Perm For Curly And Wavy Hair?

Perm For Curly And Wavy Hair?

by LT
(Atlanta, GA, USA)

Q: I'm African American and I have thick medium hair and I want my hair to be curly and wavy, what type of perm should I use?

A: Hi LT. Technically a perm will not make your hair wavy or curly but straight.

The perm, which is what most of us refer to as a relaxer is intended to straighten the hair by breaking the bonds in it that make it curly textured.

To get curly or wavy hair you're either going to have to:

1. Straighten your hair and then set and dry it with the curl pattern you want.
2. Get a dry curl or permanent wave (like Wave Nouveau Coiffure).
3. Use a texturizer (professionally applied).

You can possibly get the results your looking for by using a regular relaxer and "watering it down" with conditioner, applying and removing it quickly before the hair gets totally straight.

But it's a tricky procedure known as "silkening" or "telaxing" and I wouldn't recommend you try it by yourself unless you really know what you're doing.

Your best bet is to head to your salon and get a texturizer put in by someone who can monitor the processing to make sure it's done properly.

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Perm For Curly And Wavy Hair?

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Perm 4 Curly & Wavy Hair
by: CB

Q: I'm also considering changing my relaxed hair from straight to curly/wavy. Would I have to allow my relaxer to grow completely out before I can get a curly perm?

Camille's Answer:

Yes. You'll definitely need to grow out the relaxer before getting a curl. The chemicals used to do each are completely different and so is the process.

If you try to curl hair that's relaxed you're going to end up with a ton of over-processed damaged hair.

Perm/ relaxer
by: Anonymous

Actually the professional term for the product to straiten the hair is relaxer, a perm curls the hair. A perm and a relaxer are not the same, but are opposite.

Camille's Comments:

You're very correct!

I was thinking about going from curly/wavy to straight?
by: Sheree

I really hate my curly/wavy hair, is there a perm I can use to make it straight? Forever. LOL

Camille's Comments:

Unfortunately, because chemicals applied to the hair only affect the hair's structure after it's grown out of the scalp, there's nothing you can do to change your hair from curly to straight forever other than getting a relaxer or a press with a hot iron every so often...forever. It's the price we pay for change!

Help Anyone with getting a Curly Perm
by:

I have the type of hair that you can do a whole lot to it but I'm scared to lose it someday because I've tried so many different things.

I've been braiding my hair for the past few months and my perm is kind of still there. But, before I had a straight perm I had a curly perm and it didn't damage my hair at all.

My question is can I switch from the straight perm back to the curly perm without cutting my hair or any damages being done to it?

Camille's Comments:

I've seen it done but I wouldn't recommend it. A relaxer and curly perm are chemicals that work off of entirely different PH's and they typically aren't compatible with each other.

Having a few months of growth might help a bit but you are more than likely taking a big risk by putting one kind of chemical over the other.

I recommend that you see a knowledgeable professional stylist who can assess your hair in person and let you know the best way forward.

Other than that I will say it would be best to keep growing your hair out and trim as much of the relaxed ends off before you go to a curly perm.

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