curly perm/Wave Nouveau - experienced people!

[sereia]

HI! I am (still) thinking about getting a curly perm aka wave nouveau. I have some questions and would appreciate if you could help me with your experiences.

1. Is your hair more prone to tangles than with a relaxer?

2. Does it feel soft and silky or rough and dry?

3. Does the hair smell like ammonia when wet?

4. Are you "dependent" on curl activator or are frequent CO washes o.k.?

5. If you wear braids a lot do the curls stay the same?

6. How long does the process take? What should the stylist do to avoid overlapping?

TIA and happy hair growing to all!

 

[Puddles]

1. Is your hair more prone to tangles than with a relaxer?
<font color="brown">Yes...mine tangled when I didn't comb it. </font>

2. Does it feel soft and silky or rough and dry?
<font color="red">Soft and silky </font>

3. Does the hair smell like ammonia when wet?
<font color="red">No </font>

4. Are you "dependent" on curl activator or are frequent CO washes o.k.?
<font color="red"> I used the finishing lotion 3 times a week. I never conditon washed...'cause it's not a relaxer...it takes time for the WN to dry and bring back moisture. </font>

5. If you wear braids a lot do the curls stay the same?
<font color="red">I wouldn't know...I never wore braids. </font>

6. How long does the process take? What should the stylist do to avoid overlapping?
<font color="red">Depends on the sylist. </font>


<font color="red">Hope this helps. I loved my WN....but my stylist moved so no more WN. </font>

 

[sexylonghair]

1. Is your hair more prone to tangles than with a relaxer?
Yes...mine tangled when I didn't comb it.

my hair tangled a lot. i wore a wave nouveau from 1998 until spring of 2004 and it tangles a lot without combing. u don't want to really comb it with a comb ( finger combing is better to keep the curls in) because your curls won't look nice)

2. Does it feel soft and silky or rough and dry?
Soft and silky

it felt soft yet dry..every morning i had to damp my hair, then apply moisture sealer then finishing lotion. then started using other products for curly hair.

3. Does the hair smell like ammonia when wet?
No

4. Are you "dependent" on curl activator or are frequent CO washes o.k.?
it takes a couple days to get the moisture in. usually after a wash when it dries it's extremely frizzy and u have to use the moisture sealer and finishing lotion. my hair was long so i had to use a lot of the products to keep it from drying out. make sure u wash your hair on a day that you are doing NOTHING or it will frizz up.

5. If you wear braids a lot do the curls stay the same?

I wouldn't know...I never wore braids.

6. How long does the process take? What should the stylist do to avoid overlapping?

for me, i would always be in the salon for like 4 hours cuz i had a lot of hair.

i loved the look of the wave nouveau because my hair looked naturally curly/wavy. it's not wet like a jerri curl. BUT i experienced a lot of dryness, breakage and tangles in the back of my hair. the last wave nouveau i had was 12/03 and let it grow out and just got a hawiian silky relaxer 7/04 even after i said i'd never get a relaxer again. now that i found this site i know how to take care of relaxed hair better and my hair looks fabulous! i basically still use the same wave nouveau products on my relaxed hair and it is so silky looking like naturally straight hair. i wash, deep condition, apply salerm21 then the wave nouveau moisture sealer and finishing lotion. then air dry in a bun. it really looks amazing with the products.

 

[sereia]

thanks for your responses... and bumping for more!

 

[whosthatgurl]

not to high-jack the threa, but whats a curly perm?

 

[luvhair]

i had a wave nouvea when I was in elementary school. I loved it because i could take care of my hair and my mom didn;t have to do it for me. I do not remember having aby tangles or dryness. In fact my hair was probably at its best then. It was thick moist soft and it grew like crazy. I remember my hairstylist would have to cut my hair a lot because it kept growing. Lately I have been contemplating going back

 

[AFashionSlave]

1. Is your hair more prone to tangles than with a relaxer?
My jheri curl did not tangle.

2. Does it feel soft and silky or rough and dry?
My hair never felt soft or silky. It always felt oily or borderline wet. Not to mention that my shirts always had ring around the collar when I had a wave Nouveau and when I had a jheri curl.

3. Does the hair smell like ammonia when wet?
No my hair did not smell like ammonia when it was wet. It did smell funny the first day I got the jheri curl.

4. Are you "dependent" on curl activator or are frequent CO washes o.k.?
Yes you are dependent on curl activator, that is what makes it a jheri curl. You need glycerin-based products to keep the hair moist or it will break off. You can wash your hair whenever you want but just remember that you have to apply a lot of activator to keep your hair moist after shampooing.

5. If you wear braids a lot do the curls stay the same?
I have never worn braids when I had a wave nouveau.

6. How long does the process take? What should the stylist do to avoid overlapping?
The process always took at least 3 hours from what I remember. Every time you get a jheri curl your hair will be overlapped to some extent. Jheri curls are a double processed hairstyle. First a solution is applied to the hair to straighten it from its natural texture. Then a permanent wave solution is applied to the hair before your hair is rolled. You then sit under the dryer for a while and then the hair is rinsed with the rollers still in. Finally a neutralizer is applied before the rollers are removed.

Are you seriously thinking about a jheri curl?
I know that wave nouveau has done a lot over the past few years to change its “drip drip” image, but it's still just a Jheri Curl. The only difference between normal jheri curls and the wave Nouveau is that wave Nouveau are done using larger sized rollers. The wave Nouveau products are also less greasy than other jheri curl products.

Good luck with your decision.