Can we talk about how everyone says you have to use a 1/4 inch section for perms

A stylist at a Charlotte salon told me my sections were too big for a body wave, so I switched to a 1/2 inch and the curl pattern actually held better on coarse hair, has anyone else found this?

3 comments

3 Comments

davis.noah15d ago

Is the quarter-inch rule really that serious? I've seen stylists get so hung up on it, but hair isn't a math problem. My friend with thick hair always got limp perms until someone used bigger sections, and it worked way better. Sometimes the textbook method just doesn't fit real people.

mason3314d ago

But hair isn't a math problem is exactly why the rule exists, to give you a starting point that works for most people before you change it.

brooke_hernandez14d ago

Actually the rule is more like a guideline than a strict starting point. A good stylist should know when to break it. Like with your friend's thick hair, bigger sections make sense because the perm solution can't penetrate a thick, dense section evenly. Same with fine hair, you might go smaller. The textbook gives you the "why" so you know how to change it for real people.