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Have Dry, Frizzy Hair After a Perm? | Try This

Worried about dry, frizzy hair after a perm? You probably have a fun story to go along with your hesitation. If you’ve ever had to deal with this common side effect, don’t worry. We’ll show you how to avoid the problem below.

Worried About Dry, Frizzy Hair After a Perm? Try This.

Woman screaming because she has dry frizzy hair after a perm

UfaBizPhoto/Shutterstock

The perm process alters your hair. If you’ve gotten a perm, then the structure of your hair is going to be different. So if you’ve had straight hair all your life, you won’t have straight hair anymore.

To avoid dry and frizzy hair after getting a perm, follow these tips:

  1. Don’t wash it
  2. Don’t brush it
  3. Find good shampoo and conditioner
  4. Protein treatment
  5. Coconut oil mask
  6. Let your hair air dry
  7. Styling products matter
  8. Don’t heat style

In a few easy steps, you can prevent your hair from going frizzy after your perm. And if you’ve already experienced some frizz or drying out, then following these steps will help you manage and salvage your perm before it’s too late. 

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How to Avoid Dry, Frizzy Hair After Perm in 8 Easy Steps

The perm is a classic hairstyle that people have been requesting for decades. Depending on the type of perm you get and your hair care routine, your perm might last anywhere from three months to six months.

If your hair grows fast, that can affect your perm as well. Knowing what to do when dry, frizzy hair plagues you after a perm will help make the process a whole lot easier.

If you’re concerned that you’ve ruined your hair for good, don’t panic. There are some simple solutions that you can do from the comfort of your own home. The great thing about the perm is that it is manageable.

If you’re experiencing dry or frizzy hair after your perm, try not to panic. You can do a few things to get it back on the right track and keep it looking fresh and bouncy. 

1. Don’t Wash It

It’s always exciting to get a new hairdo, and nothing looks quite as lovely as a perm. Those tight curls or wavy locks would be attractive to anyone who endured straight hair their entire life. Who wouldn’t want to mix it up a little bit?

The worst thing you can do for your perm is wash your hair immediately after getting it styled. Generally, hairstylists recommend waiting at least 24 hours before you wash your hair. And if you can go a full 48 hours without washing it, that’s even better. 

The chemicals used in the perm require a certain amount of time to set in your hair and take hold. If you wash your hair too soon, you can damage the chemicals and increase the amount of frizz. 

If you’re someone who likes to wash their hair every day, it might be difficult to hold out for so long. But trust me, the results are going to make it all worthwhile. When your hairstylist says don’t wash your hair, you better believe they know what they’re talking about.  

2. Don’t Brush It

Next to washing your hair inside the 48-hour window, the worst thing you can do for your perm is brush it. There are other ways to detangle hair, and it’s highly recommended that you use those methods as opposed to brushing.

When you brush your hair, you’re pulling the curls apart and damaging them. Not only does brushing ruin the look of your perm, but it can increase your hair’s frizziness. The chemical process that alters your hair’s structure.

So it’s pretty common to have dry or frizzy hair after the perm. And if any of your hair is delicate or sensitive after the perm, brushing those strands can severely damage them. 

Read Next: How to Get Rid of Frizzy Hair?

3. Find Good Shampoo and Conditioner

Moisturizing your hair after a perm is one of the best things you can do for your your new ‘do. Once those critical 48 hours have passed, shampooing with a great shampoo will help keep your hair hydrated and vitalized over the long seasons of life. 

If you can find a good nourishing shampoo, that’s going to be your best option. It will help keep your hair healthy, fight off dryness, and keep the frizziness at bay.

The best thing to do is find a conditioner that’s made for people with naturally curly hair. It will help your perm last longer and will help prevent or reverse the damage. Along those same lines, it will do you a great deal of good to have a hydrating conditioner as well.

Since the perm might damage your hair a little, it’s very important to keep your hair healthy and properly moisturized. Applying conditioner every time you shampoo will go a long way toward keeping your hair healthy after a perm. 

You might even invest in a leave-in conditioner. If you’ve never used a leave-in conditioner before, using it on your perm is the perfect place to start. 

4. Protein Treatment

Finding ways to manage your hair post-perm can feel like a labor of love. On the one hand, you adore how your hair looks after your perm. But on the other hand, it seems like it only lasts a day before it gets dry, frizzy, and un-perm-like.

