Dog Community

Perm Disaster! Help!

Posted : 12/27/2006 12:28:11 PM

I went to my hair salon yesterday to get a body wave. I had been thinking about doing it for a while, and was pretty nervous about it since I haven't done anything significant to my hair in about 3 years. So I went in and specifically explained what I wanted. Just a very loose, big wave to give my hair some body. My hair is currently about 3" past my shoulders and is usually very straight, so when I wear it down, it just kind of hangs there. Just for further info, I am caucasian - I know that different ethnicities have different hair types, so I thought I would share that in case it helped anyone with any suggestions!

Well, she starts to put it in the rollers, which look really small to me, and I politely question her choice in size, and she assures me that these are "big" and will jsut give my hair the nice big waves that I wanted. Definitely not true. I get done, and I've got little kinks all over my head. It seriously looks like I braided my hair for like 3 days, and just let it out. Not what I wanted at all!! She told me that it would "settle down" after about a week, but even so, the "waves" are still much too small and tight compared to what I wanted.

I did some research last night online, and one site said to wash and seriously condition my hair, as it takes a perm 24 horus to fully set it. I was hoping that that would help. I also bought a non-chemical straightening lotion that didn't seem to do much either. I plan on going back to the salon tonight and seeing what she can do to fix it. The perming didn't seem to dry my hair out at all, surprisingly, and I did sleep with my hair saturated with leave-in conditioner and wrapped in saran wrap, just to really condition it and save any further damage. Let me tell you, that made for an interesting night of sleep (or lack thereof).

So I'm looking for any suggestions!! I went in to get that Sarah Jessica Parker natural-looking wave, and came out looking like I've walked straight out of the 80's!! HELP!!

bragg1120

Posted : 12/27/2006 1:11:53 PM

OH NO! Don't ya just love it when they 'listen' to what you want and give you EXACTLY WHAT YOU DON'T WANT?

If you're going back to the salon tonight, let her see what she can do (but remember, she has tools - don't tick her off or she might give you a Mr. T look! [

] lol) It's a good sign that it didn't dry your hair out. Maybe after you left the conditioner on all night, that will help some relax it a bit more. Usually if I have a perm (I have a lot of wild curl underneath and the top is mostly straight) I get the bigger rollers and even then, it takes a little while for it to settle down. I've always heard them say to not wash it for three days so the perm can set... maybe you should wash & condition it a few more times? I hope she can do something to give you the look you want! Sorry I'm not much help! Just wanted to offer hair support.

gayle

Posted : 12/27/2006 1:27:28 PM

i personally wouldn't go back to that salon. my mom went to cosmetology school when i was a kid and i was an endless test subject. i know for a fact that they make giant perm rods for that wave look you desired to have, the curl will only be slightly larger than the size the rod is, with the exception of some hair types taking to it differently. so either that lady didn't know what you meant or just plain doesnt know what she's doing. at this point it would probably make your hair really brittle to use anymore harsh chemicals on it, so a chemical relaxant is not a good idea. from what i've seen it is best to just live it out, if you have fairly fine straight hair it won't last too long anyway. just comb it out every day with leave in conditioner like infusium 23, and use a wide tooth comb, a small one will just damage the strands, just because they dont seem dry doesnt mean they arent weakened, you don't want split ends now, it would just cause frizz. if anything, i would go to a different salon. it's so cliche, but i find the expensive male hair dressers tend to do the best to make you look good. i feel for you right now, my mom did some awful things to my head in my lifetime!!!

MissMandy

Posted : 12/27/2006 2:10:51 PM

Thanks for the sympathy, Ladies! It is very frustrating not getting what you want. Especially when it comes to something as important as your HAIR!! I know it would fry my hair to get it straightened and then permed again, but I'm hoping they can work some magic for me tonight. Typically, I wouldn't go back to the same salon, but they usually do a really good job, so I'm going to give them the opportunity to fix it. Plus, I'm hoping they won't charge me to fix it since I did pay pretty good money to have it done in the first place.

bragg1120

Posted : 12/27/2006 2:33:56 PM

Maybe before you even sit down, ask if there's going to be a charge. Since it's NOT what you wanted in the first place, there shouldn't be any extra cost to you!

