How to create a perm

How to create a perm - 

Research - 

A perm 'a permanent wave' involves the use of heat or chemicals to create the curl. Using chemicals would leave the curl lasting for days, weeks and even months. founder of this style, Marcel Grateau (1852-1936) was the first person to create a pair of specially manufactured tongs in 1872. Marcel was a Swiss hairdresser working in London, England. His permanent wave machine used gas to heat the hair that had been wrapped around chemically treated pads. This caused the chemical composition of strands of straight hair to break down and form into curls. The tongs had a circular cross section and the other a concave one, so that each side would fit together when closed. To heat the tongs they placed over a gas or alcohol flame. To test the heat of the tongs they placed the tong over a sheet of newspaper: if the paper turned into a brown colour the heat was about right.

Perms were very popular from the early 80's, with fluffy feathered-back hairstyles worn by many women during this period and achieved there height in the late 80's and early 90's when it was popular to see how big and high you can get your hair. Many women would spend up to 2 hours in the morning to achieve this look. 

However, this style eventually faded in the mid 90's when the style ''grunge' took over and hairstyles that were straight and un-styled such as ponytails etc. became admired by many women. 

During the begining of the 20th century, Karl Nessler developed a machine which is close to the one we have to the present day. This method combined the chemical process with the thermal process. An alkali chemical was combined with heated brass rollers. The machine he created was capable of permanently creating a curl and many later machines has since been created to improve the curl.

My outcome - Although i didn't use any chemicals or machines i relied on the use of heat. This hairstyle doesn't necessarily emphasise the curls in the perm but shows the volume and lift the perm had. If i had used a smaller curling wand i many have reached a closer outcome to the perm however i used an average sized wand and pinned into place each curl to prevent any fall from the curl. One i had curled the whole head of hair i back combed the hair to create lift and height seen in the bottom two photographs. I would like to try out this hairstyle again using a smaller wand and see if i can reach a similar looking perm to the image at the top by only using heat and a back combing brush.