Zoltan Hair · Mayfair · An Up treatment · one section only
Root Volume & Partial Waving
Flat roots let the whole shape collapse — and lifting them is very often all that is needed. It buys back the volume you keep trying to blow-dry in every morning, without touching the rest of your hair.
See prices & bookAll Up treatmentsroot volume £199.95
by section size
the root is what grows
What I promise
The three numbers, honestly
Small work, disproportionate result — which is the whole argument for it.
Salon time
1 – 2 hours
Depending on how much of the head is being worked. Considerably shorter than a full perm.
What it does
Lift and body, where you need it
Curl put in at the root only, or into one section — under-layer, face-frame, fringe. The length is left alone, so nothing about your hair looks permed.
How long it lasts
One to two months, at most
Short, and I will not dress it up. You are treating the root, and the root is the part that grows — within a month or two the new growth is flat again and the lift has simply moved up the head. Nothing is wrong when that happens; it is the nature of root work. Treat it as a maintenance service or as something you do before an occasion, not as an investment that lasts. If you want months of result, you want a full perm through the length.
What it actually does
Root lift is a structural problem, not a styling one
Hair that sits flat at the crown drags the whole shape down, and no amount of product or backcombing fixes it for more than an hour. Putting a bend into the first inch or two lifts everything above it.
Or body underneath, with the top left smooth
Waving the under-layer gives movement and support while the surface stays sleek. The result is fullness with no visible curl — which is what most people mean when they say they want thicker hair.
It is real perm chemistry
Reduction and neutralisation, the same as a full perm, confined to a section. Which means it is subject to the same rules: healthy bonds give bounce, bleached ones do not.
In the chair
What actually happens on the day
1 · Read and decide the section
Where the collapse actually is. Often it is not where people think — a flat crown is frequently a hairline problem, and the fix is a smaller area than expected.
2 · Wind the section
Rods placed only where lift or movement is wanted, at the angle that lifts rather than curls.
3 · Reduction and rinse
The bonds are opened around the rods and rinsed thoroughly before neutralising.
4 · Neutralise
It does need neutralising. The bonds are reformed in position and locked. Hurried here and the lift drops within weeks.
5 · Unwind and blend
The join into untreated hair is blended so there is no line where the work stops.
6 · Finish
Dried the way you will dry it, so you leave knowing what it does on your own hands.
What you actually get
Volume that stays up
The lift you spend every morning trying to blow-dry in, present without you doing anything.
Nothing looks permed
Because the length is untouched. It reads as thicker hair, not as curl.
Short and inexpensive
An hour or two, from £149.95 — against a full perm at £299.95 and up.
No commitment at all
A month or two and it has grown out. If you hate it, you simply wait — no line, nothing to undo, and nothing to regret.
Who it suits — and who it does not
Ideal
S9 – W8 · flat at the root, damage at N
Fine hair with a collapsing crown, or a shape that drops within an hour of leaving the house.
Also good for
Hair that needs support, not curl
Where the goal is fullness and the client does not want visible curl at all. Under-layer waving is the answer people rarely know exists.
Usually no
Bleached at the root, or damage at DD
Root bleach and perm chemistry in the same place is the worst combination there is, and the roots are exactly where the newest bleach usually sits. Worth a proper look rather than a guess.
Book a mini consultation →Whatever it is called elsewhere, this is the category.
Root perm · Volume magic · Root lift perm · Partial perm · Under-layer wave
Barely offered in London, and one of the most useful things on this site. Read the perm guide and rods: size vs shape for how placement changes everything — both free.
Colour
When to do your colour
Perming and colour both work on the same hair, and doing them in the wrong order or too close together is how people end up with damage they blame on the perm.
Colour after, not before
Leave at least two weeks
Perm first, let it settle, then colour. Colouring immediately before means putting a second chemical process onto hair that is about to have its bonds opened.
Bleached hair
The honest limit
Bleach destroys the very bonds a perm needs to grip. A curl can be put into bleached hair; it will not bounce, and it will drop within weeks. This is where I say no most often on the Up side.
Tell me everything
Including henna and box colour
Henna and metallic salts react badly with perm chemistry — occasionally violently. Anything in your hair, however long ago, I need to know about.
Skin test
I do not routinely do one for straightening or perming, and there is no blanket UK requirement for these services — it is the product manufacturer and the insurer that drive it, not the law. Where a specific product calls for one, I will tell you and we will do it. Hair colour is a different matter: there it is effectively mandatory.
Strand and elasticity testing
Also not routine. I read the hair at the consultation and again on the day. Where I judge it necessary, I will say so before we start — and we test before anything else happens, rather than finding out halfway through.
What actually protects the hair
Knowing what has already been done to it. Colour history, previous chemistry and how it was cared for tell me more than any test — which is why I ask for the history before I ask what you want.
