For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for April 03, 2018

$68 in 1989? Whew. I had perms during these years and never paid that much.

She’s just trying to help, Elly. You chose to pay for the perm, so don’t get snippy!

The rest of the stuff is good, but don’t buy the styling mousse, Elly. That’s best for straight hair, in my humble opinion. Mousse contains quite a bit of alcohol, which makes hair feel more “crunchy” than soft. For styling permed hair, I would choose a gel that is designed to make curly/wavy hair soft and pliable.

What she needs is a relaxer. Maybe it will relax into a nice wavy look.

What she needs is not all of that stuff, but a visit immediately to another salon to undo as much as possible, that big mistake. She will be laughed out of her own house otherwise, & you think she is mad now?

the stylist needs to be let go for she is not understanding the “customer is always right” concept

Pull it back into a French braid. It’s still long enough for that and other than some crinkles that perm disaster won’t show too much.

I would not leave that salon until the stylist “relaxes” that frizz ball! She should be able to walk out with soft waves. Sadly, I have had the same experience. Straight, fine hair is not made for perming. An updated cut and maybe color or highlights would have been a better choice.

It looks like the stylist did use pretty small rods…

but all perms are “poufy” on day 1.

She’ll be happier in two weeks. The “crunchy” look will be gone, plus, she’ll have 1/4" of new growth….

The flat base will make the top lie down… and more so in a month, with 1/2" flat.

PLEASE never go get a “softer” perm or a “relaxer” over a new perm!

Your hair will be fried by a double dose of chemicals!

No mousse OR gel if you want it to droop.

You DO need a very good conditioner, and you need to use it every time you wash your hair….

plus a good shampoo, matched to your hair type and condition.

But the diffuser is a blow dryer attachment. Elly’s hair can hang dry.

Sorry, cheap drugstore shampoos have very harsh ingredients, to make them foam.

I’ve watched enough perms ruined by them to believe it when 60 Minutes says they’re all the same.

Any movie star who swears she uses one is lying through her teeth!

Good shampoo doesn’t need to foam. It’s more expensive but you can use a lot less… especially once you’re shown how.

She needs to learn not to brush her perm… it becomes a giant fuzzball.

You comb it, with a very wide tooth comb, to get curls instead.

If you’re like me and just have to brush it, you spray it with a little water and comb it afterward.. 

The stylist should have told her about upkeep BEFORE the perm…

but in chain salons you get in trouble for taking too long with a client….

plus, she probably has to meet a sales quota to keep her job.

And if you pick a cheap salon you get newly hatched stylists.

Even we experienced ones can’t predict every outcome. We’re not magicians.

Short hair perms were about $45 at cheap salons in the 80’s.

Some salons charged $125.

In any case, the drawing is exaggerated, for comic effect, of course.

Reminds me of a Married with Children episode where Al’s barber died and he cannot find another one, so he has to go to a salon.

Al: “How much for a cut?”

Stylist: “Sixty dollars.”

Al: “WHAT?! My old barber charged me $2.75!!”

Stylist: “Oh really? Guess he did not adopt our motto: People are suckers!”

S’what happens when you give someone else control over any part of your life. They mirror their own.

My wife has pictures from the 80’s (twenty years before we met) and she has “Poodle Hair” as she calls it, as well.

Damn, some women look good with a perm. Then, again, it was the time when Aqua Velva almost destroyed civilization…

…..and that’s how “The Mullet” got its start.

Beauty has a cost.

Come on Ell, channel the old hippie in you, go back to the coffee shop, smoke a little and chill it really doesn’t look that bad…lol

She needs either a hot oil treatment or a deep-conditioning, something that relaxes the curl

I think all hair styling shops should sell hats….they would probably do quite well in sales to unsatisfied customers.

This does not look like Elly will be considering repeat business with this place.

Shave it all off start from the beginning

I am probably in the extreme minority here, but I kind of like it on her. She could easily guest on some other comic now – maybe Brunhilda.

Elly’s going to preserve her!!!

If Elly doesn’t like it, then she should speak with the manager/owner and get it fixed. I’ve had 2 problems at salons during my life: the first one I asked for ‘a little off the ends’ – the stylist (who was the owner) knew I had horrible vision without my glasses and couldn’t tell exactly how much she was cutting – took WAAY more than ‘a little’ off the ends. I should have known better because it seemed that all of the clients either had SHORT hair or tight perms. When I saw how much she had taken off I was FURIOUS and walked out paying; I noticed that the shop had closed when I went by a few months later. The other time I was getting my roots done; I walked into my home and hubby asked why there was a ring on the top of my head – the color job was THAT obvious. He took me back to the shop and demanded an appt to get it fixed the next day. I had made my next appt before I realized how bad the color job was. I cancelled 1 hr before the appt was scheduled and never went back to the shop.