When you get a perm, you’re essentially having chemicals applied to your hair that break down the hair’s naturally protective layers, exposing the strands to dryness. Your strands are easier to break in this vulnerable state, and frizziness is natural.

A protein treatment (also called a keratin treatment) helps keep your hair healthy in the midst of all that. A protein treatment is more than just a moisturizing treatment. It helps repair damaged hair and helps it stay healthy and structured. 

Hair will lose strength in the face of certain styling practices, like perms and hair relaxers. A protein treatment helps bolster your hair. It can maintain its structure and strength, making it healthier and for longer. 

5. Coconut Oil Mask

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that coconut oil can be used in just about anything. Whether you’re struggling to lose weight or you want to whiten your teeth, coconut oil has probably been recommended at one point or another.

Regardless of how well it works for those other things, a coconut oil is good for hair, as it’s a highly effective way to hydrate your hair after a perm and help keep the frizz away. Coconut oil is rich in vitamins and minerals like vitamin E.

For this reason, it can help keep your hair healthy and hydrated after the chemical perm process. So if you feel like your hair has dried out, try rubbing some coconut oil in. Coconut oil is a great solution to dry or frizzy hair after a perm.

Not only does it keep your hair smelling nice, but it won’t affect the perm at all. So it can hydrate and heal your hair without making it all pointless. But make sure you wash it out. Leaving coconut oil in your hair for days is a bad idea.

6. Let Your Hair Air Dry

Never use a towel to dry your permed hair. Never. Using a towel on permed hair is one of the absolute worst things you can do. A towel will make any hair problems that you’re having worse. 

Towels are rough, and your hair is in a delicate state after getting a perm. If you use a towel to dry your hair, you risk contributing to the breakage of your hair. You want to do things that will help your hair heal, not hurt it more. 

After you get a perm, let your hair air dry. Air drying is the best thing, even when you don’t have a perm. If you have a microfiber towel or an old cotton T-shirt, you can use that to gently scrunch your hair. But that’s all you should do.

Read Next: How to Plop Your Hair

7. Styling Products Matter

The products you put in your hair are going to contribute to how healthy your hair is. After a perm, you’ve already seen that your hair is in a delicate state. So using harsh products is going to hurt your hair and make the damage worse.

Some curling mousse will help keep your hair styled and hydrated, as well as protect any fragile strands that are still suffering after the perm. A nutrient-risk mask or leave-in styler will help restore needed nutrients. 

And you can almost always find some kind of curl-protecting cream that’s rich in vitamins, minerals, and hydrating qualities. 

8. Don’t Heat Style

Stay away from heat after a perm. Heat can be really bad for your hair as it is, so with the added element of the chemicals from a perm, you can do serious damage to your hair if you try to heat style it after a perm.

This includes blow-drying your hair. The heat from the blow dryer might not seem like all that much. But in the long run, you’re making the dry and frizzy hair worse. Not only that, but the heat will loosen your curls and potentially ruin your style.

Some kind of heat protectant is your best bet to keep your hair healthy and strong after getting a perm. But if you can avoid heat completely, that will do your hair the most good.

Read Next: Ways to Use Heatless Curls

Frequently Asked Questions

Gorgeous young woman who did not have dry frizzy hair after a perm

Olga Ekaterincheva/Shutterstock

With these eight simple steps, you can keep the dry, frizzy hair healthy and hydrated after a perm. There are some other things worth considering if you’re experiencing dry or frizzy hair after your perm. Let’s look at some of the common questions people ask:

How long does a dry perm last?

If you take good care of your perm, you can make it last for a long while. Typically, a perm will last three to six months. However, this is entirely dependent on your hair care routine and how committed you are to keeping it up.

Should my hair be wet for my perm?

You want your hair to be damp when you get a perm. You don’t want it wet.

Can I put my hair up with a perm?

After you get a perm, leave your hair down and loose for as long as possible – at least for a couple of days. Then, when you put it up, avoid tight elastic or clips to keep your sperm healthy.

What is a loose perm?

A loose perm is similar to a regular perm, but it sets your hair in loose waves instead of tight curls.

Are perms low-maintenance?

A traditional perm takes quite a bit of upkeep. Especially within the first few days, you have to care for it diligently to make sure it sets and lasts.

So, How Do You Fix Dry Frizzy Hair After a Perm?

There are a few simple ways to fix dry and frizzy hair after a perm. A perm is a chemical treatment, so keeping your hair healthy and hydrated is the best way to enjoy your perm and make sure your hair is happy.