Do it yourself perm?

[Naama]

I didn't even knew that something like this existed, but I'm not known for being ahead of my time So since I'm really tired of doing my hair day for and then having my locks falling apart at the end of the day or sooner :eusa_doh: , I thought that would do the trick(?). I can't get a real perm since my hear is heavily bleached, but there are some "do it yourself" kits which say to protect damaged hair. Has anyone ever tried something like that? Would you recommend it? Any sideeffects? Let me know!


Naama

 

[jitterbugdoll]

If you hair is heavily bleached I would not recommend a perm. If you still really wanted to try one, I would go to a hairdresser. Processed hair will take to a perm differently than unprocessed hair, and the effects can be extremely damaging. Definitely not something you want to mess with at home, as the nature of the perm is damaging, just as bleaching the hair is. A poorly performed permanent wave will result in breakage of the disulfide bonds through chemical reduction, because it fails to fix the newly formed bonds. This results in hair that is no longer elastic and flexible, but brittle and fragile. At that point, even combing the hair will result in hair loss.

My hair is only highlighted and every hairdresser I have been to refuses to perm it, saying that it will leave my hair a dry, frizzy mess; if a professional advises against it, I wouldn't want to mess with trying a perm at home!

As for the home perms, they have been around for a long time (starting with the Toni home permanent in the 1950s.) My mom used to perm her aunt's hair, in fact. Regardless, even if your hair is permed you still need to set it to achieve the right curl--so it wouldn't completely eliminate that step.

 

[decodoll]

What Jitterbugdoll said!! Don't do it yourself! I remember back in the 1980's our neighbor asking my mom to give her a home perm. Her hair was very bleached blonde. My mom said the hair was just turning to goo in her hands! My mom had given my natural unprocessed hair perms many times, so it wasn't that she didn't know what she was doing. They are fine if your hair is in good shape (and you know how to set it to end up with the right curls to do vintage sets), but don't risk it otherwise.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

The 80's, the decade of the home perm! Argh! Don't do it!!
Like the ladies above me have said, go to a stylist. The home kits never work right. I just remember sneaking up to the bathroom with my closest girlfriend while in middle school, and giving each other home perms. Our hair was fried! The curls came out much too kinky, and the smell, oh the smell.
Especially if you have heavily processed hair, a stylist will be able to give you the deep conditioning you will need to refresh your locks. She will also know how tight to wrap the curl, to give you exactly what you are looking for.
I must admit, it is tempting to just go to the store and spend $30 on a home kit, verses hundreds of dollars on someone doing it for me.
I am on a chemotherapy drug, a lower dose, but enough so that I have lost about half of my hair. It is also a lot dryer and poker straight. No longer thick with the body it used to have. I understand your desire to just put a permanent curl in it, it would make those endless hours of tight pin curls and aching arms a thing of the past. Wouldn't that be nice I'm seriously contemplating a chin length bob, be so much easier to take care of, and probably look a lot nicer. Lot's less length to curl, a girl can dream.
Good luck and post pictures of how it comes out....

 

[decodoll]

I've been contemplating getting a professional perm for awhile now, myself. But remember, you'll still have to set your hair to get that vintage look. The perm will just make it easier and make it hold longer.

 

[jitterbugdoll]

Exactly--even gals with naturally curly hair still had to set it!

This is a bit hard to see, but Marilyn, who had very curly hair naturally, has her hair in pin curls here:

 

[Shimmy Sally]

I agree, overprocessed hair is an 80s thing. There were isles of boxed home perms at the drug and grocery stores back then. Right next to the boxes of burgundy hair color.
You don't want to damage your hair so badly that it begins to break off, like SOME people... Although there are some lovely wigs available (I may be needing one soon)

 

[Rebecca D]

For the love of god, DO NOT perm your own hair! Even if you have virgin hair, I would say DO NOT perm your own hair!

Home perms are a disaster in every box. As the daughter of a 1970s small-town, big-haired “beautician”, I know all about home perms, and can say that my childhood, up until 1986, was marred by tight perms in August that relaxed to scruffy-looking messes by Christmas. I would then have the nightmare begin all over again in January with a new tight perm. DON’T DO IT! Having the pain of fallen curls every day is better than the sinking feeling you’ll have in your stomach as you remove the perm rods from your hair and rush to the nearest bottle of conditioner with on a desperate mission to relax what you've just done.

And as for perms on bleached hair, my sis did that. She had a platinum Gene Harlow hair-do with a great perm that only required a handful of hot rollers in the morning. She paid for it though, when she moved to the dry weather of Arizona for 6 months; all of her hair broke off, and she was left with bald spots and super short, fried hair. She was mortified one morning when she was standing in the bathroom with her feet covered in her own hair, and her hands full of clumps of pretty platinum locks.

DON’T DO IT!

 

[Shimmy Sally]

She was mortified one morning when she was standing in the bathroom with her feet covered in her own hair, and her hands full of clumps of pretty platinum locks.

