Nothing boosts your confidence like a good old hairstyle. And if it’s permanent, there’s no maintenance hassle too. A perm is a way to go if you’re bored of your hair and looking for something long-term, even when you get out of the shower.
Article summary
The most common types of perms include loose curls, long hair, and spiral ones. Each different type will have its place where it looks the best.
Some of the other options and topics we’ll cover include the following:
- Ombre effect
- Windswept
- Products to use
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Let’s look at all the different types of perms: loose curls for long hair, spiral, and more.
What is a perm?
A perm is short for a permanent hairstyle. It involves treatment of anywhere from 2 hours to 5 hours. The treatment is used to break down particles of your hair. The result is your natural texture changing into your desired style. Typically, your perm should last you about three to six months with care.
Types
You can get several different types of perms to change up your look! Back in the day, limited options were costly to achieve. With the number of resources, you can practically get a makeover overnight at your home!
Let’s look at all the variety to choose from.
Body wave
No, it’s not anything like the dance move. But yes, it does add some bounce to your hair’s body. With the body wave, you’re looking at adding a little bit of wavy texture to otherwise very straight or boring hair.
For four to five months, you can expect a full-body wave style that will make you look stunning.
Straight
Also known as a reverse perm, this one is for those with wavy or curly hair types but who desires a sleek look. The bonds in your strands are broken down and cause them to look sleek and shiny from without.
Nowadays, this process is also achieved through Rebonding or Smoothening.
Spiral perms
The spiral type has been one of the most popular since the heydays of perming. You can expect tight neat tiny curls with this style. Since this style will require a lot of chemicals to be used, it is best suited for those with healthy hair. This means your strands shouldn’t be brittle. It’s not for those who are suffering from hair loss or hair fall issues.
Multi-textured
If you’re looking for a change in your hairstyle but also want to go offbeat, a multi-textured look is a way to go. This look is achieved by using many rods of varying lengths and sizes. Keep in mind that you’ll need an expert stylist for this one. It’s difficult to achieve at home by yourself unless you are quite the pro!
Stacked
It’s the most natural-looking one there is! Since curly-haired women do not usually have hair that gets curly from the roots themselves, a stacked perm looks quite realistic. Here the style involves straight hair from the roots and curls towards the ends of the length of hair. Long hair of equal lengths is preferable for this hairstyle as the look that will be achieved will already be of layered style.
Spot
Just like it sounds, a spot perm curls only one section of your tresses permanently. If you’ve got a layered haircut, you can get the curls on one layer of your hair. This adds a little bounce without too much hassle and volumizes it instantly.
Root
Add volume to your tresses by only curling the roots. This is especially useful when your hair is thinning out and making your face look flat. It can also act as a touch-up for a previous perm that is now growing out.
Volumizing
No visible curls, just good old bounce to the hair. A volumizing perm is perfect for those looking to achieve the best volume without a complete change in hairstyle. Just add a lift of bounce with this type, and you don’t have to worry about maintaining it for another 4-5 months!
What is the loosest option?
Beach waves are very loose curls that will look natural. If you want something less loose, you can go for stacked curls. They start a couple of inches below the roots with large curls, unlike spirals.
Multi-textured
A variated style that uses multiple sizes of rods. It achieves a natural look since not all strands are uniformly curled. The variety comes in not only the rod sizes but also how it can be achieved. You can use rods or fabrics or even rollers.
Partial perm
Also known as spot perm, this type is unique as it only targets a specific section of your hair. If you’ve got layers in your hair, you can choose to add curls to only one layer. Or you can target just the roots for volume in thin-looking hair. Or you can only curl the ends of your tresses.
The validity is about three to six months. The treatment will. However, take just as much time as a full perm. You can expect to be in the salon for three to five hours.
Options that don’t damage your hair
There are a couple of options you can go for in damage-free perms. Thioglycolate is a harmful chemical that is used in the effective perming of hair. Without this, it is difficult to achieve a long-lasting result. Nowadays, there are options like natural perming with only natural ingredients and no parabens or sulfates.
You can also opt for styles in perming that use fewer chemicals and hence cause less damage. For example, a digital perm will use solutions that have milder chemicals than thioglycolates. It will last only 3-4 months but you’ll be satisfied knowing it hasn’t caused much harm.
Spiral types
Spiral perms were all the rage back in the ’90s and ’80s. Getting a perm back then was a luxury and not one many could afford. The tell-tale sign of a prosperous life was then a perm.
Tight spirals curls were all the rage back then but are also sported nowadays.
You can choose the tightness of your curls and the type of spiral perm.
Regular spiral
The typical 90’s perm. This one is a tight style that leaves your locks super curly and full of volume. The process can take up to 5 hours for the treatment to finish.
Ombre effect
Give your spiral perm an even more trending look. You’ll look like a hundred bucks with a new color at the bottom.
Windswept
You can also experiment by giving your spiral perm a brush through. Once you do this, the result is a windswept look like on a beach or atop a hill. Keep your tresses to one side and see the magic.
