Saw a stylist at the county fair fix a bad perm with conditioner and a prayer

I was at the Clackamas County Fair last Saturday watching a booth demo. This stylist had a woman come up with a perm that looked like a Brillo pad. She just slathered on a ton of cheap conditioner, let it sit for 10 minutes, then rinsed and scrunched. The curls loosened up and looked way more natural. Made me realize I've been overcomplicating my repair steps at the salon. Has anyone else tried a simple conditioner soak for messed up perms instead of going straight to a relaxer?

3 comments

3 Comments

wesley_adams8d ago

Honestly the conditioner soak trick is legit for just loosening up a bad perm without frying it further. I tried it on a client last month who had a crunchy spiral perm that looked like it belonged on a poodle. Used a cheap Suave conditioner and let it sit for a solid 15 minutes before rinsing. Her curls softened up way more than I expected, no need for a relaxer. So yeah, sometimes simple fixes work better than all the expensive repair systems. You ever try this on a perm that was only a few days old?

dianaanderson7d ago

crunchy spiral perm that looked like it belonged on a poodle" - that's poetry right there. Honestly I would've paid to see that before and after, sounds like a total poodle-to-human glow up in 15 minutes flat. Reminds me of the time I tried to fix a friend's botched at-home perm with mayo and a hair dryer because I saw it on Pinterest. Spoiler: it did not work, and my bathroom smelled like a tuna sandwich for a week. So yeah, I think cheap Suave beats desperation pantry science every time.

taylorc405d agoMost Upvoted

@wesley_adams pretty much nailed it with the cheap conditioner thing. I tried that Suave trick on a perm that was only 3 days old once and it worked way better than I expected. The curls went from that tight, crunchy look to something way softer and more wearable. No need to stress the hair out with a relaxer when a 15 minute soak does the trick. I think people forget how much just adding moisture back in can fix things before going nuclear on it.