Aveda Institute Perm Hairstyle

So I did it.  I went and got a perm to resolve my frustration with the flatness of my hair.  As you can guess, I went to the Aveda Institute (previously blogged) but with some trepidation.  After all, a perm is much more difficult than a haircut or wax.  Plus I had gotten a perm before and hated how I looked (too much volume).  However the perm at Aveda Institute for my hair was only $45 so my frugality won out.  Thankfully my stylist was great and her instructors constantly was walking around and checking up on us.

In the end, my stylist gave me exactly what I wanted.  A perm that resembled a beach wave more than tight curls!  The whole experience only took 3 hours (though I was scheduled for 4).

For information on what was used on me...

The stylist used teal-colored rod, which is one of the bigger sizes.  This helped me get my beach wave rather than corkscrew or tight curls.

I had what they called high resistant hair cuticles, so it effected the Aveda perm box that was used for me.  I got strong willed - pink box.

What to expect: I had my hair washed then curled around the perm rods.  That took around an hour.  After all of that was in place, my hair was soaked in the actual chemical that activates my hair to hold onto these curls.  It took about half an hour to set, with my stylist checking every 5 minutes.  She was very good about that even though we were talking.  Afterwards, we rinsed the chemical out of my hair and we put in another mixture that neutralizes the active chemical that was curling my hair.  After letting that sit for another five minutes, we ended the perm session with a final wash.  Then you get your normal service of a style and blowdrying (with a diffuser).  The picture for after was taken with spray in my hair and while it was still damp.