Permanent Wave - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Permanent Wave

History of permanent waving

People have attempted permanent waving since Egyptians & Romans, but were not successful.

It was not until the 20th century, in 1905, that three professional permanent wave methods introduced a new art & science in cosmetology

Cold waving has almost become a specialty service because of the technical knowledge & practice it demands

• 1905 – first perm machine designed by
• Charles Nessler
• 1906 introduced in London
• Machine permanent required electricity
• to heat large metal clamps that were placed
• over client’s hair
• Not efficient, too much equipment
• Oblong heating devices hung suspended

by cords & wires from a chandelier-like

structure

• Women sitting underneath these contraptions had their hair covered with a chemical paste and wound around metal rods, starting from the scalp and working downward
• These units were heated during the perm process
• They were kept from touching the scalp by a complex system of counterbalancing weights, suspended from an overhead chandelier mounted on a stand

• The tubes of the machine were then fitted over the rod, and the curl was electronically “ baked in”
• 1920’s the technique was modified
• Hair was now wrapped from the ends up to the scalp in a method called “ croquignole waving
• Created by Robert Bishinger, a beautician from Pittsburgh, PA

• 1930’s – came the cold wave and a new era in permanent waving
• Chemicals instead of heat were used to process the hair
• First cold waves took 6 – 8 hours for completion at room temperature
• Term ‘overnight’ wave became popular
• 1932 first machineless permanent wave
• Originally designed by a hairdresser in Pennsylvania
• This design removed the risk of electrical burn or shock, and didn’t require the use of a bulky piece of machinery
• External heat was generated through a chemical process & preheated clamps

• Soft, small pads containing an exothermic (heat producing) mixture were wound around hair strands
• Hot clamps kept the pad in place while the curl was processed
• 1934-1st attempt w/out heat
• Original test chemical used was palmolive shaving soap
• Strand of hair was cut from scalp
• Saturated w/ shaving soap
• Wound around nail
• Placed in aluminum foil to keep from drying out
• 3 days later- unrolled & showed definite curl
• Curl retained even after shampoo

• Next attempt
• Waving lotion for heat waving,w/out heating the lotion
• Chemicals in the waving lotion softened the hair
• Lasted 6-8 hours instead of 3 days
• 1938, Arnold F.Willat – birth of cold waving
• Chemical lotion was sprayed directly onto set hair
• 10 minutes time a client had a full head of curls

• Willat found that during the treatment hair was hydrolyzed – the protein of the hair was chemically made to combine with water instead of simply getting wet.
• This process often caused many hair cells to break down & as a result the hair would break off when unrolled from the rod
• Cold wave lotion, because of its low temperature, was not nearly as damaging as the heated alternative

• Women could undergo repeated cold wave perms with little or no damage to their hair
• The secret was not in the application of heat, but in the chemicals themselves
• 1940 – first commercial perm
• 1941 a woman undergoing a perm died
• Her death was attributed to absorption of ammonium sulfide
• FDA immediately took the sulfide lotion off the market

• 1941 – a substitute was needed quickly
• Thioglycolate appeared in the salons and worked just as well as its sulfide predecessor
• 1948 FDA ruled that the new lotion was safe, and permanent waving enjoyed an even bigger surge of popularity
• 1946 – salon owners became concerned
• Store shelves of home permanents appeared
• Campaigns were launched on the advantages of a professional perm

• Early 1950’s – different strength per solutions appeared
• Additives became popular
• Placenta
• Mink oil
• Wheat germ
• 1952 – on rod method in neutralizing verses splash on method

• 1956 – finally more salon perms were administered
• Slogans appeared everywhere
• “Professional care is best for the hair”
• TONI – the famous slogan “Which twin has the Toni?” ad landed the Toni Home Permanent Company in court when it was discovered that both twins had had their hair done in a salon, which charged $15 per treatment, as opposed to the $2 cost of a home perm
• Toni was ordered to refrain from further false advertising

• 1960’s – perms and alkaline perms
• Natural styles were emphasized & straight hair became the big look
• By the 1960’s, scientific hair analysis had made us more aware of pH
• Potential hydrogen
• 1965 – “reverse perm”
• Removal of undesired curl, later classified as chemical hair straighteners

• Early attempts to use chemicals to reform the hair quickly gave way to the alkaline cold waving method that is still in use today
• This method utilizes a waving solution that is formulated with
• Thioglycolic acid or its derivatives
• Gentler curl
• Ammonium hydroxide
• Firmer curl

• 1970’s – acid wave was developed which help reverse the negative attitude with perming
• Today
• Although thioglycolic acid or a derivative is still the basic ingredient, the free ammonia or excess alkali is eliminated from the formula
• This does not end the history of permanent waving because of continual exploration for the “perfect curl”

• Charles Nessler invented the perm machine capable of producing “permanent” curl in hair
• 1st perms were called heat waves because heat and strong alkali produced the curl
• 1930 cold wave introduced
• Today – acid waves popular because they have a lower pH than the cold waves and produce a more natural looking curl