Did anyone get a perm and didn't ruin their hair?

[supernatural]

hi, i have 1b/f-M/ii type hair... i really want to get a perm (for body and curls), but obviously worrying about the effect of chemicals on the hair.

Did anyone of you got a perm and did not have a bad experience?
Also, once the perm grows out - is chopping off the ends the only option?

Please advice. I'm really confused.... :confused:

[Kherome]

IMO...All perms are bad, and lead to breakage, and hair cuts.

[Merlin]

Mrs M has had several over the years, they didn't damage her hair and were fine as they grew out.

[Avital88]

mine was bad! and my hair dead, its okay for 2 weeks then it starts to show damage and lose curl and get really frizzy. i would not advice a perm EVER!
It ruined my hair and took long time to get back to normal,my hair was SL and it took 2 years:S

[Sylvanas]

Yes, I had it done on my virgin hair as a teen, and it just didn't take. Had it done again a few days later, and it still wouldn't take. No (visible) damage on me, but I've seen plenty of people ruin their hair because of a perm.

You don't have to chop your hair off when the perm has grown out, but it can certainly look a bit off when you have stick straight hair down to your shoulders, and then "poodle hair" at the bottom half. It all depends on how the perm ends up looking, imo. It could change into soft waves after a while, and then it would blend in more, even if the top part is straight.

I would never recommend anyone to get a perm, as I've seen it do a lot of damage - even big chunks of hair coming off (in a professional salon). Having said that, if you're prepared for damage - and willing to take the risk - go for it! It can definitely end up looking beautiful :)

[Copasetic]

I haven't had one personally, but I had a friend who permed her hair religiously for years. Her hair always looked great, and she never had any awkward growing-out phases. She also kept her hair pretty short, though.

[Fufu]

supernatural: We had the same hair type :) I did ceramic perm once before, it looks beautiful for the first 3 months, but after that my hair is hay. The maintenance and upkeep is very tedious and perming hair definitely dries your hair up. After 4 months, I rebonded my hair to straight and less than 3 months, I chop off my BSL++ hair length to collar bone to start all over again.

[CarpeDM]

Not me, total damage!

[Idun]

Supernatural I have the same hairtype as you and I used to do perms when I was a teenager. Looking back i really don´t understand why. Straight healthy, shiny hair is so much nicer than chemically fried matte hair with volume!

[LawyerGirl]

Nope, a perm wrecked my hair.

[ladylovecraft]

I haven't myself, and had a really bad experience getting a body wave on hair that was previously bleached--if you have EVER bleached your hair before, DO NOT DO IT!! My hair literally melted off. Or at least tell your stylist. A LOT.

However, my mother has had perms for most of my life, on and off. Her hair never looks damaged, is almost waist length and very pretty. Sometimes she won't get a perm for a while and I never notice any awkward growing out stage.

[aurorabridge]

I had a perm a while back and it wasn't that bad. I asked the hairdresser to use medium-sized rollers instead of small rollers so I had loose waves instead of tight waves. When it grew out, it didn't look unnatural, just looked like I scrunched my hair (do people still scrunch hair?). When it got to be a lot longer, I just wore it up until I could cut the rest off. My hair was shoulder length at that point so my growing out phase was a lot shorter than what yours will be.

Yes, it damages your hair, though my damage wasn't visible. My hair wasn't destroyed. I stopped perming my hair, not because of damage or disliking the style, but because it was very expensive. Just like dying, I had to touch it up once it grew out. As far as my knowledge runs, there is no way to just touch up roots after a perm, so I had to perm my whole head again. More damage, more money.

I don't regret my perm phase. It made my hair very easy to style when I wasn't willing to put much effort into it. I hope that either way your hair turns out the way you would like.

[ooo]

I permanently straightened my fringe. No harm done. :)

[pepperminttea]

I got a perm on dyed hair, and the damage was fairly terrible; I was left with curly, broken straw. But on previously unprocessed hair? Who knows.

[ellen732]

I have given many perms, none which caused heartaches for my clients either, believe me they would have told me. Some clients would get them again when it grew out. Perms done right don't have to be a nightmare.

