Perm Chemically Treated Hair

Hair straightening kit
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Q: I recently, "attempted," to straighten my hair chemically with {brand name withheld}, the at home straightening kit. I hate the results it has caused on my hair. It did not fry my hair by any means. It left my hair wavy, the same texture and same amount of frizz.
 
This creates even harder to manage hair. I was wondering if there was a way to get my old curl back by perming. Is it safe to perm chemically treated hair that was straightened? If so, how long will it take before I can perm it?
 
A: As long as the straightening kit does not use a hydroxide base, you can always have your curl restored via perming the hair. The product you mention uses ammonium thioglycolate which is the same formula used in permanent waves to change the wave pattern of the hair.
 
As long as your hair is undamaged and you perform a test beforehand to make sure that perming the hair won't cause damage to the hair. This is done by taking a lock of hair and immersing it in the waving solution for 20 minutes, rinsing and applying the neutralizer for 5 minutes then rinsing the hair again and drying it to view the results.
 
If the hair looks to be in reasonable condition after the exposure to the chemicals for perming the hair, you should feel confident in having your hair permed to restore your curls.
 
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See also:
 
Perms
 
Perm straightened hair to restore curl
 
Is it safe to perm straightened hair back to wavy or curly?
 
The difference between a traditional relaxer, Japanese straightening and Brazilian straightening
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