That Tuesday where every single perm fell flat on me

Back in 2019 I was working at a walk-in salon near the mall and we got slammed with three perms in one afternoon. I had been doing hair for about 7 years at that point so I felt pretty confident. First client had fine hair, I wrapped it up like always, used the same perm solution we always stocked. Came out looking like a damp noodle. Second client was a repeat who had gotten the same perm for years. Also flat. Third one, I switched to a stronger wrap and left it on the full time, still barely a wave. I remember calling my old instructor that night and she asked if I had checked the lot number on the solution. Sure enough that whole batch was bad, the manufacturer had a recall posted online. I felt so dumb but also relieved it wasn't me. Has anyone else had a product fail like that and blame themselves first?

1 comments

1 Comment

ray_mitchell26d ago

...and that's when I realized the universe was testing my perm karma or something, lmao. I had a similar thing happen with a box of developer that just stopped working mid-shift, every single bleach job came out a weird shade of orange no matter how I mixed it. I probably re-did my whole technique twice before I even thought to check the bottle's expiration date. That talk with your old instructor is gold though, sometimes you need someone to remind you that you're not the problem, the product just betrayed you lol. I still check lot numbers on everything now like some paranoid hair detective, it's honestly embarrassing.