[Magdalene]

I permed my hair for 8 or 9 years straight, and it was waist length the entire time. I also blowfried it regularly, used hot rollers, etc...

and it was fine. I would do it again but my hair is past my butt now and I shudder to think how much it would cost.

[jojo]

Ive had 2 perms in my life and each time my hair looked like cotton wool. I know they say perms are a lot gentler these days but chemicals are chemicals and cause damamge!

[Lianna]

A lot of people have chemicals done with no problems at all.

[jasper]

I used to get perms in the 80's. I never had a perm that I thought damaged my hair, but I never had one on hair longer than bsl, and usually shorter.

I remember perms growing out and more or less relaxing over the same time, so it wasn't as if I had a big texture contrast between new growth and permed hair-but it has been decades, so I might not be remembering correctly.

[spidermom]

One perm did not ruin the condition of my hair. The only problem was that the natural growth at the scalp did not play nice with the permed length. So after a year I got another perm, and the second perm completely trashed my hair.

Cutting off the old perm is the only option I know of, especially if the permed hair is of vastly different texture than the new growth, as yours would be.

[Fufu]

To add on to my one experience in perking, it is important to prep your hsir before perming, ensure your hair is well moisturizer and conditioned before perming

[UltraBella]

Perm = hair DISASTER for me. It's the only thing I wish I could take back, hair wise.

[Mesmerise]

When I was in my teens I had a couple of perms that didn't do much to ruin my hair. Of course, I had virgin hair and it was only about shoulder length at the time. The worst part was growing them out cause you get the half straight half curly look...UGH... of course, you can always get the roots re-permed if you like...

I do have a friend who used to get her really fine straight hair permed and she told me it keeps her hair in better condition, maybe because she doesn't have to stuff around with it as much to keep it looking good??!

I also had a couple of disastrous perms. One, I have NO IDEA what she did, but after the perm in a few sections I had hair just broken off at the roots... it was really weird and stubbly, and at the back I had all these scabs in my hair - YICK... the perm was horrid looking too, the middle was too curly and the ends were straightish, and I ended up first straightening it myself, and when that only semi worked, I went to another salon and got it straightened again (wow so good for my long hair NOT). I later dyed my hair black over this... and then another few months later permed AGAIN (wth was I thinking??) it was at this stage I could run my hands through my hair and get bits snapping off...

Soo... I don't necessarily think a perm is THAT damaging if it's done just once on virgin hair! But again, it depends on your hair. It took a LOT of damage for my hair to start really breaking.

[Nymph]

An aunt of mine does it on her virgin hair and it looks rather nice and not too much like hay, but then again, she keeps it quite short.

So I'd say, if you really want to have one, be prepared for a chop. I think that heat styling once in a while might be less damaging than a perm in this case.

[ktani]

I had "acid perms" years ago and they were fine and grew out well. I grew one out past shoulder length. I had no perceptible damage or problems. If a stylist knows what they are doing a perm can be fine.

I have seen a stylist refuse to perm damaged hair when the client insisted, only giving in with a signed waiver from the client, re liability for the outcome. The damage was only on the last few inches, which the client refused to allow to be trimmed.

A good friend of mine permed her hair regularly and she found the type of perm made a significant difference for her. She would buy her perms at beauty supply outlets. She had taken classes years before offered by a stylist, for those who wished to do their hair at home. The classes offered tips and the best ways to self perm. My friend's hair although fairly short but long on top, always looked good.

[GypsyGoddess]

I have had a perm when I was younger (15) and it didn't do too much damage to my hair, but...

And this is a big BUT...

Before I hit puberty I had long, straight hair like yours, OP. Once I hit my early to mid teens, my hair texture changed and started growing in curly/wavy (same thing happened to my mom and my brothers). So what I had was curly/wavy roots and long, straight ends, which looked really terrible. So I got the perm to make my hair a consistent texture.

It worked because my hair was growing in curly so as I trimmed the ends the roots were giving me more curly hair so there was no curly ends/straight roots. Several other girls I knew tried to get perms like mine (I had a spiral perm) and theirs came out of their hair within a few weeks. You don't want to do that kind of damage to your hair if you hair won't hold the curl. My hair held that perm for years until I cut off all my hair into a chin-length bob.

