Why Are My Perms Fading Quickly? Causes & Solutions

Question
Why don't my perms last more than a few weeks? I am a healthy 68 year old woman with very fine hair. I never had perms until about8 years ago. Since then I have been using omniperm exothermic. They would last about 3 months. About 6 months ago I noticed they would only last about 2 months. The last one was 2 weeks ago, and it is already gone. What should I do?

Thanks

Jo Anne

Answer
Hi Jo Anne,

There are many things that can cause perms not to hold.

Overlapping
Mineral buildup on your hair from hard water
Not getting enough water out of the hair before applying neutralizer
Not leaving perm solution on long enough
Leaving perm so,union on too long
Not rinsing the perm solution out until you can no longer smell it before towel drying and applying neutralizer
Rinsing neutralizer out too soon
Leaving neutralizer on too long
Product build up from using the wrong shampoo for your hair type
Not wrapping the rods tight/loose enough
Product formulation changes
Hair changes over time as well

Do you see the problem? I've barely scratched the surface. Without  being able to get specific info from you, I can only guess as to why your perms aren't holding. What I can tell you is, if your hair feels normal, as though you never put a perm in it at all once it falls out, it's very likely mineral build up on your hair from hard water. That's just a guess, of course.  If there is wave and curl present when your hair is we, but it dries straight and frizzy it was either wrapped too tightly or the neutralizer was left on too long. If that's the case, there's not much you can do.  

Perms break the bonds in your hair and then glue them back together.  Only about 70% actually are repaired so overlapping perms is problematic as well.

What you can try right now is to clarify your hair and follow it with a protein treatment or two. Sometimes, it's just excess water being held in the hair shaft. Proteins will force out excess moisture, often putting the spring back in your curl.  If you a slight improvement, you can do the protein treatment again, once a week to continue to perk up the curl. I like either Insatcure by Matrix or CAT by Redken. Soy Tri Wheat conditioner from SexyHair is great for that too. You might also try a sea salt spray. KMS and SexyHair make the two I prefer to use.  


Hope hat helps. That's about all I can do without actually seeing your hair.