Hair tip of the day: Perms!

Yesterday I only had time to text a brief blurb about perms, so today I'm getting down and dirty with perms. Personally I don't do perms because I wasn't liking the whole Barbara Streisand look from her guilty album that had been going on since the late 80's. People tended to not care for their perms well and didn't keep up with the maintenance required to make the perm look good. I was tired of seeing bad looking hair and decided I wouldn't continue to do perms that people weren't caring for. Perms don't equal: Not caring for your hair! There are products that are needed and ways to care for it depending on the look you want to achieve. I am now beginning to see that there are really fun things that can be done with perms! I may just begin perming again in 2010!
If you have very straight hair, following up your initial perm with a root perm is a MUST! Otherwise you end up with it straight at the root and curly on the ends. Not pretty. Usually a root perm will be done 2 to 3 months after the initial perm. People with natural waves can go a lot longer without getting it permed again. Even people with natural curly hair can benefit from a perm if their natural curl isn't consistent or if they want a tighter or a looser curl. And the perm can be done only in the area needed if it's a matter of one area of the hair not being curly enough.
Fine hair can really benefit from a perm but that doesn't mean that you just leave it looking like Richard Simmons. It means that when you blow it out with a brush it will have body. Perms DO NOT equal not doing anything with your hair. A perm that is left with nothing in it after a wash isn't pretty. Even a perm on really long hair needs products. If left to dry without product it'll be frizzy (just like a person with natural curls hair would be). Leave-in conditioner and curl creme is a must!!!
Perms can really support a style. I'm a huge fan of Afros. If someone wanted an Afro I'd perm their hair on teeny tiny old lady perm rods. Then it can be picked out to be a yummy fro!!! People that want mad volume on the top of their head can do a crown perm. Then when they blow dry that top area will say Vavoom! Mad volume!
Perms are just another service that should enhance what you want your hair to do. But I can not stress enough that it doesn't give anyone a license to not care for their hair! So if you perm, know that you still need to style and care for your hair!:)