What I would recommend instead is setting your hair in perm rollers while wet or doing rag curls if what you want is more volume and bounce. Perms seem to hold best in hair that is already wavy/curly a bit and I am worried it will come right out of your hair and you will have spent all that money for nothing.

[Lielananna]

I got a perm on my shoulder length virgin hair when I was about 11 that didn't seem to do any damage at all, but at the same time it fell out within a day or two, so I wouldn't use that as a good example. My sister also got a perm on her hair around the same time that actually took and as far as I can remember she didn't have a lot of damage either, but she's always kept her hair around shoulder length so it could have been she was just trimming off any damage as it showed up (btw her hair type is curlier than mine but the same texture and thickness). I also don't really remember her having a weird growing out period, but it kinda seemed that her hair type went a bit curlier around the same time, so it probably wasn't as noticeable because of that.

[annieangel149]

Perm = hair DISASTER for me. It's the only thing I wish I could take back, hair wise.


Ditto!!! i was totally going to say the same! that is exactly my experience to!

[supernatural]

Hello ladies... thank you so much for taking the time and sharing your experinces... It really helped me decide. It did!!

And well, i got the perm. I have thinner hair on top of head, so it have me a lot of volume...
They used this Tec Italy product which is really really gentle... so far - got curls, but the hair is still soft. I hope it stays that way even after few weeks.

@LadyLoveCraft - do you know (or pls can you chek) what your mom's haircare routine is with the regular perms that she gets? I guess now is the time for pampering them even more...

I will post some pics when i have the guts and when i get used to the curls!! lol...

[GypsyGoddess]

Since you did decide to do it (and I would guess you use conventional products?) I would recommend doing one of those boxed hot oil treatments at least monthly. Conditioner will be your friend! I also highly recommend using a super-wide comb in the shower while you have conditioner in your hair to detangle, because perming gave me terrible tangles.

Don't rush to wash your hair, either. You need at least a day before you wash after the perm to allow the hair to adjust if you don't want to lose the curl. You'll want an alcohol-free gel to give your curls shape. I really, really hope your hair will hold it! My hair (because it was already mostly curly at that point) held on to the perm FOREVER except for the very ends, which ended up needing to be trimmed every couple months.

If you want, you can look in my album and the photo where I have really long really curly hair is probably a perm from about halfway down. (I think you need 25 posts to view those though) I've only had 2 perms in my life, both spiral perms when I was in my teens, and my hair held on to those things for YEARS.

[Kaelee]

I had a perm once (for prom, my hair was pretty short then too) and I had no damage...it was supposed to last like 6 weeks but it lasted 6 months at least! But it softened as it grew out so it totally looked natural. I had no damage (though if I'd done it more than once maybe I would have...) I would do it again except my hair is hennaed now and perms don't tend to take very well in hennaed hair. Plus, I can't see spending $75 to get my hair permed a lot....

[HeatherJenae]

Unfortunately, I'm with everyone else. The only perm I ever did (to go straight, not curly) wrecked and damaged my hair beyond repair. I had to cut out the damage underneath and baby the length to avoid further ruin. I really wanted it to work and at first it did look beautiful and healthy but just got progressively more tangled and fried looking. I was very disappointed.

[Mrs. D]

I look like Rick James everytime I get a perm.

[HeatherJenae]

I look like Rick James everytime I get a perm.

Greatest. Post. Ever! :hollie:

[Mrs. D]

Super Freaky. That is me with a spiral perm. Back in the day I had one. My hair broke off in clumps. One time I heard a co-worker scream in the bathroom. They thought my major shedding was a dead mouse.

[mariazelie]

No more perms for me. Just a bad memory and I still have the ends to remind me.

[walterSCAN]

This thread is alternate validation of my continuing willpower and horrible temptation to perm for me... :doh: I've always, always wanted to get a spiral perm in my hair (like, 3A/3B range), but I've always been way too scared of damage/ other people's horror stories to actually do it.

:( I just don't think I could handle starting all the way over if things went bad. :(

Here's hoping your perm stays nice and your hair has the minimum of damage, supernatural, I am so terribly envious... ;) I shall have to continue living vicariously through your (and others') beautiful curly hair... :violin: