Hi everyone, Im a newbie to this forum. And totally confused too. Im deciding to get my hair curled. But there are so many options that im not able to decide. Can anyone tell me the difference beteen digital perm, body wave, ceramic perm and japanese perm. How long do they last? And any opinion from the experienced ones as to which would suit me. I have a round face and hair of medium length. Never got any chemical treatment done till now. Im alos wanting to get my hair colored, again for the first time. someone plzzz help me decide which one to get first and what will suit me....plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz help.
Perming for Asian Hair?
- Thread starter yellow_gummybear
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I STRONGLY advise against getting this done. I had the healthiest hair I had ever seen on anyone before I got my perm a few years back. My hair has never been the same since. I never dyed my hair before or after the perm, and it has already been incredibly damaged from that one procedure. My hair was/is really strong and healthy too. It took me a couple of years to regain shine and strength back. Even still, it's not the same.
But if you really want to get it done...
You don't always have to keep going back to perm it. From my experience, it didn't look so bad growing out. I went to a really upscale salon where they used the best formulas. The perm lasted pretty long and the perm starts dying out when you can see the curls gradually turn into waves. (The lifetime of the perm does depend on the condition of your hair though and what formulas they used to do it.) The point is, the waves blend in with the straight hair growing in so it doesn't look entirely that bad.
But if you want to get the perm out, just go to a good salon and tell them to relax it. What this procedure does is take out all the chemicals used in your perm and therefore neutralizes it, leaving your hair in the condition it was in originally. This procedure does use use its own chemicals though so it is also questionable. But I think it's a better alternative to getting it permed straight because then you are just kind of scratching the wound.
But if you really want to get it done...
You don't always have to keep going back to perm it. From my experience, it didn't look so bad growing out. I went to a really upscale salon where they used the best formulas. The perm lasted pretty long and the perm starts dying out when you can see the curls gradually turn into waves. (The lifetime of the perm does depend on the condition of your hair though and what formulas they used to do it.) The point is, the waves blend in with the straight hair growing in so it doesn't look entirely that bad.
But if you want to get the perm out, just go to a good salon and tell them to relax it. What this procedure does is take out all the chemicals used in your perm and therefore neutralizes it, leaving your hair in the condition it was in originally. This procedure does use use its own chemicals though so it is also questionable. But I think it's a better alternative to getting it permed straight because then you are just kind of scratching the wound.
^^ I strongly advise not getting it either but hey, it's your decision. I permed my hair about 5 years ago and I personally thought it looked good but everyone told me otherwise. Keep in mind that my hair was almost waist length. I grew my perm out and permed it again thinking I'll have them bodywave it and for sure it'll look better. Plus I went to a more upscale salon so I figured it'll look awesome. Well... not really. My hair was fried and it really hasn't been the same. I've heard good things about hot rollers though.
I am asian and I just got a digital perm (at a Korean salon) about 4 weeks ago. I'm LOVING it and didn't regret getting it done. I got many compliments too =).. big change to my blah straight hair. My hair got a little drier from it thou, but not too bad! The maintenance is really simple, I just wash my hair every other day, put hair lotion and some Redken product, srunch it and ready to go! My hair look dressy all the time... even when I don't have any make up on. LOL. So, if you want to get perm, I'd say go for it!
It depends who does your perm. You have to find a very good and experience stylist. I got my hair digi permed twice now in NYC Chinatown and they did a really good job. I like mine alot
. First time I got it done it turn out like medium size spiral curls and the second time (last month) was bigger curls. The only thing is that when you wash your hair afterward you shouldn't brush your hair with a brush because it makes the hair not as curly it is better if you comb your hair through with your fingers. It is also a good idea to use styling/curling products. Just make sure you find a good stylist.
. First time I got it done it turn out like medium size spiral curls and the second time (last month) was bigger curls. The only thing is that when you wash your hair afterward you shouldn't brush your hair with a brush because it makes the hair not as curly it is better if you comb your hair through with your fingers. It is also a good idea to use styling/curling products. Just make sure you find a good stylist.
