Structural transformation in practice

Today we performed the first chemical perm with oil and fixative. Exciting to finally get a real result that lasts. In the past, I've only used to roll up my hair when it's wet, then let it dry with the coils in.

The first thing we had to go through was to create a working drawing:

Here they state prerequisites such as the current hair quality, color and age, hair type, previously chemically treated and face shape. We must list how the planned result will be. Then we had to draw up which wrapping method we should use, color etc. Finally we drew how everything should look, both with division lines and location.

It is important to plan this before you start wrapping, so that you have a safe plan for everything you have to do.

The whole process starts with us having to take an analysis of the hair. Which is the most important step of them all. Without an analysis, we do not know what condition and quality of hair we are working with, and whether we can even perform a permanent. A hair quality too poor e.g. after a lot of bleaching, you may not be able to do the job, as the hair may fall/break off where it is most damaged.

The doll we had been given had chemically treated hair. It had lighter stripes, and based on that observation we had to take into account the choice of oil and the working life.

After the analysis has been completed, the hair must be washed well with cleansing shampoo twice to remove dirt, any dandruff and residues from products. Never use conditioner before a perm, but rather a treatment if necessary. We chose to use a treatment that should not be washed out, this should protect and nourish the hair during the transformation.

Since the hair will be rolled up in a damp state, we didn't need to dry the hair before we started wrapping. There are different wrapping methods for different results. We had to plan this before we started anything. We decided to carry out a classic winding, and of the four conductors we chose bass and over-conductors.

We looked for tools and started wrapping.

After the classic winding was finished, we put a towel around the neck, cotton around the head and the oil collector around the neck, now we are ready for the reduction phase.

Oil collector/cup

Then we thoroughly read the user manual. We started by applying the oil to the neck 2 times back and forth on the coil, then once more to the whole head again (4 times in total). The Permanet oil worked for 30 minutes. We put on a plastic cap to collect the heat.

The permanent oil

This phase is called the reduction phase, here we use the permanent oil which contains ammonia and thioglycolic acid. These open the shell layer and break down the bonds, including the disulfide bonds (SS). The hair attracts hydrogen and forms SH-HS groups. Now the hair can change texture according to the size and direction of the coil.

When it was nearing the end of the working time, we took a trial cap in 3 different places on the hair, to check if we had achieved the desired curling ability.

The instructions for use show that we had to rinse out the oil for 5 minutes, after which we dried the hair with paper (with the coils in).

After the coils are almost dry, we applied the fixer in the same way as the oil. But here we used ¾ of the bottle. After the working time was over, we started at the neck to carefully remove the coils, then we applied the rest of the fixation and squeezed it into the length of the hair for 1 minute. Then we rinsed the fix well and of the end but a cure to get a long-lasting result.

This phase is called the oxidation phase. The fixative contains hydrogen peroxide which removes the hydrogen atom in the SH-HS groups and forms new SS bonds in new places in the hair.

The hair has now shaped itself according to the shape of the coil. To make the customer completely finished, we finished by putting the "customer" under the hairdryer to dry the hair completely.

Fixation

Hair before blow-drying

During blow drying

THE FINISHED RESULT:)

By Sofie Eikrem.