A: The term is actually a “cowlick” (not colic or collick) and comes from the old wives’ tale that a child’s hair grew in an odd direction because his or her
head was licked by a cow as a babe. Cowlicks, whorls and hair-flows are all growth patterns that can be problematic when styling the
hair. They are caused by hair follicles that grow at odd angles compared to the rest of the hair of the head.
Cowlicks are generally found in the forehead or crown area of the head. When perming the hair, you
have to take the finished style into consideration when deciding on how to wrap the perm over a cowlick. If the style is meant to be a
curly perm (lots of curl and volume all over) then wrap the hair so that the curl will form to hang over the cowlick and avoid creating
a “hole” in the hairstyle.
Just remember that as soon as the new hair growth emerges, you will see the “cowlick” (or whichever
growth pattern you’re dealing with) begin to reform. This can inadvertently distort the style by causing the curls to stick out higher
in the area of the cowlick. You may even need to re-perm the hair a little more frequently, depending on the severity of the problem.
Just remember that with any perm, you want to wrap the hair around the rods neatly, with minimal
tension. Because perming the hair can be harsh, a tightly wrapped perm is more likely to cause breakage in fine or porous hair. The hair
should wrapped smoothly with no loose strands and no fishhooks (bends in the ends of the hair from being reversed around the rod when
wrapping the hair).
