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