Digital perm 101

I’ve had straight hair all my life.

And so I thought, no better way to start the new year than with a perm!

But this wasn’t an impulsive decision. Oh no, it wasn’t. I’ve always thought of getting curls ever since my college years but I’ve always been afraid of the outcome. I didn’t want to look too old or to look too ‘aunty’. And I also wanted to look for the best bargain cause I don’t want to pay too much for something that probably won’t last very long.

After much contemplation, I thought “Meh, it’s about time I start looking my age”. I’ve always been told that I look a lot younger than my actual age (curse you, chubby cheeks!! I guess it’s not a bad thing in the long run but at this present time, looking 16-17 does not work to my advantage).

Soooo, mum and I went to look for a hair saloon. My sis recently went for a perm too. The saloon was having a promotion and it costs only rm99 but her perm didn’t last. So momma told me to go to a more reputable place, pay a little more but I’ll get the outcome that I want. My perm ended up being about 4 times more expensive. BUT I absolutely love it!

This blog post is going to be about the digital perming process, why they do what they do and how to maintain your curls.

Bye bye straight hair. You’ve served me well.

Haaiii.

This was right after I sat on the chair in the saloon for about 3 1/2 hours. I really like how my hair turned out! What I requested for was a digital perm and it was an interesting experience.

Firstly, they trimmed off my hair and shaped it then they added layers and layers of foul smelling chemicals onto my hair! I was so afraid my scalp would corrode and my hair would fall off. But basically the chemicals were suppose to break the bonds in my hair (disulfide, I think? For temporary curls, the chemicals used are different and they break hydrogen bonds instead and after you wash your hair, the bonds will reform and your curls disappear; hence temporary. And yes I was talking to the hairstylist about chemistry ).

Then I had to let the chemicals sit for about an hour (I can’t really remember) then they rinsed the chemicals off. Then he started curling my hair with those hair curlers you always see aunties wearing in Hong Kong dramas (not that I watch them *shifty eyed*  no really, I don’t. ) and here’s the interesting part.

The curlers will get plugged into some machine thingamabob and they’ll heat up and proceed to form the curls in my hair. This part is quite uncomfortable cause I felt like the heat was causing my scalp to sweat and I felt like scratching my head but I couldn’t cause I didn’t want to risk burning my fingers. Soooo. I scratched my face instead. No, I’m joking. I just tahan la.

So that hot curler thingy lasted about close to an hour too I think then I had to rinse my hair again. This time they added a different kind of chemical to reseal the bonds that were previously broken, now that the curls are formed. This is so that my hair stays in its new form which is curly! It’s quite brilliant, don’t you think? The science behind it! The person who first thought about it is quite smart, eh! Kudos to you!

So that’s the story of how you artificially curl hair. *claps claps claps*

This was taken after my first hair wash after my 2 day non-washing hair ban was lifted.

Okay so having curly hair isn’t as easy as it seems. If you want them to last at least. The guy who did my hair gave me some instructions that I need to follow to ensure that my perm last for a longer time. It involves blow drying my roots, dividing hair into sections, applying hair cream (It’s similar to styling mousse I suppose) into different sections individually (that he convinced me to buy.. but it does smell really nice and it’s suppose to prevent my curled hair from getting frizzy and for my curls to last longer *gullible* ), twisting hair into twirls, blow drying bottom part of hair, then done. Phew! That’s actually pretty time consuming considering how I’m the wash-and-let-it-dry-on-its-own kinda girl. hehe.  

The hairdresser said that he had a customer who had similar hair type as mine (thin and fine hair) and her curls lasted a year! So I’m trying to stick to my new hair regime religiously and hopefully mine can last as long or even longer! Oh and twisting your hair up into a bun is also helpful because it prevents your curls from being weighed down by the weight of your hair. So bun it up sometimes!  

This method of maintaining your curls is what was taught to me by the hairdresser. If you guys know other techniques and tips, let me know!

Oh and that was my first Tong Pak Fu experience. (This was about 1 week after I curled my hair and I still like how it looks! ) I super duper euper love the shaved ice!!! It actually taste very much like the shaved ice that the Japanese 100Yen shop sells (I think only at certain branches) except it has larger servings, more toppings and it’s also more expensive.

I wannaaaa go bacccckkkkk!!