Actress Su Shwun Let sports stylishly straightened hair.

ALTHOUGH some local beauty experts predict that hairstyle trends could change soon, stylish Yangon girls still prefer straight hair to perms.

Most hairdressers in the city say they provide hair-straightening services to customers every day, but only get a few people who want perms.

“I don’t give perms very often,” said hairstylist Ko Star of 14th Street Salon, “but every day I get two or three customers who want their hair straightened, which takes about six hours.”

“Straight hairstyles look good on everyone and are easy to maintain, so you don’t have to spend much time on them,” he said. “And straight hair goes with any kind of fashion.”

Ko Star said perms, on the other hand, are only appropriate for a certain kind of girl.

“The structure of face is very important to look good with a perm, and girls with curly hair also need to care about fashion and about looking beautiful and smart, otherwise she’ll always look messy,” he said.

Ma San San Myint of S & S Hair Salon also said her hair-straightening customers far outnumber perm clients.

“Straightening hair only requires one treatment, but perms require care and more visits to the hairdresser,” she said.

“I always tell my customers about the advantages and disadvantages of perms before I provide the treatment,” said Ma San San Myint. “They agree that perms look attractive but often change their minds when they find out how much work is involved. Some customers even come back and get their permed hair straightened because they don’t have time to follow the dos and don’ts of taking care of the perm.”

Straight versus perm debate aside, both hairdressers agreed that looking smart was just as much about learning the art of picking the right accessories from head to toe as it was about picking the right hairstyle.