Avoid Heat Styling: Minimize the use of heat styling tools before perming to prevent additional stress on your hair. Prepare Your Hair: Use a clarifying shampoo a few days before the perm to remove any residue, but avoid heavy styling products right before the treatment.
Actually, before any perm service you want to clean the hair thoroughly. In fact, most salons will shampoo the hair using a clarifying shampoo to remove any excess oils and residue from the hair so that the perm solution can better penetrate the hair.
Don't wash your hair or put water on it. No products for the first two to three days. Start treating your hair like the new hair type you have. If you perm it wavy, start following a wavy hair routine. If you perm it curly, stop using shampoo every day. Don't use Old Spice if you have a perm.
It's generally recommended to wait at least 48 to 72 hours after getting a perm before washing your hair. This waiting period allows the perm to set properly and helps to ensure that the curls hold their shape.
Avoid Washing Hair: Don't wash your hair 24-48 hours before the perm, as natural oils can protect the scalp during the chemical process. Trim Damaged Ends: Get a trim to remove split ends and ensure even curling. Conduct a Patch Test: A patch test can determine if you have allergies to the perm solution.
Wait before washing your hair
You can't get your perm wet, put it up or even touch it much while the chemicals reset your strands. Even after getting your perm, washing it everyday will affect the longevity of your curls, so prolong the gap between washes as long as possible.
Keeping your permed hair safe overnight might be the most difficult task yet. Regular cotton pillowcases can cause friction that damages your hair. Sleep on a satin pillowcase instead to give your hair the freedom to move without damage. You could tie your hair up in a loose bun, braids, or do the plop method.
The most natural-looking perm is the beach wave perm which creates loose waves throughout the hair.
Continuously subjecting a perm to activities like swimming, frequent shampooing or wet weather will damage the longevity of your perm. Getting it wet opens your hair's cuticle, releasing the chemicals used to set the perm.
Ongoing Perm Maintenance
Don't use products that contain parabens, sulphates, or alcohol as these can ruin your perm.
“Perming doesn't get taught to hairstylists like it did in the 80s, so the technique has kind of died out a bit,” says Hersheson. “It's really important that the person you go to understands perms. You also need someone who will tell you not to have it done if your hair isn't in the right condition.
Don't wash your hair for 48-72 hours after a perm . During that time your perm is still technically forming and can be ruined or relax if you decide to wash it within that time frame. Don't comb thru your hair during the first 48 hours. Leave it alone as much as possible.
The disulphide bonds can only be broken with heat (as happens in 'permanent waving' hair treatment), but hydrogen bonds are affected by water, so the individual molecules can change their shape temporarily when wet.
Tip 1 - Bleached/Pre Lightened hair cannot be permed
Thus before each color, always be sure to ask your stylist what goes into your hair. Inform your stylist that you intend to perm your hair in the near future, thus your hair cannot be bleached or pre lightened.
If you have shorter hair, a perm can cost between $30 and $150. Short-hair perms are the least expensive because they take less time and product. For medium-length hair perms, you can expect to pay between $60 and $200; perms for long hair can range from $80 to $400.
As we step into 2025, the world of hairstyling is witnessing a resurgence of perms, with modern twists that cater to diverse hair types and personal styles. At Charles Ifergan Salons, our expert stylists are embracing this trend, offering a variety of perm styles designed to enhance texture, volume, and individuality.
Similarly, if your hair is already very dry or breakage prone because of frequent heat-styling, a dry climate, your genetics, or even illness, this may not be the best time to think about perming your hair. The best time to have a perm—rather, when the perm is most successful—is when you have healthy hair.
Permed hair is already prone to dry, frizzy ends, but you'll only make it worse if you blow-dry your hair after washing it. Instead, blot your hair with a T-shirt and let it dry naturally. You'll protect your permed hair from even more heat damage.
Directly after your perming appointment, you'll want to limit how much you wash or style your hair. You'll want to wait at least 24 hours, although ideally, you'd wait 2 days, before doing anything else with your hair.
Avoid washing your hair for the first 48 to 72 hours.
After you get a perm, avoid shampooing or conditioning your hair for the first 48 to 72 hours. As Foster explains, the best way to maintain the look of a perm is “to avoid water.” Water can deactivate your perm and make the curls fall apart.
If you want to undo the results of a perm, or relax a perm, wash your hair with Color Protecting Shampoo and Conditioner to cleanse and hydrate your hair, and to help relax your curls. Apply a deep conditioning treatment or hot oil treatment, cover your curls with a shower cap, and leave on for several hours.