We are of the belief that men in the gulf should embrace their natural curls, however western standards may suggest otherwise. Let's explore this further.

Why this traditional view of beauty for men?

The beauty standards for men and equally women have increased with the popularity of social media and mega influencers. The beauty standards are now centred around a man’s physique and ruggedness through a traditional lens of perfectly straight brown or blonde locks, particularly in the western part of the world.

Male beauty standards in the Middle East

In the UAE it is extremely common to see a male salon include a full grooming package which many males avail – including a cut for both the hair and beard and shape up where preferred, also included is a facial, an idea that we absolutely love. There is no reason a male cannot indulge in similar beauty treatments to women. Looking more specifically at the hair aspect of the treatments, treatments include conditioning, detoxing and hair loss related treatments have become available. 1847 for men demonstrates this perfectly with a wide range of treatments exclusively for males.

That level of beauty standard is admirable as it shows there is an importance placed on male grooming. The typical standard of beauty in the middle east is varied which displays accommodation for different features including hair types – from curly hair to straight hair, long beards to short beards, there is no one-size fits all.

This representation exists as Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and other Indigenous groups naturally exhibit wavy to curly hair patterns.

Examples of representation include (from left to right) Actor Aviv Alush of Israeli heritage, Ebraheem Al Samadi of Kuwaiti heritage, from popular reality TV show – Dubai Bling, Actor Ramy Youssef of Egyptian heritage.

Why is curly hair representation important, particularly in the male beauty industry?

Statistics show that well over half of the world’s population has textured hair – absolutely incredible but yet still this market is still underserved and underrepresented. The same is true specifically for the Arab population, with over 60% of Arabs with textured hair according to this study. Whilst textured hair is the overarching term, textured hair refers to hair that is not straight in structure stemming from the root of the hair – the hair follicle. Textured hair includes wavy, curly, coily and kinky hair textures.

Traditionally, the media has always pushed straight hair in our faces as the beauty standard not only for females but males too. Thankfully, we have seen progress in this area though slow, as undoubtably there is still a long way to go but with continuous efforts to encourage natural beauty, we will start to see better representation not just in the media but also in corporate environments. What we would love to see is curly hair move from being a "trend" or "what is in style" to becoming an accepted global beauty standard.

Once we see more representation of males with curly hair, it’s only natural that the beauty standards for women and children adjust and follow suit. After all, we are simply advocating for people to embrace their natural beauty features. This is not to suggest textured hair should not be cared for and maintained in the same way straight textures are, quite the contrary, when we think of preserving nature, for example, we think of ways to care, protect and nurture it. The same applies to naturally curly hair.

Are curly hair products solely targeted at women?

Traditionally the beauty market has placed women as the focal point of beauty with long straight luscious locks. Over the last few years, there has been a considerable shift and we believe that’s starting to become evident in the market for curly hair products. 

A woman's hair is known as her crowning glory and as a result the primary market for beauty. However, for men, hair can also be viewed as a feature of beauty. Most especially beautiful God given features like natural curls.

Curly hair products are not designed with a gender in mind, they are designed and formulated with a hair type and texture in mind, as such we would go as far as saying there is no such thing as curly hair products for men. However, marketing of curly hair products has been centred around women, hence this could discourage males from embracing their natural curls.

Though, what we have witnessed is mass market beauty brands continue to do a great job of creating the illusion that male and women require different hair products to do the same job. Upon reviewing several mass market haircare products, we see the product formulation fundamentally is the same, the only key and notable difference are the fragrance notes.

Let's think about it most natural hair ingredients, take a herb like lavender or peppermint as examples, these herbs do not have a gender, they are included in formulations based on their ability to nourish the hair or target a hair concern and achieve a desired outcome. 

With many curly hair products the scents are typically neutral, so can be used for both males and females. Ecoslay's Jello Shot Curl Definer is a perfect example, here you see the results on a male and female with curly hair. This product has a light strawberry scent that is not overpowering.

You may be thinking, their curls look good because of their styling routines. Whilst this is partially true, this cannot be achieved without the right products. Influencers have and continue to be a great way to promoting natural curls on both males and females. For males who love their natural curls but don't know how to best accommodate their curls into their style, the video below does a great job of walking you through age appropriate curly hair styles. 

To summarise this interesting yet somewhat sensitive topic of discussion, we reflect on the progress albeit slow progress with regards to the shift in beauty standards for males and females globally. More specifically, noting that the UAE market demonstrates a varied beauty standard despite the majority of the population being expats, traditional features that are known to people of Middle Eastern backgrounds such as curly hair are being embraced, however there is room for greater representation. With increased accessibility to products suited to curly hair, males in the gulf region can now maintain and flaunt their natural curls with ease.

At Emerson, we serve both males and females with textured hair, our goal as always remains providing you with the best of curly hair products and education, so your natural curls can flourish!