My first Practical... Perms!

First of all.......... WHY WOULD YOU START BRAND NEW STUDENTS OUT DOING FREAKING PERMS. THIS SHIT IS HARD!!!!

Shouldn't we have started with learning  how to brush, section, shampoo, condition and blow dry hair? I mean honestly i didn't even know how to hold my comb correctly and they hand me this huge kit with 120 different rods of every color and some little papers and a comb n their like " oh hey here, roll up a perm!" RIDICULOUS~!

 That being said, My teacher is pretty good and she did explain and teach us how to do this perm very well.
So what is a perm anyway? A perm is a type of CHEMICAL TEXTURE SERVICE that adds a wave or curl to the hair. To understand how a perm works, you must first understand that there are 3 layers to each strand of hair.

•  The Cuticle is the exterior layer of the hair. It surrounds the inner layers  and protect the hair from damage.

• The Cortex is the middle layer of hair beneath the cuticle. The cortex is responsible for strength and elasticity of human hair.

     BREAKING THE SIDE BONDS OF THE CORTEX IS WHAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO CHANGE THE NATURAL WAVE PATTERN OF THE HAIR.

• The Medulla is also known as the pith or core and is the innermost layer of the hair and may be missing in fine hair.

 The next thing you must understand ( which i still don't, I'm just saying... y'all should~ )

 HOW pH WORKS IN TEXTURE SERVICES...

       I'm not going to sit here and pretend like i fully understand it because i don't. Honestly. what i gather is that there is a scale from 0 to 14. Obviously 7 being the middle. The lower numbers on the scale represents the pH being more alcidic and 7 and above being more alkaline. THE NORMAL pH OF HAIR AND SKIN IF 5. Something about how the scale is measuring the quantity of hydrogen ions.

I feel like Channing Tatum in 21 Jump street when he is Ap class and he KNOWS NOTHING and hes like ...." So0o whats this school say about covalent bonds" YEAH! That's me. 

I have always been the type of person that strictly and simply DOES NOT CARE HOW IT WORKS... JUST THAT IT WORKS. PERIOD! Clearly that's not how its gonna go down in cosmetology school because you STRICTLY and SIMPLY  have to know how it works in order to perform it correctly.

   Here's what I understand. Chemical texturizers raise the pH balance to a more alkaline state that softens and swells the hair, breaking through the cuticle to the cortex where reconstruction can begin.

Sadly, there is this whole next section concerning amino acids, peptide bonds, polypeptide chains, keratin proteins, side bonds, disulphide bonds, salt bonds, and hydrogen bonds annnnnnd how it all relates to each other. This is building blocks of hair. I'm sorry. I don't care. I know i need to. But i just don't get it. They want you to know what each one of those words is made up of and how it is broken or bonded to what. And since we learned this section the only word from the above listed that i have ever even heard brought up again is the disulphide bonds. So at a later date,  I will go back and re read this section and probably have to make myself some of those Styrofoam circle things with tooth pics to really understand how it all works. ( what? I'm a visual person..... plus I love arts and crafts and who doesn't like playing with Styrofoam????? ) 
 Now to the good stuff. PERMANENT WAVING is 2 steps.

• First a Physical Change ( being rolled up into rods) and then a 

• Chemical Change ( adding the solution )

  There are several different rods shapes sizes and styles to roll up in which i am not going to get into here. Each one that i learn i will post.
So for a Croquinole Perm we section the hair into 9 parts. From the top of the ear straight over the top of the head to the other ear. And then from the top of the ear around the back of the head to the top of the hair. Leaving you with 3 sections.
 Then starting at the base of the forehead you measure your sections by the length of the rod straight back. BAM now you have your three sections up top. and you do the same for the middle and nape regions. NINE SECTIONS.
 Go back to where you made your first section, decided whether you want your rods ON BASE OFF BASE OR HALF OFF BASE.  ( ask if you don't know cause this thing is getting lengthy and my hands are tired) 
Make your sectioning straight across and only as wide as the diameter of the rod in which you are using.

wet hair, add end wraps, ROLL IT UP! Move straight down the middle section and then to the right side and down left side and down then the left and right front section. It is important to roll it right and roll it tight because however you roll it.... when you add the solution, that is how it is going to come out. I thought about half assing mine and just making it look nice but really it was going to be crappy because it really takes such a long time to do. But i decided to actually do it right.

Okay once it is rolled up, It should look like this...

 So this is the physical change that takes place. Next you add the solution.

which like we said is going in and breaking bonds and junk and raising the pH of the hair to a more alkaline state and is forcing the hair to soften and swell. 

How long you allow the solution to sit on the hair depends on the hair but no mroe than 20 minutes. You rinse for 10 minutes KEEPING THE RODS IN. And then add the neutralizer. YOU MUST ADD NEUTRALIZER. This goes in an repairs the broken bonds locking in the form that the hair has taken due to the rods. let this sit depending on brand and other factors no more than 15 minutes. Rinse thoroughly and remove rods. Towel Blot. DO NOT WASH FOR 3 DAYS OR PERM WILL WASH OUT. ( can you tell im getting lazy... yeah yeah i know. shitty )

 here's the end result though....