It is strongly recommended not to wash your hair for 48 hours after getting a perm.
If you wash your hair after getting a perm, it won’t necessarily go back to the way it was before, but the curl will decrease significantly.
If you get a perm and you’re not happy with it, you can wash it and it will loosen the curl. However, Remember washing your hair will not bring your hair back to its original state. You will probably still have a loose curl for some time until the perm is completely out of your hair. This concept will only work if you think your perm is too tight. It’s not a foolproof solution to being unhappy with your perm.
Here are two more solutions if you are unhappy with your perm:
- Try using a straightening product if you think the curl is too tight, it can weigh the hair down enough to pull a bit of the curl out. As you blow dry, work using a round brush at the roots to smooth and add volume and keep some of the curl at the ends.
- Use a large curling iron after your hair is dry. This will give you more of a loose, wavy curl versus a tight curl.