It was finally time for a perm!
Almost all of my damaged hair had grown out, and I had enough new growth to get a perm using white perm rods. Unlike the earlier perms that I have reported on this page, this would be the first time in many years that I had gotten a perm on the same size rods as the curls that I wanted for my everyday style.
The stylist that I visited for this had been gradually getting my hair ready for this, gradually trimming the damaged ends and applying gentle corrective coloring to even things out and cover the grey portions of my hair.
I began the day early in the morning, and traveled to the city where the salon is located while taking pictures for another hobby interest of mine. I also had a meeting to attend that evening, and so was burdened with my camera equipment and a change of clothes. When I arrived at that city, I unexpectedly met some friends of mine who were there for the same purpose! I spent the time there before my appointment with them, taking pictures, having some of them developed, and having lunch. They then drove me to the salon for my 2:30 p.m. appointment.
I was greeted in the reception area by the stylist, who was playing a card game on her computer while she was waiting. We discussed the perm and the resulting style that I wanted, and she escorted me back to the salon area of her store. She then draped me, and shampooed my hair in the shampoo bowl. Then she trimmed some of the ends of my hair, proceeded to set it in white perm rods. She said that she would have preferred to set it in the next larger size rods, which I had never had done before, but my hair wasn't yet long enough for that.
Then came the usual processing procedures, which I have experienced many times over the years. She applied the permanent solution to each rod, and covered them with a clear plastic cap. Then, after the time for the process had ellapsed, she removed the cap and rinsed my head in the shampoo bowl. Then she applied the neutralizer, and had me lean back in the shampoo bowl while it acted. She took the above picture of me in that position. After the time for that, she rinsed the neutralizer from my head and removed the perm rods. The two pictures below are front and back views of me after the rods had been removed, but before she had finished the style.
The finished style was created by gently blow drying my hair. The resulting curls were about what I wanted, and I should be able to "wash and wear" my hair into a curly style in the future.
I changed into the clothes that I would wear to the meeting later that night, paid the stylist, and left for a trip by train to the meeting in San Francisco.
This page last updaged: December 17, 1998
