History of Perm Rods
For years, women have been obsessed with curly and wavy hair. This obsession led to the use of wigs by many women in earlier centuries. Eventually, women found a way to curl their hair using their fingers and a wax substance. However, these curls were short-lived, and had to be recreated after washing. This led salon owners and stylists to create the first perm rods in the early 1900s. Does this Spark an idea?
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Introduction
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The first perm rods were introduced to the public in 1906. These rods, invented by Charles Nessler, were connected to a chandelier and held away from the scalp by wires. Electricity was used to heat the rods, and a mix of cow urine and water was used to set the perm.
Suter and Calvete
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Eugene Suter and Isidoro Calvete collaborated to create the first permanent wave rollers in 1917. The design consisted of two parts. The first part was used to wind the hair. The winding was then inserted into an aluminum tube which was heated by electricity and wires running from the tubes. The two designers eventually made their own designs, resulting in conflicting interests and lawsuits against one another, and American creator Charles Nessler.
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Reagents
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The first rollers used high heat on dry hair. This resulted in hair that was quickly damaged. To tone down the amount of damage done to the hair, water was used to offset the heat. Later, stylists began using borax or ammonia. In the 1930s, J. Bari-Woollss created a reagent that consisted of sulfur dioxide.
Cellophane
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Nessler once again changed the style of rollers with his creation of the cellophane tube roller. The hair was dry wrapped around the roller, and then inserted into the hollow cellophane tube that contained wet paper. He later introduced a system that replaced the water with oil.
New Trends
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Macdonald created the first system that did not use electricity. Steam was created in kettles, and then reached the wound hair through tubes that attached from the kettle to the rollers. This system took away the risk of electrical shock, but often left users scalded by the hot water.
Modern Times
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Modern perms owe their origins to Arnold F. Willatt. He created the cold wave in 1938. This system removed the need for machines and heat. A reduction lotion was placed on hair, and the hair was then wrapped around rods. The reduction lotion consisted of ammonium thioglycolate, which changed the bonds within the hair, helping it to conform to the shape of the rod.
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References
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