When did hair perming start

asks sporty:

A. According to Kay Connelly, L'Oreal's product development manager, perming (and straightening hair) goes back to the Egyptians, who would their hair on sticks coated in mud and let it dry in the sun.

Q. A fairly basic method, then. How was it done in more modern times
A. In the 16th century, European wigmakers made permanently curled hair by winding it on stick and boiling it for 30 minutes. Amazingly, this technique is still used to today and is called 'frizzure forcee'.

Then, in 1905, Charles Nessler invented 'heat perming'. A machine with lots of wires heated up metal rods to curl hair permanently. There were two ways to wind hair around these rods - spiral, where long hair was wound from the scalp to the ends; and croquingnole, which was used when short, bobbed hair became fashionable, and wound from the hair ends to the scalp. This type of perming used those machines you see in old photographs where the head of the customer is wired up.

Q. Was it dangerous
A. Yes, there was always a chance that the ladies would end up being shocked or burned! However, despite being complex and time-consuming, this was an affordable method of hair perming.

There was a similar machine which used steam.

Q. What came next
A. The machine-free perm came along in 1932. Here, hair was wound on to heat pads which contained a chemical mixture that was activated when it was moistened with water.

Later came the UniPerm: here pre-heated clamps were placed over the wound rods and left to cool.

Then came the modern-day perm...

Q. What was that called
A. The 'cold wave' was developed in 1941. Here, a perming lotion is applied to expand and soften the hair which is wound on rods. It is then rinsed off and neutraliser is applied to reverse the process and harden and shrink the hair. This allows the hair to mould to the shape of the perming rod.

This type of perm is usually alkaline, but fairly recently the acid perm has been developed. It's believed to be a more gentle treatment for delicate or colour-treated hair, creating softer curls.

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By Sheena Miller