Perm Your Hair To Get Tight And Natural Curls And A New Style

Do you have straight limp hair that could do with more body and volume? Looking to go in for a hairstyle that would look better with a hint of curl to go with your face? Hair perms are here to help - create the hairstyle you wish, be it big natural curls or tight spiral curls. Selecting the right perm rod determines the kind of curls your hair will sport. You are the few lucky ones who are not troubled be any hair related ailments of hair loss, dandruff, baldness or gray hair. Perming can work wonders with your hair giving you those adorable curls that sport your face.

Perming process involves a perming solution that is alkaline. Alkaline solutions and acid solutions, in terms of science, are a measure of alkalinity and acidity on a pH scale. The pH scale ranges from pH 1 to pH 14. All you need to remember is that acids have pH numbers less than 7. Alkalis have pH numbers greater than 7. The more acid the solution, the lower is the pH number; the more alkaline the solution, the greater the pH number. Hair responds to changes in pH. If a hair is placed in an alkaline solution it swells, and the scales of the cuticle lift. In a slightly acid solution, the scales lie smoothly and the hair is soft. In a strongly acid or alkaline solution, however, the keratin protein starts to break down leading to possible hair loss.

Hair perm involves use of chemicals to break and reform the disulfide bonds of the hair. The hair is washed and wrapped on a perm rod and waving lotion is applied with a base. As the lotion is alkaline (pH about 9), the scales of the cuticle open slightly, allowing the lotion to flow under the cuticle and into the cortex. The alkaline lotion reacts with the keratin of the cortex, breaking some of the disulphide cross-links within and between the protein chains. The solution creates a chemical action that softens the inner structure of the hair so that it can stretch to take any form.

Selection of perm rod also plays an important part. Spiral and concave rods should be avoided in perming as spiral wrapped hair creates a looser curl while concave rods make it impossible to wrap the hair without peaking the ends. A straight or cylindrical type rod should ideally be used for the most natural wave pattern as it can be wrapped with the hair strands of the same width from the scalp to the ends. It prevents spiraling and bunching of the hair that may distort the wave pattern.

To get into the desired shape, the hair molds around the shape of the perm rod. After a specified period of time, the hair is rinsed and a neutralizer is applied. Neutralizing solution contains the oxidizing agent hydrogen peroxide or sodium bromate. It is the neutralizing solution that reforms the disulfide bonds of the hair and sets the new curls. The oxidizing agent releases oxygen in the hair leading to formation of the broken cross-links, which makes the hair harden into its new, curlier shape. This is the final stage of perming. Utmost care should be taken during the final stage as failure to rinse and neutralize properly can lead to many problems, including scalp irritation, dandruff and damage to the structure of the hair shaft.

Hair that has had a long history of perming, perhaps combined with tinting or bleaching, may have become so damaged as to be near the limit of what it will tolerate. Hair perm should be carried out in the supervision of experts at parlors. Discuss the style with your hairstylist before the perm procedure A test curl should be carried out to evaluate the strength of hair before opting for the perming process.

The author is a specialist in treating male pattern baldness. He has various treatments for alopecia and head lice too

Tags: hair loss hair, structure of the hair