If I ever did it again (unlikely), I'd make sure they did a body wave as opposed to a perm, and with large rollers . And none of that crap that stronger solutions and tiny rollers are best for limp asian hair. The last time, they used so much perming chemical that the skin by my temples got burned pretty badly. And this was a salon in NYC on Madison Ave, Idiots!
i dont know much about the different types of perms but ill give my two cents. i never had my hair bleached but i've had it highlighted several times in the last 2 years. my suggestion is to get it highlighted first and wait about 2 months before you get the hair permed. dont get it permed FIRST and THEN get it colored since perming is a lot more damaging than coloring.
i've had 2 perms - my first was in march of 06 and i LOVE LOVE LOVED it and i would suggest it to any asian. BUT i got the digital perm which is a lengthier and to be honest more painful process since those rods can get quite heavy and you wear it for a lot longer (though its still not as painful as getting hair permanently straightened - i did that once about 6 years ago and ouch
)
i will admit though that i didnt look the best in the hair bc at the time i had really long hair and i also have real thick hair and i continued to grow it until 6 months later when i decided to cut it. once i cut it and continually trimmed it, the remaining waves looked a LOT better. but yeah prior to that - if you have long and a LOT of curly hair, if you dont put product in and take care of it, it can look like youre homeless lol
growing out straight hair with waves/curls is not bad at all - like the other girls have mentioned, it ends up blending in and it looks great. it only begins to look strange when your hair is straight except for the last 2 inches.
what i DONt suggest is to do a regular perm with just those chemicals. i got my hair repermed just last month and i HATE IT. i dont know if it was the type of chemicals or maybe not all of my perm had grown out, but it completely damaged my hair and i really miss my silky smoothe asian hair. =( i miss my huge luxurious curls as well. i have no choice but to wait til it grows out and then i plan on completely straight perming it and letting it completely grow out until i have fresh new hair again.
deep conditioning is key. as well as leave in conditioner and any type of curl-smoothing product is essential.
dont know what else to say hope it helps. ill attach some pics lol
this was my hair around 10 months after my perm and it still looks fresh kinda! sorry for the blurry pic lol i was taking a picture of a mirror at bloomingdale's LOL
the following attachments might be more helpful
the one where i'm pinned up against the wall (LOL) was in sept. 06, so 6 months after my perm and about 1 month after i cut my hair
the one where i'm wearing a blue tube top is actually from this year june/july 2007 - so about 1 year and 3 months after i permed it and right before i re-permed it which i immediately regret.
as u can see its pretty much grown out but it waves still look in tact too.
last but not least - it really does depend on who does ur hair and where u get it done. i got mine done at Redken (digital perm) from i think a veteran stylist. 2nd perm i had was from a new girl i never met before (and i've been a Redken regular)
i've had 2 perms - my first was in march of 06 and i LOVE LOVE LOVED it and i would suggest it to any asian. BUT i got the digital perm which is a lengthier and to be honest more painful process since those rods can get quite heavy and you wear it for a lot longer (though its still not as painful as getting hair permanently straightened - i did that once about 6 years ago and ouch
) i will admit though that i didnt look the best in the hair bc at the time i had really long hair and i also have real thick hair and i continued to grow it until 6 months later when i decided to cut it. once i cut it and continually trimmed it, the remaining waves looked a LOT better. but yeah prior to that - if you have long and a LOT of curly hair, if you dont put product in and take care of it, it can look like youre homeless lol
growing out straight hair with waves/curls is not bad at all - like the other girls have mentioned, it ends up blending in and it looks great. it only begins to look strange when your hair is straight except for the last 2 inches.
what i DONt suggest is to do a regular perm with just those chemicals. i got my hair repermed just last month and i HATE IT. i dont know if it was the type of chemicals or maybe not all of my perm had grown out, but it completely damaged my hair and i really miss my silky smoothe asian hair. =( i miss my huge luxurious curls as well. i have no choice but to wait til it grows out and then i plan on completely straight perming it and letting it completely grow out until i have fresh new hair again.
deep conditioning is key. as well as leave in conditioner and any type of curl-smoothing product is essential.
dont know what else to say hope it helps. ill attach some pics lol
this was my hair around 10 months after my perm and it still looks fresh kinda! sorry for the blurry pic lol i was taking a picture of a mirror at bloomingdale's LOL
the following attachments might be more helpful
the one where i'm pinned up against the wall (LOL) was in sept. 06, so 6 months after my perm and about 1 month after i cut my hair
the one where i'm wearing a blue tube top is actually from this year june/july 2007 - so about 1 year and 3 months after i permed it and right before i re-permed it which i immediately regret.
as u can see its pretty much grown out but it waves still look in tact too.
last but not least - it really does depend on who does ur hair and where u get it done. i got mine done at Redken (digital perm) from i think a veteran stylist. 2nd perm i had was from a new girl i never met before (and i've been a Redken regular)
Attachments
great perm pics ladies! those pics are SERIOUSLY tempting me to get a perm.... I have super fine hair and no body, i was hoping perm would give me some body and soften out my round face. I know thick/long hair looks good permed.... but any of you girls with finer/ thiner hair every tried a perm? is it a death trap?
