Hair curling is quite fashionable among youth. With its use you can give a stylish look to your straight hair. Hair curling is also known as perming or permanent waving. It is done in hair saloons where chemicals are used to give a curly look to your hair. Modern techniques of hair curling have made the process of curling quite easy.


There have been many methods used in curling hair in the past. These methods used to take hours to get your hair curled. Now-a-days due to development in techniques the modern method takes just few seconds to get the hair curly.

Modern method
In the modern method the hair is wrapped on rods after the application of a thioglycolic acid lotion. The chemical works by breaking the linkages between the polypeptide bonds of proteins present in the hair shaft that helps in making hair receptive to a new shape. Now hair is molded into a new curly shape using the rod. With the use of a neutralizer lotion containing hydrogen peroxide the disulfide bridges are closed.

History
The history of hair curling goes back to the ancient times when Egyptians used wooden sticks and mud for curling hair. In the process they used to apply mud from hot springs with the help of sticks. They used to remove the mud after it is dried. Mud is supposed to have an alkaline makeup that used to help in curling hair.

In 1906 Charles Nessler invented a hair curling method that used ammonia and borax that soften keratin protein, which is present in the hair fiber. This method used heated rods to twist hair around to give a curl after the chemicals are applied around the heated rod. This method was used for many years in spite of being an unconvenient one.


Later a new method called ?cold wave? was invented and turned out to be very successful. The method was invented by Arnold F. Willatt in 1938. This method was followed by the modern method of curling hair.


Care
In the modern method the hair is wrapped on rods after the application of a thioglycolic acid lotion. In this method there is a need to take some care before and after going for hair curling.

During the hair curling process it is necessary to keep the chemicals away from the skin. The contact of chemicals with anything other than hair can cause irritation.

Hair curling should be done by professionals only. During the process of curling hair there is a possibility of hair damage. During curling most of the disulphide linkages in the hair structure reform while the process of neutralization. However, some portions of the chemical bonds in hair fail to reform during the neutralization. It results in weakening of hair in a way and hair never gets back its old strength.

The help of an expert during the hair curling process is a good idea since it minimizes the damage done to the hair. An expert is well aware of the hair curling process while a layman attempting to do hair curling can do considerable damage to hair.


After curling hair you should avoid the use of any coloring or bleaching on hair for some days since the chemical bonds are still repairing themselves. The use of new chemicals on hair will harm hair as it will limit chemical bonding and can weaken hair as a consequence.

You should avoid cleansing hair for 48 hours after hair curling. It is better to use a shampoo that is useful in the case of chemically treated hair. If the care is followed properly it can result in a beautiful curly hair.