Finally figured out my perm damage

[Lilli]

Back in April I had a disastrous perm which I had straightened a few days later. I though it didn't hurt my hair that bad but I just made a discovery which showed me how damaged it is.

I have been noticing that as my hair dries after washing it, the roots stick up and then there is a sharp bend in each hair about an inch down and then the rest hangs down. Now I can see that the part that sticks up is a little darker. This darker, sticking-up part has been getting longer and is now over an inch. It just occurred to me that this bend is the demarcation line of my perm and straightening. The new virgin hair is healthy and darker and has some body so it sticks up. The processed hair bends down sharply because it is so weak. :( Probably not helped by all the flat-ironing I did to make the resulting bob hair cut required look better.

(The original reason why I got the perm is because the nape of my neck is curly and I wanted the rest to match it but the stylist gave me Kelly McGillis in Top Gun crimps. So I had it straightened so I could leave the house without shame, and now I know I will accept the two different textures of my hair just as they are and not fight it ever again.)

Oh, and to make it worse, it proves that in 4 months, my hair only grew 4 cm. So it will take until Christmas to touch my shoulder and a year to get to APL. I'll be an old lady by then. :(

[naselflee]

A cm a month sounds right. It took me 4 years to grow from a pixie cut to tail bone (with all the heat damage along the way). Be patient and it will get there.:)

[Erin-86]

Hey,

I also made that big mistake of getting a perm :(

Yeah...perfectly healthy waist-long hair, but I decided I wanted curls, and although I knew perm is far from good, I still thought that it "couldn't be that bad"

It's obvious I wasn't a member of LHC back then :D

straightening will only make it worse and increase the damage, so I think you should leave that, and just find ways to wear your hair up and cut it regulary untill the damage is grown out.

My hair was waist long when I got the perm, which was in october 2008, then in december I had to cut to an inch above bsl due to tangling. Now it is an inch below bsl and I'm thinking of cutting it to my shoulders, and continue to cut it every month (maintaining shoulderlength) untill the damage is gone.

I'm still however in doubt..sometimes I only want to cut the splitends (which I have a lot, no doubt..:rolleyes:) other moments I just want to cut it very short and start from the beginning. In 2003 I had very short hair, and then I started growing, it was very healthy, no frizz what so ever, after two years I still didn't have any split ends and I didn't even take care of that very well, also it seemed that it grew very fast. I was 17 when I started growing, and by the time I was almost 19 it was already at bsl.

I think I'm going to cut it to shoulderlength, which seems to be a mid-way solution, I hope.

However, I managed to decrease the dryness of my hair by using lots of oil, good conditioners and avoid any form of heat. It will never be as good as my virgin hair, but it's soft again and shiny. The reason why I want to cut is because it will damage very easily, and I have a lot of broken hair which is the cause of my frizz. Also, I want long hair again, but I want it to be healthy and beautifull, so it's probably a long term investment that I have to make :)

Also, you are making progress, 1cm a month is perfectly normal :)

Erin.

[Carolyn]

Isn't 1cm about a half inch? That's average growth. Many people don't get that much.

[Erin-86]

1 inch is 2,54 cm :)

[Konstifik]

Back in April I had a disastrous perm which I had straightened a few days later. I though it didn't hurt my hair that bad but I just made a discovery which showed me how damaged it is.

I have been noticing that as my hair dries after washing it, the roots stick up and then there is a sharp bend in each hair about an inch down and then the rest hangs down. Now I can see that the part that sticks up is a little darker. This darker, sticking-up part has been getting longer and is now over an inch. It just occurred to me that this bend is the demarcation line of my perm and straightening. The new virgin hair is healthy and darker and has some body so it sticks up. The processed hair bends down sharply because it is so weak. :( Probably not helped by all the flat-ironing I did to make the resulting bob hair cut required look better.

(The original reason why I got the perm is because the nape of my neck is curly and I wanted the rest to match it but the stylist gave me Kelly McGillis in Top Gun crimps. So I had it straightened so I could leave the house without shame, and now I know I will accept the two different textures of my hair just as they are and not fight it ever again.)

Oh, and to make it worse, it proves that in 4 months, my hair only grew 4 cm. So it will take until Christmas to touch my shoulder and a year to get to APL. I'll be an old lady by then. :(

Aww, sorry to hear about your damage! But you'll have new healthy hair in no time! I think your hair will grow fast, especially if it does grow 1 cm per month. APL in one year is amazing in my opinion. It took me 11 years to go from shoulder to APL.
So I think your hair will be great! Don't worry about it. :)

[Lilli]

straightening will only make it worse and increase the damage, so I think you should leave that, and just find ways to wear your hair up and cut it regulary untill the damage is grown out.



I think I'm going to cut it to shoulderlength, which seems to be a mid-way solution, I hope.

However, I managed to decrease the dryness of my hair by using lots of oil, good conditioners and avoid any form of heat. It will never be as good as my virgin hair, but it's soft again and shiny. The reason why I want to cut is because it will damage very easily, and I have a lot of broken hair which is the cause of my frizz. Also, I want long hair again, but I want it to be healthy and beautifull, so it's probably a long term investment that I have to make :)

Also, you are making progress, 1cm a month is perfectly normal :)

Erin.

Well, I already did get it straightened back in April. I simply could not have lived with it with the perm still in. Luckily I have some pretty strong hair because if you didn't know about the perm, you wouldn't be able to see the damage. You can see my most recent pic in my album, and that is my hair when I just S&C and let it dry.

I think your plan of cutting it to below shoulder and keep cutting until it is gone is a good plan, unless you can really nurse the ends back into health, maybe braid it a lot or something.


Aww, sorry to hear about your damage! But you'll have new healthy hair in no time! I think your hair will grow fast, especially if it does grow 1 cm per month. APL in one year is amazing in my opinion. It took me 11 years to go from shoulder to APL.
So I think your hair will be great! Don't worry about it. :)

It is so hard to tell how quick it grows from measuring it. Last cut was one month ago and it looks like a half-inch or so, which would be faster than using my perm damage as a guide. So maybe it does grow fast! It will be better when I have a few months of pictures and measurements.

So why did it take 11 years to go from shoulder to APL? Were you cutting it a lot? You must have a lot of patience.

[LaurelSpring]

I have so been there done that so many times. When I was a hairdresser I was my own guinea pig and put my hair through hell! The best you can do is take really good care of it get regular trims, put it up and try not to look at it if its upsetting you and just keep on keeping on.

[Konstifik]

It is so hard to tell how quick it grows from measuring it. Last cut was one month ago and it looks like a half-inch or so, which would be faster than using my perm damage as a guide. So maybe it does grow fast! It will be better when I have a few months of pictures and measurements.

So why did it take 11 years to go from shoulder to APL? Were you cutting it a lot? You must have a lot of patience.

I'd like to see how your hair turns out now afterwards, so many pictures! :)

I trimmed the hair 2-3 times a year, so yeah, I guess it's a slow-grower. Don't know why. Sometimes it frustrates me to no end, but it's great patience-training.