Permanent Wave & Straightening

Long hair with tight curls
Photo: Mimagephotography/Shutterstock
Q: I'm a Black and Latina woman with very tight curls and a soft, fine hair texture common in Latin hair types. I previously used a permanent wave product to loosen my curls by simply combing it through for a few minutes. While this worked somewhat initially, after a few months my curls became excessively limp and lost their vitality. I waited about six months before attempting to re-perm my hair, but the treatment wouldn’t take this time.
 
Since I wasn’t satisfied with how my hair looked (it didn’t have enough body to wear down confidently), my stylist recommended straightening it. The straightening process went smoothly, but I’ve noticed that daily heat styling causes significant damage to my hair over time. Now, I find myself missing my natural curls and wondering about alternatives.
 
Do I truly need to wait for my hair to grow out completely - returning to virgin, untreated hair - before I can attempt to achieve loose curls with another permanent wave? If so, what would be the most effective method or product type for maintaining these results long-term?
 
A: If you applied the permanent wave product correctly and thoroughly neutralized the waving lotion as directed, then the product itself likely isn’t responsible for your hair’s current resistance to re-perming. What does concern me is the unspecified straightening method your stylist used, as this could be the key factor behind your assumption that you must wait for virgin hair growth before trying another wave treatment.
 
Provided your stylist avoided hydroxide-based straightening products (such as sodium hydroxide or calcium hydroxide relaxers), you should still be able to use a permanent wave solution to reintroduce curls to your hair. The limited success you experienced when attempting to re-perm may instead stem from your hair’s compromised condition rather than any fundamental incompatibility with chemical treatments.
 
To properly prepare your hair for another perm, I strongly advise implementing an intensive hair recovery plan. Begin with a series of deep conditioning treatments using a high-quality, protein-rich conditioning cream to help rebuild your hair’s structural integrity. Additionally, you should establish a consistent daily conditioning routine. While shampooing should remain an as-needed practice (reserved for when your hair is genuinely dirty), conditioning should occur every single day to maintain optimal moisture balance and elasticity.
 
After several weeks of hair rehabilitation, once your strands have regained sufficient strength and health, you should find that your hair becomes receptive to another permanent wave treatment. This would allow you to restore the soft, loose curls you desire without needing to grow out your hair first.
 
However, if your stylist did employ a hydroxide-based straightening treatment, the situation changes completely. Hydroxide relaxers permanently break and reform the hair’s disulfide bonds, creating an irreversible alteration to its natural structure. In this case, you would indeed need to wait until all chemically straightened hair has grown out completely and been trimmed away before any new curl pattern could successfully take hold. The waiting period could range from several months to over a year depending on your hair’s growth rate and current length.
 
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See also:
 
Perms
 
Hair straightening