The Science of Perms: 24h No Wash Rule

2018.04.23Hair care

The Science of Perms: 24h No Wash Rule

Hello, hello, good day to all. A brand new week is on us, which means another 4 days of work hell. ‘O woe be the proletariat.

If you have been keeping track of our blog posts, you may have noticed that there has been an increase in educational/FAQ-ish posts lately. That is because ~~we have been having a minor dry season of instagram updates from our stylists~~ WE BELIEVE IN THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING AND HAVE THUS TAKEN IT UPON OURSELVES THE VALUED MISSION OF MAKING YOU, OUR ESTEEMED CLIENTS, INFORMED CONSUMERS IN THIS BASTARD CAPITALIST ECONOMY!!!!!!!!!

For today’s post, we will be talking about a very commonly-accepted, but rather unquestioned fact about perms – why you cannot wash your hair for 24 hours after getting a perm.

The answer to that question, is because hair after perming needs time to stabilise, and if you wash your hair too soon after perming, you run a high likelihood ofdestabilising your curls

Chiffon Perm Stylist: Seiya ・シフォンパーマ担当セイヤ・ Tel: 6463-3651 SMS: 8338-0958 #artnoisesg #sgbeauty #sghair #sgsalon #singapore #japanese #hairsalon #hairstylists #haircolor #haircolour #haircolouring #haircoloring #sgbloggers #instafashionista #sgfashionistas #シンガポール #美容室 #ヘアサロン #日本人 #スタイリスト #アッシュグレー #ロング #ロングヘア #グレー #グレージュ #ヘアカラー #ヘアスタイル #髪型 #ツヤ #カール

Top Japanese Hair Salon in SGさん(@art_noise_singapore)がシェアした投稿 – 2017年10月月7日午前6時25分PDT

The reason for the instability of permed hair, according to this source (it’s in Japanese, very sorry to anyone who wants to read more ><), is due in part to the soaking of hair in alkali during the perming process. During a perm session, natural hair is first relaxed in an alkali bath to open up the hair cuticles. This opening up of the hair cuticles, in turn, better allows the perm chemicals to be absorbed into the cortex of the hair, making the hair easier to manipulate and shape.

The process of rendering hair more malleable, however, also makes hair unstable. This is because natural hair is slightly acidic (between pH 4.5-5.5; source: Google-sensei), and soaking it in alkali -the polar opposite of an acidic substance- temporarily disturbs the chemical interactions between its constituent protein molecules. These interactions are essentially what gives rise to the shape of your hair, and the process of perming thus reshapes your hair into your desired curls by effectively breaking and subsequently allowing these interactions to reform in different configurations.

After your hair has been reshaped into beautiful curls and have had excess perm chemicals rinsed out, however, time is still required for these interactions to stabilise. Keeping in mind that the default state of hair is slightly acidic, the reforming of these interactions will inevitably take longer, as your hair will likely still be slightly alkaline post-perm, which is why we have this 24-hour no wash rule.

That said, though, the tried and tested optimal time for hair to stabilise completely is actually 48 hours. We do understand, however, that keeping hair unwashed for two days is a little unsavoury, which is why salons generally recommend at least 24 hours instead.

So there you have it, the reason for the 24-hour no wash rule

We hope this has been an educational little session for you all! And as usual, do feel free to drop us a call/SMS if you have any inquires, or if you would like to have your hair done with us!

To end things on a fun note, here is a nice clip from the movie Legally Blonde about the 24-hour perm rule!

FYI, ammonium thioglycolate, also commonly known as perm salt, is one of the common active agents used in creating the alkaline solution required to open up your cuticles in the perm process!

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