How To Care for Your Perm

By Blair Golden

Perms have come back in a huge way and opting for one can give you the curls, volume and texture you’ve been obsessing over! With perms, instead of spending 20-30 minutes every morning curling and otherwise manipulating your hair to get your desired results, all you really have to do is scrunch a bit of product on them and you are out the door.

Though they may make life a bit easier, it is important to remember that it is a chemical proess which can leave your hair a bit more fragile than normal. Perms require a bit of care and specific types of products in order to maintain your hair’s health and the look you want. Virgo Salon Owner and Master Stylist Mateo Jon has a few tips to help you get the best out of your new hair texture!

Immediately After Your Perm

After getting your perm, your hair will need some time to fully set. Make sure you wait 3 days before getting your hair wet as it will take about that amount of time for your the perming chemicals to form new bonds. We recommend that you wait about a week before doing any type of styling. If you must, don’t go any further than simply scrunching the hair with your fingers to set your curls.

While your hair is in an adjustment phase, you don’t want to use any sort of hairbrush , but instead finger-comb your curls or if absolutely necessary, use a wide-tooth comb in the shower with lots of conditioner. Remember, you want to avoid disrupting the curl structure which may result in your perm breaking or being set in an unexpected shape.

Nourish + Moisturize Your Hair

Though Modern Perms are certainly healthier than perms of the past, it is still a chemical process which can leave your hair more vulnerable than it was in it’s virgin state. For this reason, it is important to use nourishing, hydrating products that will help restore and rejuvenate your hair. Keep in mind that after a perm, your hair will be drier than I was initially so you’ll want to make sure you have a great Deep Conditioner on hand! Virgo owner Mateo Jon recommend deep conditioning at least twice a week for the first few weeks while your hair is recovering and then once a week from there. *

Shampoo Less

Washing your hair often actually strips your your hair of its natural oils. After a perm, you will want to retain a lot of those natural oils as they will keep your hair healthy and hydrated. For this reason, you will want to wash your hair a lot less often to keep it moisturized, healthy, and looking its very best. When it does come time for wash day, make sure you are using a natural, moisturizing and sulfate-free shampoo and make sure you are always replenishing your hair with a conditioner!

Get the Right Products

Because you are going from Virgin hair to Chemically treated, you may need to make a few changes to your product assortment.

You will want to get a good shampoo and conditioner with curl enhancing formulas*. Though you definitely want these to be moisturizing, be sure they are not super-creamy as this can weigh down your hair, causing your curls to change shape. In addition to a good curly shampoo, you will want to also clear your hair of excess product with a clarifying shampoo once a month to do a complete hair and scalp cleanse.*

If possible, try to avoid any products that are made with silicone, alcohol or Sodium lauryl/ laureth sulfate (SLS). Silicones weigh down on your hair, leaving it greasy and heavy. Alcohol dries your hair out leaving it brittle and frizzy and SLS deplete the naturally produced sebum that moisturizes your hair.

Dry Your Hair Correctly

For optimal results, its important to make sure not to towel-dry your hair as it can be quite abrasive on your hair shaft which will start to weaken your hair overall. Instead, after combing and detangling your hair with a wide-tooth comb, apply your leave in and styling products and let it air dry if possible (we suggest doing this at night so that your hair is nice and dry by morning)

Get Regular Trims

Regularly removing damaged ends will help keep your hair looking and feeling healthy. Even if you want your hair to grow long, we recommend getting trims every month and a half to two months depending on how fast your hair grows.

Avoid Heat Styling

As much as possible, you want to avoid heat styling so instead of blow-drying, air dry your hair. If you absolutely must blow-dry your hair, do so on low heat and be sure to attach a diffuser - this helps disperse the heat instead of having it concentrated on one area. You also want to avoid straightening tools such as flat irons as it could cause split ends to appear faster than if you hair was un-permed.

Make sure that any time you DO decide to use heat on your hear, that you coat your hair with a heat protectant.*