Transcript Permanent Wave History of permanent waving

Permanent Wave
History of permanent waving
History
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
History
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
History
 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
History
 The tubes of the machine were then fitted
over the rod, and the curl was electronically “
baked in”
 1920’s the technique was modified
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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
History
 1930’s – came the cold wave and a new era in
permanent waving
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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
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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
History
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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
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Original test chemical used was palmolive
shaving soap
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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
History
 Next attempt
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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
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Chemical lotion was sprayed directly onto set
hair
10 minutes time a client had a full head of curls
History
 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
History
 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
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Her death was attributed to absorption of
ammonium sulfide
FDA immediately took the sulfide lotion off the
market
History
 1941 – a substitute was needed quickly
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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
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Store shelves of home permanents appeared
Campaigns were launched on the advantages of a
professional perm
History
 Early 1950’s – different strength per solutions
appeared
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Additives became popular
 Placenta
 Mink oil
 Wheat germ
 1952 – on rod method in neutralizing verses
splash on method
History
 1956 – finally more salon perms were
administered
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Slogans appeared everywhere
 “Professional care is best for the hair”
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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
History
 1960’s – perms and alkaline perms
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Natural styles were emphasized & straight hair
became the big look
By the 1960’s, scientific hair analysis had
made us more aware of pH
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Potential hydrogen
1965 – “reverse perm”
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Removal of undesired curl, later classified as
chemical hair straighteners
History
 Early attempts to use chemicals to reform the
hair quickly gave way to the alkaline cold
waving method that is still in use today
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This method utilizes a waving solution that is
formulated with
 Thioglycolic acid or its derivatives

Gentler curl
 Ammonium hydroxide
 Firmer curl
History
 1970’s – acid wave was developed which help
reverse the negative attitude with perming
 Today
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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”
Summary
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