My Perm

Having poker straight hair is a bit of a hassle when it comes to trying to create vintage styles. If I tried to put a pin curl or barrel roll in my hair would literally flick out of the roll! So I decided to get a perm in order to create a bit more body in my hair and so it will actually hold curls.

My friend Lisa who is a hairdresser permed it for me. We did it on large sized perming rods so it is just wavy without being tiny granny curls although to be honest I would have preferred it more curly and next time I have it done I will probably get smaller rods so it is a curl rather than just wavy. I will have to wait until this perm fully grows out though as having a perm on top of a perm causes seriously bad frizz!

Please excuse this awful picture of me I took it just to show what my hair looks like once it has been washed and left to air dry. For anyone thinking of getting a perm I will tell you that it dries your hair out ALOT! I've never needed to use conditioner on my hair before but now I need to use it with every wash and Ive also been using a deep conditioning treatment once a week to try to get my hair back in good condition. On the plus side though I find my hair is not getting greasy as quickly as it used to so I don't have to wash it as often.

Another point I will make is that having a perm does not mean that you no longer have to set and style your hair. Its not a matter of wash, dry and voila Marilyn Monroe style curls. In fact you cant just quick dry your hair without a diffuser for your hairdryer. Otherwise you turn into a frizzball!! I have found that the curls in my fringe (that I am trying to grow out) have turned a little frizzy but I'm hopping with regular conditioning and once it grows out a bit this will die down. And speaking of die/dye my roots need retouching again although unfortunately I will have to leave them for a couple of weeks as have treatments too close together can seriously wreck your hair.

This is the first perm I've ever had so I'm still getting used to handling it but I have found that my curls definitely seem to stay in longer and as I don't have to wash my hair as regularly they also last more days so this means less time styling for me which is a plus as I don't have much time in the mornings! I will bring you more pics of the hair over the next few weeks so you can see how the perms doing!! The picture at the top of this post is the finished result. I did however do this in a bit of a rush and my hair was still a little damp when i took my curlers out so it didn't last as long as it should have but the curls still stayed in all night which is a result in my hair as normally they drop out in 10 minutes!!