The Worst Hair Day:

[fruittbatt]

I have been blessed with a shocking thick mop of semi-curly hair in this lifetime. As an impatient and busy person who can't be bothered with hours of hair-brushing, I have usually worn my hair short for convenience. In Thailand I have found it very difficult to find any hairdresser who can do excellent colour and a sympathetic style-cut. There have been some laughable disasters, including chemical haircuts.

After two years of fiascos, I hit on the modish idea of a perm, which would allow me to grow my hair, comb it through a few times a day, and look as great as possible for a middle-aged woman. For two months I was the proud owner of bouncy auburn tresses...until yesterday. I'd had the colour re-done a week ago, and the boss-hairdresser at a salon popular with farang ladies, advised that I could now go ahead with having the perm re-done.

When the wraps and rollers were off, nearly all the colour had leached from my hair, and it was dead straight and horribly dry. I suspect the hairdresser may have used straightening lotion instead of perming solution....

The Thai hairdresser was as crestfallen (pun intended) as I was, but had no explanation. He re-colored my hair free of charge & today I had it cut and intensively conditioned with a "vitamin".

Has anyone had a similar experience or do you know anything about hair chemistry and what may have gone wrong?...would like to avoid a similar occurrence in future.

[cathyy]

Straightening and perming solutions are the same thing. They break the chemical bonds in the hair shaft and then let them reform with the hair being held in the new shape. It sounds like the solution was just too strong for your hair and damaged it too much for it to reform strong bonds. The week wait after the color was absolutely the standard wait. I don't expect the stylist is using a henna based color? Henna coats hair and will keep a perm from "taking." But it sounds like the cuticle is damaged and not holding the color in, so I'm beting on damaged hair. Your best bet will be to cut it off, but until that is practical oil treatments and 30-minute deep conditioners (using heat) will help. Like at least twice a week.

[IvanLaw]

Straightening and perming solutions are the same thing. They break the chemical bonds in the hair shaft and then let them reform with the hair being held in the new shape. It sounds like the solution was just too strong for your hair and damaged it too much for it to reform strong bonds. The week wait after the color was absolutely the standard wait. I don't expect the stylist is using a henna based color? Henna coats hair and will keep a perm from "taking." But it sounds like the cuticle is damaged and not holding the color in, so I'm beting on damaged hair. Your best bet will be to cut it off, but until that is practical oil treatments and 30-minute deep conditioners (using heat) will help. Like at least twice a week.

I agree 100 %

To help try to condition at home

Wash hair with mild soap based shampoo

Towel dry hair, massage in oil based conditioner,

Cover with plastic bag and towel,

Leave for 30 min. and re shampoo,

Apply conditioner.

If you can avoid heat drying all the better

Unfortunately hair is dead and once damaged impossible to repair.

Patience….Only time and re-growth will adjust.

Regards

PS

Know of job for qualified hair stylist in BKK ?

[fruittbatt]

Thanks Cathy for explaining the chemical reaction, and to you and Ivan both a big "thanks" for your conditioning tips.

I'll follow the conditioning regime you suggested.

Ivan, I live in Chiang Mai & don't know the Bangkok hairdressing scene well, but have not yet seen any farang stylists working at well-known salons (prohibited because of taking jobs away from Thais???). There would seem to be plenty of scope plenty of scope for style-consultants all over Thailand, though! Best with your search...fruittbatt

[IvanLaw]

Re employment as tonsorial artist

Thanks for the feedback

Only joking over 30 years since I held Scissors / Razor

Hope your barnet is recovering

Regards

Ivan

Thanks Cathy for explaining the chemical reaction, and to you and Ivan both a big "thanks" for your conditioning tips.

I'll follow the conditioning regime you suggested.

Ivan, I live in Chiang Mai & don't know the Bangkok hairdressing scene well, but have not yet seen any farang stylists working at well-known salons (prohibited because of taking jobs away from Thais???). There would seem to be plenty of scope plenty of scope for style-consultants all over Thailand, though! Best with your search...fruittbatt

[donna]

i have good news from the hair cutting front line in phuket.

about a month or so ago, i went to a popular (i wont name it) salon in the central complex for a cut and colour. the colour was ok, but the cut was horrid. im not one to think too much about it as it is dead cells after all, but this one was a shocker. i did not have a good hair day for a month or more. (this wasnt helped by the fact that i broke up with my dirty rat boyfriend, but thats another story).

anyway, today i was desperate for a new look, or at least to get a colour, so i decided i would take a punt on a new place. it was 'home' prices - 2800 for a cut and colour. BUT i finally got a great hair cut! its short but its good as i am 42 now and dont want to be looking like i am clutching on to my hair to keep my youth.

he put some highlights on the crown, did a great layering job and i left feeling fabulous!

for those who want to know, its the WEST ONE SALON, 2ND FLOOR, CENTRAL FESTIVAL. my cutters name is George and he is Thai. Appointments are appreciated.

