Camila Cabello recently stepped off her very first Paris Fashion Week runway, having walked in the L’Oréal Paris Le Défilé fashion show as one of the brand’s famous ambassador faces. In it, she was seen wearing her super-long hair in a windswept, straight style — a departure from the incredible curls she’s been wearing so often recently. And if you’re anything like me, you assumed that those curls are what naturally grows out of the vocalist’s head, enhanced only by a little professional styling and product help for definition. But it turns out, if you’re anything like me, you were wrong.
In a new interview with Refinery29, Cabello admits that, despite her curls looking totally natural, they’re not. No, they don’t come from a curling iron — it’s something quite a bit longer-lasting than that.
“I got a perm, and I’ve never felt more confident,” Cabello told Refinery29. “I actually have straight hair, but I’ve always wanted curls.”
Amazing, right? And you have to admit, your shock can probably be at least partially blamed on the unfair reputation that perms have, conjuring memories of crunchy, crimped ’80s hairstyles. But if celebrities like Cabello and Julianne Hough are any evidence, the salon service has come a very long way, creating incredibly natural-looking and truly enviable curls and waves.
Cabello also shared some great styling advice for anyone with curls similar to hers, whether natural or due to a perm: basically do as little as possible. “I shampoo, condition, use a curl balm, then I just let my hair air-dry,” she told Refinery29. “I never use irons or anything. My trick is to tuck my bangs behind my ears so they get a soft shape and do that whole curtain thing. Like the curls, I feel like myself with my bangs — they just frame my face so well.”
She’s not wrong. And luckily, even with her perm, if she ever feels like wearing her hair straight like in the L’Oréal’s Le Défilé fashion show — and her entire life up until the perm — it’s just a flatiron away.