Spring Break
Perms Are Fun, Inexpensive Change
Connie Yan
Issue date: 2/2/06 Section: Out of Focus
Even though she is about half done, Gloria Yan sighs as she looks at the never-ending waterfall of soaking wet locks that are waiting to be parted, wrapped and rolled.
The low price of $10 will change one of Tiffany's most prized possessions- her hair. She is getting a home perm from her mother, Gloria.
Last night this kitchen table was a smorgasbord of food waiting to be brought out into the dining room. Tonight, packages of apricot colored perm rods, hair claws, combs, end wraps and a box of a home perm solution are sprawled across the kitchen table.
As Reese Witherspoon eloquently stated in the movie "Legally Blonde," the active ingredient in this product really is the ammonium thioglycolate. And as the movie states, the box reiterates; there is no hair washing for the next 48 hours, which makes Tiffany Yan cringe.
"Used by professionals," the box claims, but in this case it is anything but.
Tiffany's thick mane has been separated into thin, "roll-able" sections by Gloria. The hair has to remain wet for the process to work. She has been sitting here for the past hour, shivering and shaking, which only makes Gloria's rolls look even more amateur. Thin sections of hair are wrapped at the end and rolled from the bottom up and snapped into place atop Tiffany's head in what is supposed to resemble uniform rows.
As time passes, the tightness and quality of each roll improves.
"I've seen it done before," Gloria claims. "But this is still an experimental process."
Gloria scrounges around the bathroom and finds large rolls of cotton used to frame the crown of her head and nape of her neck that is already tightly wound in an old towel.
"I look like an old lady," Tiffany complains.
"I don't want to forget these," Gloria says as she snapped on a pair of latex gloves with some "ER" panache. "Wouldn't want to get those awful chemicals on my hands." Tiffany's eyes bug out in fear while Gloria ferociously shakes the first of two bottles that will be dumped atop Tiffany's head.
The low price of $10 will change one of Tiffany's most prized possessions- her hair. She is getting a home perm from her mother, Gloria.
Last night this kitchen table was a smorgasbord of food waiting to be brought out into the dining room. Tonight, packages of apricot colored perm rods, hair claws, combs, end wraps and a box of a home perm solution are sprawled across the kitchen table.
As Reese Witherspoon eloquently stated in the movie "Legally Blonde," the active ingredient in this product really is the ammonium thioglycolate. And as the movie states, the box reiterates; there is no hair washing for the next 48 hours, which makes Tiffany Yan cringe.
"Used by professionals," the box claims, but in this case it is anything but.
Tiffany's thick mane has been separated into thin, "roll-able" sections by Gloria. The hair has to remain wet for the process to work. She has been sitting here for the past hour, shivering and shaking, which only makes Gloria's rolls look even more amateur. Thin sections of hair are wrapped at the end and rolled from the bottom up and snapped into place atop Tiffany's head in what is supposed to resemble uniform rows.
As time passes, the tightness and quality of each roll improves.
"I've seen it done before," Gloria claims. "But this is still an experimental process."
Gloria scrounges around the bathroom and finds large rolls of cotton used to frame the crown of her head and nape of her neck that is already tightly wound in an old towel.
"I look like an old lady," Tiffany complains.
"I don't want to forget these," Gloria says as she snapped on a pair of latex gloves with some "ER" panache. "Wouldn't want to get those awful chemicals on my hands." Tiffany's eyes bug out in fear while Gloria ferociously shakes the first of two bottles that will be dumped atop Tiffany's head.