Digiperm at Azta Urban Salon: Catching the "Wave"

<-----------  For a girl who has this kind of natural hair to begin with, why even bother getting a perm?

Since such hair is actually mine (PHOTO OF WHICH I TOOK BY MYSELF USING AN SLR CAMERA, IMAGINE MY HARDSHIP HAHA) and I had my DIGIPERM just recently, I will boldly answer such query.

A. I was curious on how it feels to undergo a relatively new beautification process that is DIGIPERM which will have my crowning glory all rolled up and attached to a machine. I had to satisfy such curiosity.

B. With all the photos of "digipermed" hair all over the internet, I surmised that digiperm could transform my moody hair (when it's
cold, my hair is a bite tame with relaxed waves but when it gets hot, the loops get annoyingly uneven and frizzy too) into something with either cute Korean curls (defined, big curls) or hot, Surfer Girl waves. I had to find out if that thought is workable for me.

Before I proceed, what is digiperm? Let me just quote our friend WIKIPEDIA to make life easier haha. According to Wiki, it is "a perm which uses hot rods with the temperature regulated by a machine, which has a digital display, hence the name. The biggest difference between other perms and a digital perm is the shape and the texture of the wave created by the digital process. A normal perm, or a “cold perm”, makes the wave most prominent when the hair is wet, and loose when it is dry. The hair tends to look moist and as locks. 

A digital perm makes the wave most prominent when the hair is dry, and loose when it is wet. Therefore you can create the dry and curly look of the curl iron or the hot curler. The digital perm requires heat, so it is also called a “hot perm” in comparison to the “cold perm”.

Digital perms thermally recondition the hair, though the chemicals and processing are similar to a straight perm. One's hair often feels softer, smoother, and shinier after a digital perm than before it."

Ok,ok get it?:) 

Moving on, I actually did not see myself getting a digiperm too soon primarily because I find its average price range of Php3000- Php4000 a bit costly. But when a group buying site ENSOGO featured Azta Urban Salon's "P1500 only for a digiperm (any length)" deal, I wasted no time in securing my own voucher. That's one unbelievable mark down. And it helped also that the salon has a branch near my place, specifically in Robinsons Metroeast so the convenience enticed me all the more to avail of the offer.

Weeks after getting my Ensogo voucher, off I went to Azta Urban Salon. It was my first time to go there so I did not have any stylist yet. I was assigned to Marlon. And here's my digiperm story.

I was led to a chair and  was offered a drink. I did not want any so I politely declined. (I was asked if I wanted a drink 3x during my stay haha but I still said no, I wasn't thirsty). The salon's Operation Manager JV (if I got her name right) approached me and asked if it was my first time, etc. etc. Well, she was nice.:) 

When Marlon came to me with his assistant Grace, he first scrutinized my hair and asked which treatment or hair process I've undergone prior to that day. He thought my natural hair was digipermed! 

Marlon's so serious in scrutinizing my hair.:)

NATURAL CURLS: BEFORE DIGIPERM

Yes, I took that as a compliment haha. He told me though that if he would have his own way, he'll just leave my hair as it is because the result of digiperm would be somewhat similar to what I have already. All I need to do, as he further explained, is to learn the proper way of styling and my hair's good to go as it is! But I told him, "my hair isn't always like that and well I have the voucher so might as well try it!:)

So on with the process. Grace shampooed my hair first. 

Then Marlon trimmed my hair to eliminate the damaged parts.

Afterwards, Grace applied some "moisture cream" on my hair, which according to her, would soften the strands in preparation for the digiperm.

And then the "mane" procedure began. My hair was divided into sections, and the perming solution was applied to each section and then rolled on rods.  If I heard it right from Marlon, the rods used were combination of 20 and 22, I guess they're the biggest of the rods available. I wasn't able to verify it though. Hello Medusa!

The rods were then attached to the machine which digitally controlled the heat that would flow to my hair. High tech huh!

I was attached to the machine for not less than 3 hours but mind you I did not get bored. Thanks to the Internet!:) Unfortunately I wasn't able to connect to Robinsons Metroeast's wifi but I was prepared hehehe, I brought Sun broadband and that's what I used to access FB. But then  again, it wasn't surfing the net which took up most of my waiting time. it was playing tadaaaaannnn...ANGRY BIRDS. :)

When it was deemed ready, I was finally separated from the machine haha but before unrolling the rods, neutralizer was poured into my hair to seal in the curls. It felt cold on my scalp but it smelled wonderful ;)

I was handed a paper which looked like a doctor's prescription, only that it was a stylist's prescription, cool!

And the moment of truth finally came, rods were unrolled and my new hair was unraveled. Tadaaaaah!

Errr, I initially thought it was too curly for me. Waaaa! But of course I kept my smile. 

But as soon as I stepped out of the salon, I disobeyed the stylist's instruction. I combed my hair! But with my fingers only.  Waaa frankly speaking, I really thought it was too curly :((


Before the hubby got home, I warned him about my hair but when he finally arrived he said it's good! I asked him to take a photo of me and here's the result.

I was surprised! Beachy waves showed up on my crowning glory! I was ecstatic! Wow. Maybe it helped that I did run my fingers through my hair, it somehow tamed the curls. Yey!


Though I was disobedient to the "don't touch your hair" advice, I did follow the "don't wash your hair  for 2 days" advice. Then, I just thought of putting my hair on a bun and guess what! When I undid my bun the day after  and shook my head a little bit, my hair was transformed to this.

Now that's what I call digipermed hair! So happy!:) It's not a hair disaster after all!:)

I will give update on my hair after a week. I hope it would remain nice as this :D

How about you, do you have any plans of getting a digiperm?:) 

UPDATE: (Sept. 19) After washing my hair, it did not return to my preferred digipermed state like the one showed in the last photo above ^. But the beachy waves remained until now and I guess I'm ok with that.:D