7 days ago
Hair Perms Are The Lazy Girl's Secret For Wake-Up-And-Go Hair
The first time I permed my hair, I was probably about 12. I wanted wavy mermaid hair, and my mom obliged me with a box perm from the drugstore and went to town on my head, wrapping perming solution-soaked strands around neon plastic rods. I remember the fumes making my eyes water. My very straight, thick hair turned into a poodle on top of my head, giving me the biggest, spookiest jumpscare that I remember to this day. Tears were shed. Heads were rinsed. And I never permed my hair again—that is, until a college friend doing an apprenticeship at a salon needed a perm model. She promised that it was a new, innovative kind of perm that would give me beachy waves, not springy curls. And it worked! For the first time in my adult life, I had hair that actually held a wave, giving me the Olsen-textured hair of my adolescent dreams. I was glad to have made peace with that childhood trauma and to finally have a wash-and-go hair routine that lasted about a year for me.
Perms are becoming more popular than ever, now that they've shed their coil-laden 80s reputation, and we're in our high-maintenance-to-low-maintenance beauty routine era (plus, perms have gotten a K-beauty refresh via idols' permed voluminous waves and curls). If you crave voluminous, wavy, curly, or just more textured hair that you can wake up to, here's a modern refresher to everything you'd want to know about getting a perm.
What Is A Perm?
Perms (short for permanent) are a hair treatment that alters the curl pattern and texture of hair via chemical intervention. While perming kits are sold at beauty supply stores for DIYing, they're a salon service that is best done by a professional (take it from me), especially as different types of perms yield different results.
My hairstylist, Cutler Salons creative director Mike Martinez, gave me a breakdown of what a perm entails. 'Perm solution works by breaking down the protein (disulfide bonds) in hair and releasing the keratin protein to roam free, and then restructuring those bonds around a perming rod to create a curl,' Martinez explains.
'There are two types of perms: cold perms and hot perms. Both use a derivative of thioglycolate to break down the hair bonds. Cold perms use an alkaline version, whereas hot perms use an acidic version, and both use a hydrogen peroxide-based neutralizer. Cold perms commonly use ammonium thioglycolate and make a tighter breakdown of the bonds. Hot Perms use heat with an acidic solution, often produce a looser wave, and typically don't last as long as cold perms.'
