Hair Dressing Information

With Paul's experience of running Seminars, and Workshops, he has provided some information for hairdressers and the public alike on this website. These are based as Information sheets and explain processes used in Hairdressing....

Permanent Waving Information

Not as popular as it once was but still a useful and creative tool in the right hands. Many people believe, quite wrongly, that perming is a thing of the past. Nothing could be further from the truth. Perming is a thing of the future, as some hairstylists will discover when the circle is complete and soft, gentle waves and bold beautiful curls will once again be the most fashionable things to have. At sometime in our lives we will need some kind of style support system to create and hold the ‘in’ styles. This is where, once again, perming will come into its own.

Before we go into the types of permanent waves available, let’s take a simplified, quick look at how they work. If you think of each individual hair as a stepladder with the rungs running across it, the rungs are straight, just like the bonds are structured on straight hair. When the hair is wrapped around a curling tool and the lotion is applied, these rungs break down gently and controllably. When enough of these rungs have been broken, we can stop any further action by rinsing the hair with water. By towel blotting to remove excess water, we can then apply neutraliser. This will reform most of the broken rungs but because the hair is now wrapped around some sort of former, the rungs cannot reform straight across but instead will reform in an arc. When the curler/former is removed the hair will be in a permanent wave. It is important that the hair is not shampooed for 48 hours (short hair) or 72 hours (long hair). This is because we have to let the oxygen from the air reform the bonds that the neutraliser cannot get to.

TYPES OF PERMANENT WAVES.

ALKALINE (Ammonium Thioglycolate)

Can create anything from soft movement to Big, Crisp curls on medium/coarse and resistant hair. They come in 2 types Natural/resistant and tinted formulas, so there is something for everyone. Ideal for White hair, as this type of hair can become very resistant.

ACID (Glycerol Mono Thioglycolate)

Acid perms work in exactly the same way as Alkaline but are less ‘aggressive’.

In this range there are 3 types of solution, Regular, Extra body and High lift and 2 bottles should be mixed together to activate the solution.

Let us begin with the Regular. This can be used to create a medium to soft wave/curl on normal/tinted and up to 40% highlighted hair.

Using the Extra body formula will create a slightly firmer curl than the regular formula on Normal/resistant. Fine/limp tinted and up to 40% highlighted hair.

copyright © Paul Rowland 2001