[jetz]

I'd had the colour re-done a week ago, and the boss-hairdresser at a salon popular with farang ladies, advised that I could now go ahead with having the perm re-done.

When the wraps and rollers were off, nearly all the colour had leached from my hair, and it was dead straight and horribly dry. I suspect the hairdresser may have used straightening lotion instead of perming solution....

The Thai hairdresser was as crestfallen (pun intended) as I was, but had no explanation. He re-colored my hair free of charge & today I had it cut and intensively conditioned with a "vitamin".

Has anyone had a similar experience or do you know anything about hair chemistry and what may have gone wrong?...would like to avoid a similar occurrence in future.

Seem like your hair is caused by chemical disruption of the hair structure which can leave hair dry and brittle. Hair colorants lift the cuticle so that the dyes can enter the hair cortex. Perms break the sulphur bonds in hair and re-form them in a new shape. Both processes can disrupt the cuticle and dry out the hair. Lotion used for straightening and perming can be same or different depending on cold perm or digital perm.

In fact, nowadays with the newer technique and advanced products allow us to preform both treatments at one go. Other than the products used, the stylish will has to do a leave-in treatment before processing to help protect the hair from damage. Masking is one of the technique that they will perform to apply layer of coating onto hair to prevent further degrading of hair from all the heavy chemical attacking.

Which to perfrom first also depends very much on the color we wanted. Perming lotion will lighten hair color (drop the color up to few points) or as fruittbatt claimed: "nearly all the colour had leached from my hair....". So for this case, fruiibatt should have the hair perm before color. Stylish needs to understand the reaction to the color before and after the perming in order to make good decision on the steps to be taken and the color choices.

Look like the only thing to do, same us everyone advices, leave your hair in peace for at least few months and do deep treatment weekly. This will help to re-moisturize the hair and help prevent the ends from becoming dried out. If you're happened to be around Udom Suk 47, you might want to try out Chetta Lifestyle Salon (phone 023982994, 0859348427). They have very good hair treatments service such as hair spa or hair mask treatment.

[Jet Gorgon]

Bad haircuts are the worst thing to endure. I wore a scarf wrap for a month once. I find you have to watch every snip or the "stylist" will go hack happy. Curly hair in Asia is especially difficult. They always want to thin the ends which is the absolute wrong thing to do. Found some of the gay boys do a decent job if you pick out which scissors they can and cannot use.

[Belle]

When the wraps and rollers were off, nearly all the colour had leached from my hair, ....

Which to perfrom first also depends very much on the color we wanted. Perming lotion will lighten hair color (drop the color up to few points) or as fruittbatt claimed: "nearly all the colour had leached from my hair....". So for this case, fruiibatt should have the hair perm before color. Stylish needs to understand the reaction to the color before and after the perming in order to make good decision on the steps to be taken and the color choices.

Yes, one thing to note is that color may fade after perming session. So, color after this procedure, unless you want a lighter shade of pale.

[moxhan]

Bad haircuts are the worst thing to endure. I wore a scarf wrap for a month once. I find you have to watch every snip or the "stylist" will go hack happy. Curly hair in Asia is especially difficult. They always want to thin the ends which is the absolute wrong thing to do. Found some of the gay boys do a decent job if you pick out which scissors they can and cannot use.

Cutting hair with blunt scissors results in a cut with a long, jagged edge, at which the cuticle scales will be especially vulnerable to further damage. This is why stylists use good-quality steel scissors, which are very sharp indeed and cut cleanly. It is even possible to tell whether a stylist chose to use scissors or a razor by looking at the record of the hair: razor cutting produces long, tapering sections of cuticle which weather quickly, and even peel back.

Some stylists prefer to cut hair when it is dry, in the belief that this will save the hair from heavy brushing when it is damp and therefore vulnerable to damage. A circular or semicircular brush is probably the least damaging to hair.