What is down perm?
Down perm as the name suggests helps your hair down if it is too puffy or sticks out too much. Most of the time, people with thick and short hair have this problem and down perming usually the side hairs will help you get rid of the constant spiky hairs that you may have lived with.
Another alternative to down perming is just growing out your hair or just completely cutting off the sides to very short length. If you grow out your hair, the weight of your hair will push the sides down to some extent which means you basically have a natural gravity helped down perm, but long hair will make you feel uncomfortable.
If you cut your side hair short then there is no hair so then it won’t stick out. However the problem with just cutting off the side is oftentimes your top hair is also super short which means either you get a buzz cut and go all out on shortness, or you have slightly longer top hair which can lead to you having an unpleasant hair bump on the side of the head.
The bump occurs from the difference in the length of the side hair vs the top hair. To fix this, you can either grow out your top hair so that it covers the side or go to a barber for a fade, but as Asians, fade works but it is a short term solution that you would need to keep on going back to the barber to.
So then to solve the problem with thick and short hairs, you can get a down perm!
Let’s take a look at some photos:
This is how down perm looks like. It perms the side and the back of the hair by pressing it down with perm paper.
The result is as follows:
The side of the hair is well kept and it stays that way for around 2 -3 months which means it lasts longer then typical haircut and in essence can save you more money.
What kind of look does it give?
Down perm just clears up the sides, so then it naturally gives you a more dandy and neat vibe. However, the actual look is determined by the top of the hair.
If you put the top hair up, you are showing more of your face lines and face shape to look more edgy and masculine. Or you can put the top hair down and look more dandy and cute. A lot of other Korean cuts and perms that are not mentioned here use down perm with the perm.
What face shape should avoid it?
If you have a long face, a down perm might not be the fit for you. Even though you can bring your hair down on the front to make your face look much smaller, down perm presses on the side of your head, making the side smaller which means if you have a long face, it will naturally make your face look longer.
If you have a long top that falls on your side to give volume to the side, then just down perming the side can make sense, but if not, I would not recommend it to those who have a long face.
How much does down perm cost?
Down perm costs around $60 – $80. It is a perm but a very simple and easy perm so it is usually cheaper than other perms. Often then not, a lot of hair places charge separate prices for down perm + cut or down perm + other perms. So then, make sure to ask if the down perm price is included or excluded from the haircut that you are getting.
How to maintain your hair after getting it?
Maintenance score – lowest.
You don’t really have to do anything. Just dry it and don’t try to touch the sides of the hair too much, such as pinching the sides or rubbing the sides because you like the feel of how your sides are compressed. I did that for fun before. It will hasten your perm to be of no effect.
Down perm probably is one of the simplest, yet most effective perms with low time/relative cost that will drastically change how you look. Recommend you try it out.