My grandmother is Japanese and gets those rotten egg perms, too! I think hers is just a normal body wave from a regular salon. If you've ever seen Delta Burke on Designing Women, that's that her hair looks like. It's pretty funny, actually. I'd post a picture, but she would beat my @ss if she found out!
ush:My mom is hapa and she has asian textured hair; it's shiny, thick and pin straight. I have the nappy wavy white girl hair. I straighten it everyday, so I would kill for asian hair! I think everyone just wants what they don't have
Wow Soundjade you have beautiful hair! I've been putting off getting a perm for years now, but after reading through almost everyones posts I think I'm finally going to try it out. I definitely want to go for the digital perm; big, loose waves etc. but I've never so much as highlighted my hair- so I don't have a preferred salon in mind. I'm going to be in NYC in January, so I was wondering if anybody has a salon/stylist they've used and swear by? It would be a great help!! 
thanks so much!
thanks so much!Hello,
I live in London and have not been able to find any salon here that does digital perms for under $500!
I'm going to the US in a couple of months and was wondering if you have any salons you recommend for a digital perm? I am going to Manhattan and Los Angeles.
I am Vietnamese and have straight Asian hair.
Thanks!!!
I live in London and have not been able to find any salon here that does digital perms for under $500!
I'm going to the US in a couple of months and was wondering if you have any salons you recommend for a digital perm? I am going to Manhattan and Los Angeles.
I am Vietnamese and have straight Asian hair.
Thanks!!!
I've gotten a perm a few months back.. everyone says its so bad for your hair but i think constantly blow drying it and having it HEAT straigthened at home is worse. its knocking all that work all at once and saving time! thats yay =) I actually don't do anything to my hair and its fine 
I think it all depends with what kind of product they use. They have a different solution for colored treated hair. If you don't want the curl size to be too small, you can get a body wave. They will use bigger curler. There's something called digital perm. It's something really hot in Asia, especially Hong Kong. It lasts longer (maybe up to 9 months), it looks more realistic, and it's softer to the hair. It all depends with the salon. Do a good research. Go to the a few different salon and ask what kind of product they use and find out about them. Curling iron isn't bad but the heat won't be good to your hair if you do it all the time. Blow drying, true, can damage your ahir, but a girll gotta do what she gotta do right? ush: If your head hurts, it's too hot.
ush: If your head hurts, it's too hot. 
Anyone who has had damaged hair, try Ogon. I bought this on a whim at Nordstrom's.
I highly recommend their Ojon Restorative Hair Treatment:
http://www.amazon.com/Ojon-Restorat...031832?ie=UTF8&s=beauty&qid=1193552741&sr=8-1
(Look at the reviews!)
Did wonders for my hair when a stylist really fried my hair!
Qi Salon, a salon that only uses Shisheido products, tried almost everything to get that damn perm out after another salon messed up my beautiful long hair.
Oh, I was in tears for weeks, until I found this stinky treatment. (Smells like burnt coffee.) I am addicted to this stuff.
Just leaving this stuff in my hair for 15 minutes, I don't need conditioner for the rest of the week!
I wish I had a "before" and "after".
Love, love this stuff!
I highly recommend their Ojon Restorative Hair Treatment:
http://www.amazon.com/Ojon-Restorat...031832?ie=UTF8&s=beauty&qid=1193552741&sr=8-1
(Look at the reviews!)
Did wonders for my hair when a stylist really fried my hair!
Qi Salon, a salon that only uses Shisheido products, tried almost everything to get that damn perm out after another salon messed up my beautiful long hair.
Oh, I was in tears for weeks, until I found this stinky treatment. (Smells like burnt coffee.) I am addicted to this stuff.
Just leaving this stuff in my hair for 15 minutes, I don't need conditioner for the rest of the week!
I wish I had a "before" and "after".
Love, love this stuff!