How old were you when you got your first perm?

[wantlonghair25]

bout 7 years ol.

 

[a_ caribbean_dream]

I was 8 years old when I got my first relaxer.

Got it cut all off because of scalp/eczema problems and began frying my ear length hair with a hot comb in 2001.

Thank God that happened earlier in my life and I didn't really have to deal with the whole transition process. I heart goes out to all my ladies dealing with two different textures. You can do it!!!
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[WaterChylde]

I was in the third grade so I was maybe 9 years old. Really wish my mom had waited.

 

[miracle]

I got my first relaxer at age 15. The rule of thumb w/my mother was: we couldn't get relaxers until we had started our cycles. I don't really remember the superstition behind it, but my grandmother did the same w/my mother.

 

[MrsBKJ]

I was 22 when I got my first one, wish it had been my last one from that place...but then I wouldnt have found this place...

Uzz

 

[kittenz]

I was 5 and i ain't even mad about it. My mom used a kiddie perm on my hair because I had super thick long hair and I was tenderheaded... not a good combination. I used to cry at the mention of a comb and getting my hair done was a major ordeal. So she opted to give me a relaxer to loosen the curl. I've learned since joining LHCF that actually she only texlaxed my hair because it was never bone straight. Thankfully my mom has always been a hair genius and my hair stayed healthy and thick. Around age 13 or 14 I began to do my own hair (tight ponytail everyday, curling bangs everyday, eventually turning to flatiron several times a week) thats when my hair got stunted at shoulder length. Shortly after I began doing my own perms . Sorry OP.. you asked one ? and I gave you my hair autobiography.

ETA: You were sooo cute.

 

[misscrystal]

I was very, very young when I got my first perm. I don't remember when exactly, but there's a picture of me and my siblings when I was around 4, and I have a TWA.

The story goes, my mom permed my hair, and my dad took us swimming a few days later, resulting in my mom having to cut off my damaged hair into a TWA.

After that I don't remember her perming my hair for a long time.

 

[Lucie]

I was 14 and about to start high school.

 

[Wildchild453]

I think 11 or 12. My mom didn't want to but I begged and begged until she gave it. By the time I was 16 I was sick of relaxers

 

[laketta]

I was four.

My mom did not know any better.

 

[KiniKakes]

I was 18 years old. I wore braids all throughout my childhood teenage years, then wore it pressed when I was 16 and 17. Relaxed it after my senior year of high school. Biggest mistake of my life.

 

[HoneyA]

I think I was about 10 years old. My hair was thick and my mum was having trouble with it. If I knew what I knew now, I would never have put a perm in my hair. My mum did take good care of my hair though.

 

[SleepyJean]

I was 14, and I had been begging for one for about a year and a half.

I BEGGED my mother. I was sooooo tired of presses. They did wonders for my mother's hair, but nothing for me. Then again...the flat iron wasn't very popular back then, but I still think I prefer my relaxed hair.

 

[Luvmylife]

I was about 3 or 4.

In my mother's defense, she was very careful to use the mildest stuff available (Anybody remember Gentile?) when she didn't have it professionally done. It really turned out more like a texturizer because she wouldn't allow anyone to "perm it bone straight" and only allowed touchups 3-4x a year. My hair was well past APL and actually very healthy.

 

[Nicole4rc]

Amazing someone did this board- I was just asking my momma what my hair was ORIGINALLY like before she took the plunge and got me relaxed. All I recall is the hair dresser telling her that maybe it wasn't the best thing to do. But, she hated my puffy tangly hair. Poor woman... that's what happens when your raised by mixed parents before the birth of the internet. They took advice from anyone who gave it.

 

[Danene5]

I was 9 years old. This was when my mom was pregnant with my sister and didn't feel like maintaining my hair anymore.

 

[michaela]

I was 3 Years Old. It Didnt Even last Long at all Though.
My mom Didnt Like it all She said my hair Still Looked Nappy (in her words)
And it Was no better than what it was....So She Started Taking me to the Salon to get it Pressed....

 

[coilyhead]

I was 2. My mother said it was because I had extra-thick hair (which I still do, relaxed). I never got the thinning experienced with relaxers...my relaxed hair and natural hair have about the same thickness.

I will go natural when I reach my hair goal (MBL or BSL, if I'm satisfied with that). I have enough reasons - one of them showing Mom that my extra-thick hair can be cared for.

 

[Tiffanyantt]

Twelve Years Old

 

[vestaluv1]

I think I was around 15... the hair pressing thing wasn't cutting it .

 

[Gracie]

I think that I was about 11.

 

[carib_n_curly]

never had one and i still don't want one

 

[BostonMaria]

I was 10 yrs old. Now that I look back, my mom had a sick 1 yr old and a newborn baby. I think I understand why she relaxed my long hair. Probably to make it easier for her. I went from waist length to a bop in one year

 

[twinkletoes17]

I was 4 o.0


I come from Nigerian immigrant parents, so you can imagine how thick my hair was. I can't really blame my mom for not being able to handle the course-ness lol. She knew how to protect and maintain relaxed hair though, because when I was younger I was always at least APL.

 

[xSweetxCaramelx]

When i Was 11yrs old my mother decided to give me a perm since we were moving to the US. cry3:Oh well biggest mistake ever, my hair was BSL all natural, after my first perm my hair starter to break until i ended with a bob. Well the hair stylist apparently did not know how to handle my hair after that i went to a dominican salon, but it was never the same.

 

[Chameleonchick]

First time I got a relaxer was at age 10, my mother's friend convinced her it would help her "problem" with my hair. Then I never got one again for two years. Mom shaved my head near bald (very tramatizing)at 12, when it started growing back out I had my friend mother put a relaxer in right before I turned 13. That young it only took me 9 months to go from almost bald to SL. I wish my hair still grew like that now

 

[tocktick]

age 5 or 6. i can even vaguely remember it; my mother used an adult perm too. she had no business perming it, especially as she can't do hair for ish!

 

[danigurl18]

I got mine at 6... my Dominican grandma didnt know how to do my hair so she permed it up...

 

[Highly Favored8]

around age 12

 

[godsflowerrr]

I was 7 yeasr old..i remember very clearly..lol