Greasy Permed Hair and Bounce

Short permed hair
Photo: Stockyimages/Shutterstock
Q: Is it true that permed hair is always greasy and oily and you have to put some liquid in it every time it gets wet to keep it curly? Or does it just bounce back into place?
 
A: Actually, it is far more common to find that permed hair is dry and rough (and brittle) rather than greasy or oily. The reason most people have to use extra product is to seal in moisture to combat the dryness.
 
However, when the hair is healthy and the perm is processed properly, the hair responds to light conditioners and the curl results are soft, bouncy and attractive.
 
The perm you may be thinking of was referred to as a Jheri-Curl, named for the creator of the process, Jheri Redding. Redding was an innovator and inventor in the hair and beauty field and is the creator of not only the Jheri-Curl process, but of staples like "cream rinse" products.
 
The Jheri-Curl was designed as an alternative for African-Americans to the traditional relaxer process. The Jheri-Curl was a perm process that took the tightly kinked hair of the African-ethnic individuals and reshaped it into smooth curls. Because the African-ethnic hair was so coarse, the issue of dryness and brittleness was increased, and therefore the Jheri-Curl formula included an "activator" which was a thick, spray-in conditioning agent that saturated the hair and kept the curls moist and shiny-looking. Of course, the always-damp hair was prone to leaving residues and stains wherever it contacted fabrics, or absorptive material.
 
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See also:
 
Perms and perming
 
The Jheri Curl
 
How to maintain a perm
 
My hair always gets oily when I straighten it. Why is this?
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