Can we talk about that moment when a perm goes sideways right in front of you?

I was at my chair in Salem last Tuesday, doing a basic perm on a regular client. Everything looked fine, rods were set, solution was on. Then about 10 minutes in, her hair started to smell like scrambled eggs and felt like straw under my fingers. I rinsed it off immediately, but the damage was done. The ends turned into a frizzy mess. I had to do a deep protein treatment and trim off about two inches. She was cool about it, but I felt like crap for the rest of the day. Has anyone else had a perm just go weird on you out of nowhere?

2 comments

2 Comments

laura_ross8d agoMost Upvoted

Did you check the porosity of her hair before you started? That's usually the culprit when perms go funky like that in my experience. Some hair just can't handle the chemicals if it's been colored or damaged recently. I always do a strand test now on new clients after learning that lesson the hard way myself. Even regulars can have changes in their hair condition without you knowing. A deep protein treatment was definitely the right move though, sounds like you saved what you could.

laura2118d ago

Honestly I kinda think people overthink perms sometimes. It's just hair, it'll grow back or you can chop it off and start fresh. A deep protein treatment is fine and all but a bad perm isn't the end of the world. I've had friends who got perms that looked terrible and they just wore hats for a week until it calmed down.