Are you bored of having straight hair? All you need is an excellent hair perming treatment to get thick, luscious locks of curls and waves that dangle around your shoulders. Hair perming has been a popular styling method among women since 1872. Back in the early days, women used heated tongs to alter the structure of their hair and perming techniques have undergone a major evolution ever since. At present, long hair perm and short hair perm are done by professional hairstylists using various chemical products and the results can either be permanent or temporary depending on your choice. In this article, you are going to learn everything you need to know about hair perming from the best perm hair salon in Singapore.
Table of Contents
The Process of Perming
The perming procedure starts with cleansing your hair to eliminate every bit of dirt and dust accumulated on its surface. Generally, when you go for a hair perm in Singapore, the hair wash is done by your stylist using a regular shampoo that matches your hair type.
- Next, the perming lotion is applied to your hair in order to disrupt disulfide bonds. The perming lotion varies according to the type of perm that you are going for (acid, alkaline, or exothermic), however, it makes your hair flexible enough for the procedure.
- After applying the perming lotion, the hair needs to be tightly wrapped around curling rods of your preferred size. In this step, the disulfide bonds of your hair are loosened by the perming lotion to redefine its structure into curls or waves.
- Finally, the curling rods are carefully removed and your hair is neutralized to reconnect the disulfide bonds into its newly formed curls. The neutralizing time always depends on the thickness of your hair.
- Perming includes chemicals that alter the structure of your hair. To avoid hair damage and to keep the curls for a longer period, you should avoid using shampoo or heating devices on your hair for several days.
Different Styles of Hair Perming
Hair perming is restructuring straight hair into curls or waves. Curls and waves have different textures and volumes. To get the locks of your dreams, you need to know which perming style to follow during the procedure. Based on the texture of the outcome, there is a wide range of perming styles.
- Spiral Perm: Spiral perm gives you well-defined, coiled curls with volume. The size of the locks is determined by the thickness of the curling rod.
- Pin-Curl Perm: This styling method includes applying a chemical solution to the lengths of your hair and securing the curls with styling tools.
- Root Perm: Root perm is essentially done on hair with thin roots. It enhances the root volume to make your hair look bigger and more voluminous.
- Spot Perm: Spot perm does not cover your entire hair. In this procedure, curling rods are put only on the spots where you prefer to have curls.
- Body Wave Perm: Body wave perm creates the effect of sea waves on your hair. This technique requires lengthy curling rods to create neat and well-tamed beach waves.
- Multi-Textured Perm: If you are brave enough to go for a mixture of hair textures, the multi-textured perm is the choice to make. It is a combination of different textures of curls and waves.
How Does Perming Work?
Perming is a method of chemically restructuring the texture of your hair. The perming lotions are applied to weaken the disulfide bonds of your hair to make the hair strands flexible enough to restructure. In this procedure, the chemicals such as thioglycolates and bisulfites are reduced as the perming chemicals penetrate the cuticle and outer layers of the cortex of your hair strands. To ease the procedure, alkaline agents are used to lift the cuticle scales of your hair.
Once the perming lotion finishes its part, hair is neatly sectioned and wrapped around curling rods of your preferred size to create curls. After the curl pattern is well-established, a neutralizer is applied. Generally, an oxidizing chemical such as hydrogen peroxide is used as a neutralizer.
The classical method of perming is wrapping hair around curling rods and applying perming chemicals afterward. However, thanks to the evolution of the beauty industry, at present you get to try many more modern perming techniques.
Different Hair Perming Techniques
1. Digital Perm (Hot Perm)
In this procedure, the hair is initially relaxed with a relaxing treatment to make it easy to handle. Then the perming lotion is applied and the hair is curled with hot curling rods. The volume of the locks is determined by how tight your hair is wrapped around the curling rod. In the digital perming method, the temperature of the curling rods can be controlled according to the thickness and the strength of your hair strands as they are connected to an electric device.
Digital perm is highly popular in Asian countries as it is specially invented for thick hair types. It gives your hair a more natural look and the effect stays relatively longer. Even though digital perming is costlier than the other methods, it is considered the least harmful for your hair.
2. Cold Perm
Cold hair perm is the most common perming method in general. Your hair is initially dipped in an alkaline solution and firmly wrapped into tiny coils around curling rods. If you are dreaming of getting tight ringlets, cold perming is the only method to follow. However, these tight ringlets look far from natural curls at first but take a more natural look with time. The advantage of the cold perming method is being able to preserve the curly texture regardless of your hair being dry or wet.
Common Questions Asked about Perming
1. How to treat permed hair?
Taking care of permed hair needs tremendous dedication. After perming, you need to avoid washing it for the next 48 hours. You need to refrain from styling your hair or wearing ponytails to preserve the newly formed curls. If you are going out in the sun after getting your hair perm done, you may wear a scarf to protect your hair from harmful UV rays. Get recommendations from your trusted perm hair salon for shampoo and conditioner brands and follow a healthy hair routine. If you are intending to color your hair, you need to wait for at least a few weeks after getting your perm done.
3. Does perming damage hair?
Perming is a procedure that includes strong chemicals. It is a known fact that any hairstyling method that involves strong chemicals can damage hair. If the perm is done by inexperienced hands, the chances that your hair will fall off are very high. However, if you book an appointment at a trusted hair salon in Singapore, you can easily minimize hair damage with the top-notch technology and high-quality hair products they have.
3. How long does a perm last?
After the three-hour-long perming procedure, typically, the effect lasts for about three months. However, if you take proper care of it, a perm can even last up to six months.
