How do you know if your perm is so bad you just need to cut your hair really short?

I'm deep conditioning every day. The hair is totally dry...just sucks the conditioner right up. It was only a partial perm, so it's the top layers, which are pretty short anyway.

What I need to know is, what should I look for, besides dryness? How will I know if my hair is totally damaged? Will the ends start splitting ?

ok, well thanks for any info you can give me

How do you know if your perm is so bad you just need to cut your hair really short?

The worst perms can make your hair fall out (if they've burned your scalp) or break off in little bits. Badly damaged hair can also start to lose color and become lighter. Perms do dry out and damage your hair, even under the best conditions.

I'd really just go by how it looks. If it looks fine, why cut it off? To protect it from breakage, make sure you're using a good quality conditioner. NOT ALL CONDITIONERS ARE CREATED EQUAL! Try a really good one from Redken called "All-Soft" conditioner, which is specially designed for your exact problem. (You'll only need a fraction of what you use from cheap conditioner, so it isn't as expensive as it looks) You may also want to try a spray-on, leave in conditioner that you put on clean damp hair. The reasonably priced Pantene "Light Spray Conditioner" is a nice product. Above all, if your hair is really dry, don't wash it any more frequently than it absolutely needs to be.

If all else fails and it really just looks bad, then head for the scissors, but don't give up hope too quickly!

Good Luck!

How do you know if your perm is so bad you just need to cut your hair really short?

if your hair feels like jelly when its wet............its totally fried and their is nothing you can do but either cut it or Wait for it to grow out. You can get some protein treatments every other week, that will help a little but not repair your hair if its in a "jelly" state