on both sides are balanced; something which may be lacking at not-so-good salons. For the sides, we chose a more gradual cut to give it a fade off look (more visible in the later shots) giving it a cleaner and more natural look without being too edgy.
Next up was to experience the salon’s signature perm, the ultrasonic perm! The ultrasonic perm was chosen as it gives a more natural look while taking a relatively shorter time to perm as compared to traditional hot and cold perm methods. The downside is that the perm does not as long as the traditional perm last (about 3 months for ultrasonic perm). However, this is ideal for males since our hair is short anyway and we are likely to snip off most of the permed hair during 3 months of haircuts anyway.
The process is relatively straight forward with a little pre-perm treatment to give additional protection and keep it looking glossy and natural. It might look like a straightening iron. However, it is cool to the touch and instead, magically vaporizes any water which it comes into contact with! Apparently, this helps nutrients from the pre-perm solution get absorbed by the hair quickly!
And let the curling begin!
Just so you know, it actually feels quite good – like a warm fuzzy feeling – when the curlers were rolled. A little pulling of the hair is expected so do not worry if you feel a controlled pull.
This is quickly followed by some heat treatment to lock in the curls and a second application of the curling solution.
After that a quick wash.
And a haircut to complete the look.
Here’s what I really like about the perm: the amount of maintenance needed is really low. There’s no need to use any comb or curler while blow drying by hair all you need are your fingers, yeh!~
The perm adds a volume to my (thin) hair giving much needed body and the natural looking curls give a little more character to my style.
Verdict
Thanks Vin for the perm!
I really like the perm, and it was definitely worth the try. The resulting hair was just slightly curly and added a lot more volume (and height!) to my hair… something I really love!
Definitely an interesting experience to share with your friends and also colleagues. If you have never done a perm before, I would strongly recommend you give it a try at an experienced place like Air Salon!
(Apparently there are male customers requesting for Male Perm every few days!)
As Air Salon can be really busy at times, we would recommend you to make appointments beforehand especially if you are looking for a specific stylist!
Signing off,
Agent A