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!