Should You Get A Perm?

When we say perm, what comes to mind? Crunchy corkscrews? A slightly kinky, dry 'do? Well, that might have been true of the perms of the 1980s, but today's perms are far more glamorous - which is exactly why you should think about taking the plunge! You can get everything from gorgeous Hollywood curls to beachy waves and everything in between. Just show your stylist a photo of the style you'd like to emulate and they should be able to copy it - it's actually that simple!

Unfortunately, though, the amount of people that think of "perm" and immediately link it with awful, awful, awful styles and hair that's in even worse condition means that hardly anyone even thinks that salons do perms anymore. But they do. Oh yes, they do.  How do you think the celebs have gorgeous waves year round? Yep, they have help from stylists, but when their hair looks perfect when they nip to the shops it isn't only due to a combination of genetics and a stylist - it's due to a perm!

So How Does Perming Work?

Perms are called perms because they are just that - permanent.

If you follow the instructions given to you by the salon, using color safe shampoo and conditioner and using heated appliances as rarely as you can (which, if you've had a perm because you want wavy hair, why are you straightening it?), it can last for even longer.

The general process of a perm involves rolling the hair up into curls, pinning it into place to hold the roll, then setting it with chemicals of some sort. The size of the wave and the set of the curl depends largely upon how tight the roll is and the size of the curling rods used, and the chemicals used will dictate how the end result feels.

The perming process works like this.

See Also: What You Need To Know About Permanent Hair Straightening

The medulla is made up of salt bonds, hydrogen bonds and disulfide bonds. Disulfide bonds are what gives your hair a wet texture when its wet - and these are the bonds that change during the perm. Disulfide bonds are broken by water fairly easy, and when wet hair is wrapped around a perming rod and chemicals applied, those bonds are "reset" to that shape, and when the hair is released from the rods, the weight of it will pull the curl, resulting in a wave rather than a tight corkscrew. Smaller rods are used for smaller, tighter curls, and larger rods for larger, loose waves. Old '70s style perms were created with a lot of chemicals and some very thin perming rods, whereas the newer perms use larger, softer rods and gentler chemicals, resulting in a much more natural finish that is far gentler on hair.

Who Can Have A Perm?

Virtually anyone can have a perm. But because of the chemicals used, it's generally recommended that people with natural hair, or hair that has not been overly colored or processed avoid perms - simply because those chemicals don't interact particularly well with the chemicals already present in hair, which could result in hair breaking, snapping and straight up dissolving.

Your stylist should either take a hair history to check what you've done - or had done - to your hair in the past, or do a strand test to determine whether or not you'll be suitable. Generally, if your hair is fairly soft and manageable and you haven't had any major dye jobs over the past year you should be just fine. In the vast majority of circumstances, especially if you've either never had your hair dyed or treated or if you've had it dyed and treated a lot you should always go to a salon for a perm.

If you are going to use a home kit, do your best to get someone to come and do it for you instead of attempting to do it yourself!

Types of Perms

There are a huge number of perms, but all you really need to know is the type of look you want - big loose Hollywood waves from the root to tips, beachy curls that start at the mid-lengths, tight curls from the bottom to the top or permed roots that give body and lift everyday but no added shape to the lengths, reducing the need to blow dry - whatever it is, make sure you know it and can describe it to your stylist. You don't need to know all of the technical terms and learning them could do you a disservice, as some places use different terminology and so you could find yourself asking for something that you really, really don't want.

Looking After a Perm

Looking after a perm is actually really easy. You shouldn't get it wet for at least three days following the perm - just use dry shampoo to keep your hair grease-free. After that, you should wash it as infrequently as you can get away with - not only because you don't want to wash away all of the chemicals keeping the perm in place, but also because you don't want to wash away the style. Washing it too often also strips out the natural oils, which means that it'll get greasy more quickly and you'll then need to wash it more often, which creates a vicious circle!

See Also: How To Tame Curly Hair

Not good. Use color safe shampoo and conditioner, and use only the smallest amount of conditioner that you can get away with - again, it weighs hair down, which will pull out the curl.

Happy hair days, ladies!