African American Women: How to Give Your Daughter Her First Home Perm

Many African American women start giving their children perms at very young ages. The reason why is because it usually helps to make the hair a lot more manageable. But before you apply any perm to your child’s hair there are some basic rules and precautions that you will want to take. First you will not even want to think about giving your daughter a perm unless she is over the age of eight years old. Any younger and you can actually cause more damage than you think. The next thing you will want to do is make sure you do your research on finding which perm is best for your child. Most stores now carry perms that are made just for kids. These perms usually have chemicals that are weaker than some of the chemicals in perms used for adult hair. Once you have found one that you fill is suitable for your daughter you will then want to make sure that you thoroughly read through all of the directions. Even if you think you already know how to apply the perm you still will want to read and follow all of the instructions. This will not only serve as a protection for your daughter but will also make you feel more comfortable when applying the perm.

When you are ready to begin make sure that you use the latex gloves that come in most perm boxes. If for some reason there are not gloves in your box you will want to purchase some gloves prior to beginning your daughters hair. You can cause serious damage to your hands if you do not use the gloves. Most of these type of at home perms come with all the ingredients needed for the perm in separate containers. you will have to mix most of the chemicals together in order to activate the perm. Make sure that you mix it properly and thoroughly. Once this is done, you want to add the protective gel to your daughters scalp. Sometimes they forget to include the gel in the box, or they only give you a very small packet. If this happens then you can use Vaseline on your daughter scalp.

What this does is protect your daughters scalp from burning. Most children repeatedly scratch and scrub their scalp on a daily basis. What this does is leave small cuts in the scalp that will burn when the chemical is applied, which is why you will need Vaseline. The directions will usually tell you to apply the cream and Vaseline to the hairline and by the ears. I have personally found that it works better to also part the hair and add it to all of the scalp. If your daughters scalp begins to burn you will have to wash the chemical out immediately. By applying enough cream you will be able to let the perm stay on longer, and will help to make her hair straighter.

Once you have parted the hair and are applying the chemical, make sure you work as quickly as possible. You will also wan to make sure that you apply this chemical only to the new growth. If you apply this to the old growth you can damage the hair and it may end up breaking off. After it is applied you can use the shampoo provided in the kit to wash out the chemical. It usually is color coded and will show if you still have any chemical left in the hair. It is very important to make sure you completely wash it all out, and stick to the time set in the directions. Any longer can cause damage to your daughters scalp and hair. If this process is done properly and all of the directions are followed precisely your daughter will be happy with her perm and you will be happy with your work. If you are too nervous about applying the perm yourself, then you can take your daughter to a salon and have them do it. You will want to make sure that you keep a close eye one whoever is applying the perm to your daughters hair. You never know what may happen and you want to make sure you daughter is not hurt.