WHAT IS A DIGITAL PERM?

Maybe you've heard it called an Ionic Perm, sometimes it's called a Spiral Perm, Japanese Perm, Korean Perm, or else a Hot Perm? It's the same process involving perming your hair with hot-rollers which are connected to a heating system. The hot-rollers are part of this giant machine that can intimidate many first time permers. It looks like something out of Star Trek. Because the rollers are hot they can't be brought too close to your scalp or it will get burned, but this also means that only the bottoms of your hair will be permed. So what, you ask? As those of you who curl your hair on a regular basis already know, when you only curl the ends of you hair your curls will be more soft and natural looking. Please check out this blog to find out much more about digital perms and whether you should get a digital perm. You can look through digital perm pictures to find some inspiration and courage to take the next step.

DIGITAL PERM PICTURES!

Aren't these girls the cutest ever?! I'm completely in love with the above digital perm pictures. It's that perfect wavy hair a girl could only dream about. Which one is your favorite digital perm picture?

READER'S EXPERIENCE

Janice of Couture & Crayons recently contacted me about her digital perm plunge. Have a look-see at her very informative account of the experience. Thank you Janice for sharing your story!

DIGITAL PERM PICTURES FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE!

Are you guys starting to notice a pattern? It's the blunt bangs and digital permed hair look half of the girls in Japan/Korea seem to be sporting. It's very cute, and if you've been blessed with an oval/heart-shaped face, long forehead and thick hair, you'll look amazing in blunt bangs. For those of you with round/square faces (that's me!) blunt bangs are generally not a good idea. I was in denial about it for a while and refused to give up on bangs. So I basically condemned myself to two years of looking tragic.

SCARED OF THE HAIR DAMAGE BUT WANT WAVES ANYWAY?

For a lot of people, getting any kind of perm is like getting a tattoo - they need at least half a year to think about it. Well, the good news is that unlike a tattoo, a digital perm is much less permanent, and though it may be emotionally painful for some, there is zero physical discomfort (unless you count how numb your butt is likely to get after being in the salon chair for two hours). Ok, but what about the damage to your hair, you ask yourself. I hear you. No straight, flat, limpy haired girl should be deprived of beautiful spiral curls. Some hair is so fine and fragile that it can't handle a digital perm, or even heat styling products. So this post is for all you girls who dream of beautiful, bouncy waves without the money, condition or courage to get a digital perm. Let me introduce you to the "bun sock". The bun sock hair curling technique is genius. It is comfortable to sleep in, non-damaging to your hair and looks absolutely gorgeous. What you will need are a pair of scissors, an old sock that you will have to roll into a doughnut shape. For short hair you need a small sock, for long hair you will need a longer sock. Watch these videos and marvel at the results (really sorry about any commercials you may have to put up with because of Youtube). Happy curling!

DIGITAL PERM STREET STYLE

Here are some street style snaps of the digital perm. These are my favorite kind of digital perm pictures. Love how these girls look so casually put together. They look great, but not like they had to try very hard. The perfect combination of high and low maintenance.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

This is a super informative video about how to style your perm. Products covered in this video include Tresemme Mousse and Sebastian Professional Sculpting Creme. Enjoy!

THE TIME TO DIGITAL PERM IS NOW

You look at images like this and think “Straight hair isn’t so bad”. And I agree, on this model it’s beautiful. Looking at her, and those like her you put off getting your digital perm until you look in the mirror and realize that your hair doesn’t look like the one in the picture above. Not all straight hair is made equal. In fact, some straight hair might as well be curly. Now take a look at the image below. This, my dear readers, is reality. On her blog Kami from risawn.com shows us how she went from long to short because, lets face it, for many of us with fine straight hair, life can be far from stylish. This type of hair has a tendency to fall in an unflattering way with little hope for improvement. In all my years of experience I’ve come to realize that fine+straight long hair is about the most high-maintenance thing you can have on your head. The sheer effort required to give it volume and body will knock out years of life you could be spending learning an extinct language. So for those of you who recognize your hair in Kami's, stop wavering! The time to digital perm your way into a more stylish and lower maintenance hair style is one salon visit away.With a digital perm, depending on the size of the curling barrels you chose, your hair can be either curly, wavy, or simply full of body. Imagine waking up in the morning and achieving gorgeous Victoria's Secret waves with a simple twirl of you fingers. Yes, it's that easy.

GET OVER IT ALREADY!

I understand that for women hair is often more than just hair. There's a certain emotional attachment that comes with the years of love and care we put into growing it, and making it look good. But c'mon! This is just gross.

WHERE TO GET YOUR DIGITAL PERM

To get a digital perm you're best off going to a Korean or Japanese hair salon, since the technology originated in that part of the world, and given the sheer number of unhappy straight-fine-haired Asian ladies out there, East Asian hair stylists have by now perfected the digital perming technique to a fine art. North America/Europe has been slow to jump on the digital perm band wagon but its popularity is quickly spreading. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather trust someone who has been working with this new procedure for years as opposed to someone who has only just found their way around a heated roller. To find a salon near you, just type in "Korean Hair Salon" or "Japanese Hair Salon" and your city name into Google Maps and you're on your way.