Yeah, 'bodywaves' are the go these days, apparently. 'Perms' are what the nannas get, with the tight little curls on top of their head - if you have longer hair and want wavy/curly, ask for a bodywave and consult with your hairdresser to get the right amount/size of curl.
My hair is waist-length and extremely thick so once I drop baby #2 I'll be going to get it done because I looove having wavy hair (not curly, just nice soft waves) but no matter what I do, hot tongs, heated rollers, velcro rollers etc, it just doesn't hold for more than ten minutes (and I cannot use a can of hairspray every morning because I hate that crusty, product-saturated look and feel)... and I'm flat-out getting in a 5-minute shower in the mornings (I have to put DD in her cot so she can't get into mischief) so I just do not have the time to sit there playing with styling implements for two hours to get the style I want.

It's gonna cost me though, my hairdresser (who is super-cheap, she works from home and cuts my hair for around $15 when I'd pay around $80 at a salon) has quoted me $240 purely because of the length