Oh the poor thing. That story does make me feel better about my recent hair dying/styling fiasco though. Arizona climate is wicked to hair and skin.

 

[Lauren]

I had a perm done by my friend who is a hairstylist. If you plan on setting your hair every day it's worth it because it makes it easier IF your hair isn't already chemically treated. If you don't set your hair all the time, seriously, don't do it. It dries out your hair and it takes forever to grow out. I chopped all my hair off about 6 months ago just because I couldn't stand the straw-like feel of it, and my hair is pretty darn tough.

 

[fortworthgal]

Another vote against home perms!

I have very thick, very coarse hair. I used to have my hair permed in high school because it was popular. I had it done professionally and I had it done at home a couple of times. No matter which way you go, it is damaging to your hair. My hair is quite resilient and it still dried it out. You will have to deep condition and use gentle shampoos, so plan on that. A professional perm is definitely the way to go, as a stylist will be able to customize the perm to your hair, and get a much nicer, neater look. Home perms are just bad news all around!

 

[Naama]

Oh girls! Thanks to everyone! I'm so glad that I posted this here! For one moment I thought, oh well, why make a stupid thread, just go for it! But now I know better!

Rebecca D, the story of your sister gave me the creeps! I don't know what I would do if that'l happen to me!

Daisy, I hope you'll be alright as soon as possible!

Thank you girls! From now on I'll stay away from perms as far as possible!

Naama

 

[mysterygal]

my grandmother does home perms, but, her hair looks great...she's also had many years of practice too. I frown on perms generally anyways since it's really hard on hair. But, if a perm is what you are wanting to get, Salons have come a long way in perm products that are less damaging..they do say to wait at least 3 months after coloring or bleaching so the texture of the hair doesn't get ruined. Even with shampoos and conditioners, I'm very hesitant about getting anything for my hair at a local store instead of a salon.....stick to the salon!!!!

 

[Rebecca D]

Naama, that WAS creepy!!! We still call it the Great Hair Incident of ’96.

As for nasty chemicals that people put in their hair, my sweetheart is a Black man that was really into vintage (I say was, because he’s pretty much only wearing modern now), and what he did to have a pompadour was out of control! First he’d straighten it chemically, then he would walk around the house with curlers in his hair and a do-rag to cover them up, then he’d add tons of grease to make it stay. Then he’d ruin pillowcase after pillowcase with that nasty grease. Then, a few weeks later he'd have to touch up the curly roots. He recently shaved it all off and grew it back natural, which makes this gal VERY happy. There’s nothing worse than pomade and chemical smells on a pillowcase!

Will any of us ever be happy with what nature gave us?

 

[jitterbugdoll]

The perms my mom did always turned out well, but again, she was fairly talented at hairstyling (she also used to redo the French twists that her aunt would have done once a week at the salon, because her aunt thought she did a better job.)

However, she got a perm once in the 70s that turned out something awful (she has naturally curly hair and the perm turned out too curly.)

 

[decodoll]

My Gramma and then later my mom used to give me home perms all the time, and they always came out fine. I used to give them to my mom, as well. My gramma used to perm her own hair! Of course, my Gramma had gone to cosmetology school in the late 30's. I don't think there is anything inherantly wrong with home perms as long as you follow the directions, can roll well and have hair that starts out in good condition.

 

[jitterbugdoll]

I agree, decodoll. The idea that home and salon permanents are essentially the same was the basis for a successful ad campaign:

 

[LizzieMaine]

Perm horror stories -- brrr! I'm another child of the Toni Generation, and my mother used to sit my sister and me down in an old high chair in the kitchen and -- experiment on us. And then we'd end up having to get it cut really short to cover up for the mistakes.

I thought a professional perm couldn't be worse -- but then I went to one of those mall places that was offering a special price, and ended up getting some poor kid just out of beauty school, and lucky me, I was her first perm client. And it all went fine until she got called away from the chair to take a phone call from her boyfriend, who figured calling her at work would be the best way to break up with her. So she finished me off barely able to see thru the tears.

As a result, I spent that winter looking like Roseanne Roseannadanna. No more perms for Lizzie.

 

[fortworthgal]

I don't think there is anything inherantly wrong with home perms as long as you follow the directions, can roll well and have hair that starts out in good condition.

I agree completely with this statement. The bad thing is that a large portion of the general public doesn't fall into this category. Most people don't have good condition or virgin hair, and I know that I for one cannot roll worth a darn!

 

[Tourbillion]

My Toni home perms came out pretty good, so I guess my mom was talented. My only bad perm experience was a frizzy salon perm.

I also have pretty thick hair, but even though I don't dye it I can't find anyone (professional) willing to perm my hair anymore.

Although I have a co-worker who visited her mom in China and came back with a Japanese straight perm, but with big curls. She said they used big ceramic rollers and used the Japanese perm solution. Her hair was a little frizzy before, now it is shiny and has big pretty curls.

Anyone seen this procedure offered in the U.S.?