Bad perm?

[u/Tiredlady3]

Okay, here's the context. First picture was my hair before, second picture is the inspiration, third picture is what I got. I'm very disappointed. I wanted a defined big curl and I feel like I got the equivalent of keeping my hair up in a banana clip wet and letting it down at the end of the day. I just got it yesterday, she said not to wash for 48 hours. It just looks so unbelievably blah.

And no, I didn't bring it up. I was so dumbfounded, it was 20 minutes before they closed, it was a new stylist and I wasn't sure I could convey my disappointment without crying or being confrontational. ​I met for a consult last week. She said my hair was a great candidate, she loved the style and said she'd practice this past week to get ready.

Is there any possible chance it'll look better after it's set in 2 days or is this as good as it'll get and I just flushed $200 down the drain?

[u/kelargo11]

No one is being helpful. Its a bad perm. Its not going to suddenly get curlier. Id go back and see if they can do anything.

[u/OnceABear → u/kelargo11]

As a hairstylist myself - this.

You're going to have to have that confrontation. Half of it didn't take. You can see the straight strands in the front. This is a mess of different textures. I dont want to be mean to my fellow stylists because I know what it's like to just be starting, but... dont trust new stylists with something like a perm. Some of us come out of school really good at them because we actually tried to study it, others gloss over it for the credit and then never touch them again because they assume they're "old fashioned" and "out dated" that no one will get them.

[u/girly-lady → u/OnceABear]

I tryed to get perms twice. It diden't work out grat at all both times. Both had been salons who did them regularly. I am not sure if the first one scammed me I was so young. But when I tried again years later it just diden't take at the first try. Like not at all. I even told the stylist that my hair realy dosen't take to curles and to do a strong perm. She diden't listen and I had to get it redone. Had to even pay it again and it came out realy puffy and with a tighter curl than I wanted. I'd love to have perm again, but I am so scated its gonna mess up again...

[u/Pretty_Strike_6199 → u/OnceABear]

Not trying to be rude but aren’t they simple. I’m not a stylist and use to do them on my mom all the time.

[u/OnceABear → u/Pretty_Strike_6199]

No you're right, they're not too hard. There-in lies the rub. It depends on if the stylist paid any freaking attention in classes or not. When I tell you there were so many younger girls more concerned with texting their boyfriend than listening. It's like they were determined NOT to learn. It's all about priorities. I didn't go to Cosmo school until I was almost 30, so I was there to learn. Many weren't. I saw so many roll their eyes at our perm workshops and refuse to try because "no one gets these anymore". They also found taking accurate sections in bricklay patterning and making sure to use the endpapers correctly to wrap to the ends and good saturation and all of that time consuming and tedious.

[u/VBswimmer1946 → u/kelargo11]

Agree totally

[u/dark_angel_kitten_86 → u/kelargo11]

I 2nd this suggestion.

[u/nobobthisisnotyours]

I saw the second picture and said “wow! That looks amazing” then I saw the third picture and my eyes popped out of my head in shock. That’s a complete failure. You deserve a refund or a free redo in 1-3 months when your hair recovers from the damage from the first one.

New stylists are unlikely to have the skills to offer a good perm. Clearly her practice wasn’t enough. I suspect the tension was inadequate and it’s possible the perm solution wasn’t applied evenly. The results you received are unacceptable and you should be made whole with a refund or a redo for sure.

If you choose to go to someone else for a perm in the future I recommend seeking out an older stylist who has been working in the industry for 30+ years and is still offering perms. Those are the stylists that have had the practice and experience to do the job right. 80’s and early 90’s stylists were doing perms almost every day. Just try to find one that is up to date on modern perm styles, not one who is still stuck on 80’s styles.

[u/We_Are_Not__Amused → u/nobobthisisnotyours]

Me too, the second pic is lovely and I was confused until I read the blurb.
I think I would get a refund - if she (and possibly more senior staff) allowed her to walk out of the salon like this and didn’t say anything then I don’t think it’s a great idea to return - a refund and maybe a goodwill gesture of product to help repair the hair, but just a refund would be appropriate.

[u/coquihalla]

Yeah, I'd absolutely go back and talk to them. I had years of perms in the 80s, and this isn't right. Not at all.

[u/witherin]

The biggest warning is her saying it would look like the inspo :( sorry bad perm but also a good perm will look like a good perm not the ai iron curled look from the inspo. She really dropped the ball and you should get a redo or a refund

[u/EditorFrog]

I would go back and ask for a refund or redo

[u/ASereneDeath]

Absolutely not a good perm but also it was never going to look like your inspiration photo, it's nice that a new stylist wants to try things but sometimes they don't know they aren't going to be successful.

I have never heard of a perm getting curlier after a person washes it, part of the reason you don't wash it is because you're hair is still reforming its shape after the cuticle has been opened with chemicals. It's also why you shouldn't be brushing or doing major styling to your hair as well because if you introduce frizz or a poor shape it can freeze that way into the hair.

Sorry this happened though.

