Perm Gone Wrong: Troubleshooting Brittle Waves & Hair Damage

Question
I had a professional perm done last week and it fail well sort of. It was medium length stick straight with highlights and lowlights done by the same professional. The perm came out brittle but n wave.  I've read that the hair is not surpose to be wet before the perm is set yet my hairdresser washed and then set the per while wet.  Now my hair is a mess, it was so bad it was coming out by the brushful as she was trying to style.  I've had this some hairdresser for 13 years and have never had an issue.  I've purchased some good products to try to repair my hair and I've always used Salon only products.  Did she screw up by wetting the hair first? If so should I say anything to her because we are both trying to figure out what happened.

Answer
Luanne,
 I can't imagine where you heard that, but hair should ALWAYS be shampooed with a deep cleansing or clarifying shampoo before perming. I also believe in conditioning at this time as well. And the hair would always be wrapped on the rods damp. In fact, a prewrap lotion is often used regularly during wrapping to maintain even moisture, so indeed, you were misinformed by someone.
It does however, sound like it was over-processed. I will surmise that you have a heavy highlighting with bleach and this was most likely the culprit. It's difficult to perm over bleach highlights and requires many additional considerations. The first is that you need to be certain that hair is in suitable condition to accept the process. Then it has to be done very gently. The perm used may not have been gentle enough for bleached hair, especially if it was in questionable condition to begin with. and it may have been left on too long or not rinsed thoroughly enough before neutralizing, which can also cause a damaging heat reaction which can do this. It could have been many such things.  You will want to condition well and regularly to help build your hair and treat it gently in the interim.
Best of luck to you.
Stephe (hairman)