And I know how you feel... it's OUR HAIR for goodness sake! [

] Most women get it... heck, even some men do! lol

jjsmom06

Posted : 12/27/2006 2:42:53 PM

ok, so I have been in the same boat about 2 years ago and no amount of washing and conditioning could make my hair disaster better. I went back to my girl and she reversed the perm for me by just using the solution stuff and combing it through my hair, but this time no rods. it worked beautifully and the only bad thing is that it left my hair dry for the first time in my life. ... it was worth it though!

to combat the dryness the best thing for my hair was purelogy products....VERY pricey, but worth it...especially the hair serum.

MissMandy

Posted : 12/27/2006 2:47:42 PM

Good idea. I will probably ask before we even get started, to avoid any further misunderstanding! Sheesh.

This is a picture similar to what I want, which I plan on bringing with me. What exactly would you call this? I would call it a really loose, big wave throughout the hair....but that's what I told her originally, and walked out with something totally different!!

MissMandy

Posted : 12/27/2006 2:49:09 PM

Thanks, jjsmom. Maybe I can get her to do that tonight if she doesn't think it would fry my hair too much. I think I would rather deal with some over-conditioning for a while, as opposed to my current 'do!! [&:]

jones

Posted : 12/27/2006 8:38:47 PM

Mandy, I think what you want is not a perm at all, but to style your hair with hot rollers. That's most likely how Jessica Alba's hair was done for that photo. I have very straight hair and got ONE perm in my life when I was 12 and it looked awful, very Walk Like an Egyptian. I think if your hair is straight and fine and healthy they're going to use the smaller rollers because your hair type doesn't "take" a curl very well, so they exaggerated the perm. But in general I would say the perm is not the way to go to get what you're looking for... SJP's hair is that way because it's naturally curly and she has it relaxed a little. I don't think many people wake up with that kind of loose curl, it's a style you have to create with hot rollers or a curling iron for straight hair and relaxer or flatiron for curly.

ottoluv

Posted : 12/27/2006 8:56:22 PM

I love that loose wave look too. I think the best way to get it is with a large barrel curling iron, leaving the ends (like 1.5 inches) out of the iron while you curl. This makes it look the most natural

smilee1079

Posted : 12/27/2006 9:11:28 PM

My sister has VERY curly hair and she would do reverse perms to straighten it. Basically, she'd put in the perm solution but instead of using curlers, she'd comb it out straight.

Good luck!

cakana

Posted : 12/27/2006 9:19:01 PM

I used to get spiral perms and for the first week or two it was always too tight and I hated it, then it was really cute for 3-4 weeks, and then it looked stringy and I hated it for about 2-3 weeks. Sorry, but I don't have much nice to say about perms. My hairdresser keeps trying to talk me into a body wave (I have very straight hair), but I'm not buying that it'll just give me some body and not ubber curls or dried out hair. I think you'd probably be okay with major conditioning and riding it out, but it doesn't hurt to talk to the salon to see what they can do. Good luck!!

ladiebug

Posted : 12/27/2006 9:23:52 PM

I'm sorry you had such an awful experience and hope that you can get it under control. Just a couple of things, my mom used to perm her hair all the time and it would dry it out severly. She used to use egg yolks for conditioning; she'd take 2 large raw egg yolk, rubb thoroughly into her hair, put on a shower cap, sit for 30 minutes, then rinse with warm water. She swore it helped.

What Jones told you is true. The wave is usually achieved with large curlers or curling irons, not perms. My mom has straight hair and my dad has curly hair, both fine, I ended up with fine wavy hair. When I want a bit of a curl, I used large hot rollers. When I want it straight, I use a large brush and dryer followed by a quick straightening iron. Also, I found the waves come more naturally if I layer my hair a bit. Good luck!

jjsmom06

Posted : 12/28/2006 1:35:32 AM

oh yes...layering is a huge help to acheive that look. I can get my hair to look pretty close to the pic you posted by using a large barrel curling iron and curling all my layers seperately.

let us know how you faired at the salon today!

MissMandy

Posted : 12/28/2006 8:51:18 AM

Thanks for all of your replies!! I went back to the salon last night, and both of the gals there that I spoke to told me the same thing that most of you guys did. If only I had asked you all before I went in and had this done! I suppose that's what I get for believing what I saw/read on the internet...Sheesh!! [8|] They told me that the style I wanted is achieved by a large barrel curling iron/ hot rollers. But the good thing is that now that I have the perm, my hair will actually hold that style when I do it, as opposed to it falling flat after an hour like before. So looks like I'll be blow drying it straight, and then curling it to achieve that look.

Thank you all for the hair support! I really appreciate it!