When I asked perm educator Joe Santy, vp-education of Dennis Bernard, why stylists tend to shy away from doing
texture
services, he offered these misconceptions:
1. Few clients need texture.
Wrong! Joe estimates that 80 percent of women could benefit from either a volumizing (perm) service or a straightening service.
2. Perms aren’t foolproof.
They are if you do a test curl! Even if the perm is marketed as a non-test-curl wave, Joe recommends playing it safe and always relying on your own eyes to make sure you’re not over- or under-processing.
3. You can’t color and perm the same head.
Joe says that not only can you do both chemical services, but you can do them the same day as long as you: properly condition the hair; make wise rod choices; and choose a perm formulated for “variable porosity” hair, which takes into account that color on the hair will create different porosities within the same head.
4. Clients won’t pay for both color and texture.
“Clients will pay for results,” Joe maintains. When you deliver a fabulous look, the expense is worth it to them. If your heart’s bleeding, you always can offer a “perm+color” special price.
5. Today’s products do the job of changing texture.
Certainly products are more effective than ever. But they’ll still work better when the hair has the support of chemically enhanced texture, and even with the best products a perm or straightening service will cut down home maintenance time.
6. Perming is scary.
Joe promises that it gets easier with practice. “Everything you do the first time is scary,” he says. “The more you do it, the better you’ll become, and soon you’ll lose your fear.”
7. Perming isn’t profitable because it takes so long.
While straightening services have a high-profit reputation, perms do take a lot of time and attention. But so does color, and you have no problem charging for that. Just crunch the numbers, and set a price that earns you a good hourly profit. Working with an assistant will permit you to take other clients during the processing time.
Convinced? I’d love to have you start with our
online texture courses and then practice and get really good at texture. You’ll be in high demand, because so few stylists know how to do texture well.
Photo credits: Hair by Jesse Briggs; photography by Tom Carson; make-up by Katherine Quiel.