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Learn More About Permanent Waving Your Hair!

Want to change your hairdo? Aside from a mohawk, one of the most exciting ways to alter your look is with a "perm" or permanent wave. It can increase the fullness of soft, fine hair, put a curl or wave into straight hair, or simply make your hair easier to style.

Once, anything other than a professional salon perm put you at risk of looking like Don King. But today, there are excellent, easy-to-control home permanents for every type of hair.

The key to success in home perming is choosing the right product for your hair.

Curls 101

• Hair is curly or straight because of complex physical and chemical bonds. A permanent changes hair by breaking those bonds. You use rods to reshape the hair, then neutralizer to let the bonds reform.
• Make sure to treat your hair with the proper conditioners prior to the waving process.
• Sectioning and blocking involve dividing your head into uniform working areas. This requires a lot of practice and is a big advantage of a professional perm.

Alkaline vs. acid-based perms

The strength of the perming solution used to curl the hair is measured by pH, which can be either alkaline or acidic. Ammonia-based compounds are added for greater alkalinity or removed for greater acidity.

Alkaline perms are good for strong curls, they process quickly, and they work at room temperature. They usually contain ammonium thioglycolate.

Use an alkaline perm:
• If your hair is resistant to styling.
• If you want a strong, tight curl.
• If past perms relaxed too quickly.

Acid-balanced perms are better for delicate hair, when you want a gentle curl, or just to add body. They require external heat, like a hood-type dryer. They usually contain glyceryl monothiglycolate.

Use an acid-balanced perm:
• If your hair is delicate or fragile.
• If you want a soft, natural look.
• If you want to create body rather than a strong curl.

Appropriate Uses

Breaks the original chemical hair bonds so the hair can be shaped to the curves of the perming rods. Can be used to create gentle or strong curls and waves. Adds body to fine, thin, or limp hair.

Alkaline compounds
Alkaline compounds are basic substances that cause hair cuticles to swell. These chemicals then penetrate the hair and break the chemical bonds that make hair curly. This allows the hair to be restyled into a new form.

Bases
Bases protect the skin from the caustic chemicals used in the relaxing process. They are inert emollients that cover the skin around the hair.

Neutralizers
Neutralizers stop the oxidization reaction that breaks the chemical bonds in hair. They also restore the pH of hair and reform the chemical bonds to conform to the new style.

Follow Instructions for Success

• Hair that has already been chemically processed may need a cream conditioner applied to protect the hair before perming.
• Use protective gloves when applying chemicals.
• When wrapping hair around rollers, each section must be wrapped smoothly and evenly, without stretching the hair too tightly.
• After thoroughly rinsing out the permanent solution with warm water, a neutralizer must usually be applied for five to eight minutes to set the curl.
• Remove rollers and then rinse off neutralizer thoroughly with cool water.

The Makings of a Bad Hair Day

• Hydrogen peroxide in permanent solutions can cause reddish highlights in dark hair.
• Frizziness can result from perming too aggressively or too frequently.
• Those with fine, thin hair may end up with uneven curls.
• Damaged hair can break easily after perming.
• Solutions can irritate the scalp.

Powerful Chemicals

• Do not use if you are allergic to any ingredient in the product.
• If any chemicals or rinse water gets in your eyes, rinse thoroughly with warm water and direct the stream of water away from the scalp rather than toward it.
• Use protective gloves when applying chemicals.
• Avoid contact with eyes, nose, and mouth.
• A permanent should not be attempted if the scalp is already irritated.
• Increasing the concentration of chemicals beyond the manufacturer's recommended directions may cause excessive damage to the hair and chemical burns to the skin and scalp.

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