Hair straightening techniques are amazing and all, but some can impart damage to your hair as well. So, you should choose a permanent hair straightening salon carefully. Here is everything you need to know about permanent hair straightening and how it can lead to brittle and dry hair.

What Is Permanent Hair Straightening?

Straight hair is a style statement and a lot of women want to achieve that prim and sleek hairstyle. Well, there is a way by which even the curliest of curly hair can be tamed into a sleek and straight mane. This is all thanks to permanent hair straightening, more commonly known as perm. There are different types of permanent hair straightening. Nonetheless, perm is where it all started and it’s considered to be the pioneer of permanent straightening hair.

Now, the general and common question which may take residence in your mind would be: How? What happens in permanent hair straightening which leads to silky and straight hair? Well, the main gist of perm is that it involves the application of a special protein-breaking treatment in your hair. This treatment is what breaks down the protein bonds in your hair.

Your hair is textured and in a certain way, because of these protein bonds in the follicles and the perm treatment breaks down and dissolves all kinds of bonds in your hair, leaving them unstructured and straight.

After this treatment is applied for an hour or two, depending on the curliness of your hair, a neutralizing treatment is applied. The job of a neutralizer is to seal the newly made bonds in your hair and this is what makes a perm permanent. A neutralizer is also left in your hair for an hour or so, and then the treatments are rinsed.

Now that your hair is completely rinsed and clean, then comes the final step and that is fusing the treatment and neutralizer in your hair with a hot flat iron. The heat from the flat iron will make your hair sleek and straight and you will get the desired look.

A perm takes anywhere between 2 to 3 hours to be fully complete and the result will be sleek and straight hair, which a lot of women love.

Side Effects Of Permanent Hair Straightening

Here are some very obvious side effects of permanently straightening your hair:

Hair Damage

Permanent hair straightening is not a walk in the park. It will lead to immense damage and dryness in your hair. The constant use of heat on your hair, along with the harsh treatments which are applied during straightening, are enough to make your hair look dull, dry, and super damaged.

The main culprit in the hair straightening treatment, as well as the neutralizer, is formaldehyde. This is what breaks down the hair bonds and makes your mane look straight, but this is also the very thing that can lead to a lot of damage to your hair. This is one of the reasons why this treatment is not very popular among women because nothing is worth damaging your hair permanently.

Split Ends Are The Norm

The first signs of hair damage are usually dryness at the tips, which can then translate into the formation of split ends. Split ends can really damage your hair and it can affect the growth of the hair as well. It will make your hair look very dull and dry and there’s no other solution for split ends other than chopping your hair off.

This can be quite scary for a lot of women because substantial length in the hair is always appreciated and you have to cut it all off, otherwise your existing hair will look extremely damaged and dry, even from afar.

You Can’t Dye Your Hair

Another huge drawback of permanently straightening your hair is the fact that you can’t dye your hair. Your hair is already pretty weak and brittle after the permanent hair straightening treatment and you don’t want to put an even bigger toll on your hair, by dyeing it with chemical hair dyes.

It’s not recommended because you can’t give up on dyeing and changing your hair for the sake of keeping it straight. There are a lot of other treatments which are way more forgiving when it comes to dyeing or coloring on straight hair like keratin treatment. You can color your hair after about 3 weeks of keratin straightening.

Appearance Of Frizz

Frizz is also another common sign of hair damage. If you’ve seen some of your hair, from your temples or the top of your head sticking out, then this is a sign of frizz. This can be the result of permanently straightening your hair if you don’t take care of the hair well enough.

Frizz happens when your hair is extremely dry and it can lead to the hair follicles being unruly and out of control. So, leave your hair straightening treatments to a keratin treatment salon Rockville where hairstylists take care of hair perfectly.

Hair Loss

Another very alarming side effect of permanent hair straightening is general hair fall and loss, in worse cases. Hair fall is very common in these vigorous treatments. Your hair is not going to be healthy after the fact and there’s going to be a substantial amount of hair fall. Your hair follicles are not strong enough to hold their own and even the slightest tug can lead to immense hair breakage and damage. That thought alone is quite scary for women.

This treatment is not a replenishing one, that’s for sure, but sometimes people can underestimate the damage it can do to your hair until it’s too late.

Dry And Itchy Scalp

Formaldehyde is used in the straightening treatment and the neutralizer isn’t going to replenish and nourish your scalp. It will do the opposite to your hair and scalp. Some people have a sensitivity to formaldehyde and their scalps can’t take the effects of the chemical substance. This causes the scalp to get dry and itchy.

This is not a good sign at all and you need to seek serious help in this case. You shouldn’t go for this treatment if your scalp is sensitive, because it will do more bad than good.

Less Hair Growth

Last but not least, with permanent hair straightening, you are not only allowing the existing hair to be dry and damaged but the hair growth will be affected as well. The hair that will grow will be brittle and weak too and that’s because your scalp is not healthy after the treatment.

The straightening treatment can really take a toll on your scalp and hair health and from this point onwards, your hair just won’t be the same anymore. It will be permanently damaged and dry, not to mention brittle, and extremely hard to manage as well.

Conclusion

There you have it! Permanent hair straightening isn’t healthy for your hair, considering the fact that it breaks down the hair follicles and makes your hair look sleek and straight. A lot of post-treatment damage repair is required to salvage your hair. If you want permanently straight hair and don’t want the side effects, choose a reputed Brazilian keratin salon Rockville where the stylists use products that are the least damaging to your hair.