What? The perm solution is thoroughly rinsed from the hair before the client leaves the salon. To my earlier point: I am suggesting that everyone would benefit from curiosity and a willingness to learn, rather than immediately shooting down something they don’t yet understand. Air perms are superior to standard perms. That is just a fact.
OK, I’m going to explain again in simple terms how Perming works to change the shape of your hair from straight to curly and why an Air Perm is simply a silly marketing gimmick that doesn’t affect the quality of the curl or longevity and is therefore, an unnecessary waste of a busy hairdresser’s time. …Although I wonder how much you’re being over-charged for this nonsense?
For most Asian and European hair types, we use a single action perm and these are either acid, alkaline or exothermic perms. African hair usually requires a double action process.
Essentially the perm solution softens and breaks down the disulphide bonds that define the natural shape of the hair strand. Rods are used to re-shape the hair into a curl and the neutraliser resets the bonds, thereby fixing the new shape into place. Just like with ‘permanent’ hair colour, it’s not really permanent and normal hair washing will eventually cause the hair to revert to its natural state. Normal Washing and Heat styling break down the disulphides bonds. This is why Olaplex is recommended for chemically treated hair as it repairs damaged disulphide bonds.
Acid perm lotion is fairly gentle with a pH value of approximately 6 to 7, similar to hair in its normal state and contains Glyceryl monothioglycolate. The majority of perms offered these days are acid perms.
Alkaline perm lotions have a stronger pH value of approximately 9.5. They use ammonium thioglyocolate which can be more damaging if used on the wrong hair texture. Alkaline perm lotions are best suited for resistant hair types and break more of the disulphides bonds within the hair. Bulking detergents used in some cheap shampoos have a similar pH and that’s why we don’t advise clients to buy products such as Herbal Essences or Pantene shampoo.
Exothermic perms are self-heating. They have chemical activators that are added to the perm lotion which helps the cuticle layers of the hair shaft to open. Exothermic perms can be either acid or alkaline.
(Maybe consider requesting an Exothermic Alkaline perm if your previous perms aren’t working too well?)
IMPORTANT:
All perms need a neutraliser to
complete the chemical change of the hair shape. It’s the process of
oxidisation by
adding oxygen to the hair using either hydrogen peroxide or sodium bromate that re-sets the disulphides bonds.
Hydrogen Peroxide has the chemical symbol H2O2 and is essentially water with an added oxygen molecule.
Normal Air that you breathe contains hydrogen and oxygen molecules as well as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, helium, etc.
Using a neutralising solution forces the oxidation process to work quickly to fix the hair, whilst leaving your hair exposed to the air will take much longer for it to neutralise and fix the hair, especially the hair closest to the rods, that has less exposure.
THE NEUTRALISATION PROCESS BY ITSELF CANNOT IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE FINAL RESULT. THAT IS ENTIRELY DEPENDENT ON THE CHOICE OF PERM SOLUTION USED AND THE SKILL OF THE HAIRDRESSER. 