Making it last
The first 48 hours
The bonds are freshly reformed and still settling. No washing, no tight ties, no clips, no brushing it out. Scrunch rather than comb, and let it dry in its own shape.
Never brush it dry
The single biggest mistake with any perm. Brushing dry curl separates it into frizz. Comb through with conditioner in the shower, then leave it alone — fingers and a diffuser only from then on.
What you wash it with
You do not have to give up lather. A gentle sulphate cleanser is fine; heavy strippers dry curl out fast. Two or three washes a week, always with conditioner.
Not sure about yours? Send me a photo of the ingredient list and I will tell you whether to keep it.
The terms, plainly
The same glossary appears on every treatment page here, so the language means the same thing wherever you read it — with what each term means for this particular treatment underneath.
pH
The acid-to-alkaline scale. Hair sits at about 4.5–5.5, slightly acidic. Alkaline products swell and open the cuticle so chemistry can get in — more change, more cost to the hair. Acid products close and smooth it — gentler, shinier, less penetration.
On Root Volume: alkaline perm chemistry, applied only where the lift is wanted and blended out at the edge.
Disulfide bonds
The strong, permanent sulphur-to-sulphur links. They give hair both its strength and its bounce. Hydrogen bonds, by contrast, are weak and temporary — broken by water and heat, which is why a blow-dry drops in the rain.
On Root Volume: broken and reformed around a rod at the root, or through one section. The rest of the hair is untouched.
Porosity
How easily hair absorbs and holds water and chemicals. High porosity means a raised, damaged cuticle: it soaks product up fast and processes quickly and unevenly. Low porosity is resistant and needs more time.
On Root Volume: root hair is the newest and least porous on your head, which is why it takes a perm well — and why root work is often more reliable than the same chemistry on the lengths.
Bounce (elasticity)
The ability to stretch and spring back, governed almost entirely by disulfide bond health. You can impose a shape on almost any hair. You cannot impose bounce — it has to be earned from healthy bonds.
On Root Volume: exactly what you are buying — lift that springs, rather than lift that collapses by lunchtime.
Reduction and neutralisation
The two-step chemistry of any perm or relaxer. Reduction breaks the bonds so the hair can be reshaped; neutralisation reforms them in the new shape and locks it in.
On Root Volume:both, confined to the section. Neutralisation is what makes the lift last past a fortnight.
Processing time
Timed to the hair, not to a clock on the wall. Porosity, texture and history all change how fast a treatment develops.
On Root Volume: one to two hours, depending on how much of the head is being worked.
Read further
Where this sits in the wider family
The free guides covering each tradition — what is in them, where they came from and who they suit.
The perm guide
Cold versus digital, what each does to the curl, and why the modern perm looks nothing like the one you are picturing.
Open the guide →Perm rods — size vs shape
The rod decides the result. How size and shape change the curl completely, shown rather than described.
Open the guide →Korean systems
Where the digital and hot perm traditions come from, and how they differ from the Western cold perm.
Open the guide →Home care
What to wash it with, what to avoid, and how to make the result last months longer than it otherwise would.
Open the guide →Conditioning
What conditioning actually does, what it cannot do, and which claims on the bottle are marketing.
Open the guide →The complete guide
The whole subject, both directions, free and holding nothing back.
Start here →Questions people actually ask
Will it look curly?
No — that is the point. At the root it reads as lift; underneath it reads as body. The surface of your hair stays as it is.
Can it be seen where it stops?
Not if the join is blended, which is part of the work. A hard edge is a sign it was rushed.
Is it the same as backcombing that lasts?
Better than that, and considerably kinder. Backcombing damages the cuticle every time; this puts the lift into the hair’s own structure.
Is one to two months worth the money?
For some people plainly yes — before a wedding, a season of photographs, or when flat roots are the one thing ruining an expensive cut. For others it is not, and I will say so. It is the shortest-lived thing I offer and you should go in knowing that.
How much of the head is treated?
As little as possible. Fringe from £149.95, face-frame £179.95, root volume £199.95, under-layer £229.95 — and I will recommend the smallest section that solves it.
Can I have it with a Down treatment?
Sometimes, and it is a genuinely good combination — smooth through the length, lift at the root. It has to be planned and sequenced properly, so raise it at the consultation.
What if my hair is thinning?
It can help the appearance, but thinning hair is usually fine and fragile. This is exactly the case where I want to see it before promising anything, and sometimes the answer is no chemistry at all.
Is it safe if I am pregnant or breastfeeding?
That is not my decision to make for you. I will give you the full ingredient list for the exact product I would use so you can decide with your midwife, GP or pharmacist.
Real prices, published.
Four questions about your hair and the calculator gives you the exact price for your length and texture, and the appointment to book. No “from” prices that grow once you are in the chair.
See prices & bookAll Up treatmentsNot sure this is the right one? A mini consultation online is £9.95 — refunded against your treatment if you book within 30 days.