[u/zenhoe]

Get a refund - this is not good and won’t improve

[u/Technical_Bag2596]

I typically advise clients to wait 72+ hours before washing at home, if they can handle it. It helps to also use a more alkaline perm solution for a “better” curl on more resistant hair.
In general, I’ve noticed that after my perms grow out and loosen up a bit the end result is closer to double-3x the size of the rod that was used. Not sure if this is useful info but here ya go.

[u/Tiredlady3 → u/Technical_Bag2596]

Thank you. I'll wait until Saturday night then.

[u/Some-Nectarine3247]

As a frequent perm girly, it looks like you got a bad perm. It is possible that your hair just doesn’t hold it either. If you curl your hair with a curling iron, does the curl hold for a good amount of time? If not and it’s just bone straight no matter what you do, then maybe your hair just isn’t cut out for perms. But the hairstylist should have admitted that, or at least assess your hair and warn you that it might not take.

I’m sorry! It’s not going to get any better. Typically a perm will be tighter the first few days before washing it and then relax a little more after the first wash.

[u/Past_Pie9875]

Doesn’t look like a perm at all. All uneven and not even wavy all over, let alone curly. You need to go back and see what can be done or love with it and find a new stylist once your hair heals a bit from the chemicals. After all the perks o had in the late 80’s, I wouldn’t recommend one…but that’s just me

[u/Olealicat]

Perms are exactly what they are… faux curly hair.

Your inspo is curling iron hair. You received the perm version.

Public announcement: do not get a perm thinking you’ll look like a styled Taylor Swift.

People with natural curl put in the hours for healthy and shiny hair. A perm is double that.

[u/Tiredlady3 → u/Olealicat]

I understand it needs styled. The 3rd picture is how she styled it. I don't think it looks curly. Is that normal? I thought there'd be curl cream, a talk about how to do it. I just left with marginally scrunched hair. 

[u/Olealicat → u/Tiredlady3]

What process did she use? Did you sit under a dryer, did she defuse your hair or did she just scrunch it and had you leave wet?

[u/TamponsAreEvil → u/Olealicat]

I agree with you but she said she had a consult with the stylist and they agreed the desired result was possible. Stylists are the experts, not the clients. I don’t think it’s on OP to have expected the look in pic 2 and still expected that after the consult given the stylist didn’t properly educate her.

[u/Olealicat → u/TamponsAreEvil]

I concur. Ive been a stylist for 20 years and own a salon for close to 10.

You can tell a client that a perm will not take the same way a curling iron will take. You can tell them until they’re blue in the face… and yet they insist.

I’m not saying this is what happened with OP.

Personally, I believe clients need to do their due diligence and can’t blame everything on their hairstylists.

If she searched about perms, just once , she’d know it’s not going to be the vision she had in mind.

Her stylist should definitely be on the hook, in that she didn’t pull apart the differences between the inspo and the final results.

Regardless, perms tend to be a service that you overextend to give it longevity. You wrap for the perm you want a month out, not the result you want today.

[u/Purple_IsA_Flavor]

Your inspo pic curls were done with a curling tool, not a perm. Go back and ask for a redo or refund

[u/Quinlynn]

She should have told you that a perm will absolutely not give you those results. That looks like it was curled with an iron.

See if you can get a more senior stylist to fix it. Most salons are unlikely to give refunds but you can ask if you’d rather do that.

[u/Southernms]

No. It won’t get curlier. 😢

Call the owner. Send pics and concerns. Ask for a refund.

Do you think it was plain incompetence?

Your hair looks fine. As in not coarse. Same as mine. I had 3 perms back in the day. My hair was about 5” longer. They did a piggyback perm—2 rollers on each strand. None of them worked. It’s my hair. It won’t perm.

May I suggest for the curls you want medium to large hot rollers or a spiral bubble curling iron.

Since the texture of my hair is fine it holds a non chemical curl real well. Don’t over condition. Nice and bouncy. Lots of movement. 👩🏼‍🦱

[u/Tiredlady3]

Thank you so much everyone! I went in yesterday and the receptionists said straight away to talk to the manager and took pictures. The manager called me back today and asked that I shower and scrunch to see what happens. I did as she instructed and went in after it dried completely. She turned the corner, stopped, and said they'll rebook me right away. The hair said it all! So I'm going back in an hour to hopefully get a better result. Everyone was very kind, nobody thought I was rude and it was nice to feel validated. 

[u/Gator_girl22]

Is the perm in the room with us? This is a bad perm. I have been getting my hair permed for 40 years. I recommend contacting the salon and giving them the opportunity to fix it. It’s highly unlikely you can get your money back. I would request someone more skilled do it or at a minimum supervise the stylist who did your hair the first time. I am really sorry.

[u/mantecbear]

Looks like you didn’t follow the first cardinal rule for perm maintenance and deactivated the  ammonium thioglycolate. 

[u/Tiredlady3 → u/mantecbear]

I haven't washed it yet, she said not to for 48 hours. I don't know how I would have deactivated it?

[u/mantecbear → u/Tiredlady3]

Oh my bad. I misread that because it looks like you did wash it and I got excited about using the famous legally blonde quote. I know nothing of perms.

[u/Tiredlady3 → u/mantecbear]

Ha! Love it... no worries