Zoltan Hair · Mayfair · An Up treatment · digital perm
Wavement Hot
The modern one, and the one most people actually want. Curl that only appears as the hair dries — so a rough dry gives you soft movement, body and shine with no tongs and no round brush.
See prices & bookAll Up treatmentsheat-set, section by section
soft when wet
softens gradually
What I promise
The three numbers, honestly
The important number here is not a percentage. It is when the curl shows up.
Salon time
3 – 4 hours
Longer than a cold perm, because each rod is heated and controlled individually. It is the more technical of the two by a distance.
What you get
Curl that appears as it dries
The defining difference. Soft when wet, springing as it dries — the exact opposite of a cold perm. Which is why it reads as naturally thick, healthy hair rather than as a perm.
How long it lasts
4 – 6 months
It softens rather than dropping out, and the roots grow in straight so it fades into a soft movement. Worth knowing: a cold perm actually outlasts this one — Wavement Cold runs past six months. You are choosing Hot for how it looks and how little work it is, not for longevity.
What it actually does
Same bonds as a cold perm. Heat is what changes the result.
Heat sets the shape, not just the chemistry
The bonds are opened chemically as in any perm, but the hair is wound onto heated rods and the shape is set at temperature. That heat-set memory is what makes the curl behave differently — it activates as the hair dries rather than being at its strongest wet.
Which is why it looks natural
Hair that is curliest dry looks like hair that grew that way. A rough dry with fingers gives soft movement and gloss; the curl builds as the water leaves. There is no styling technique to learn.
It reads as thicker hair
Curl that springs as it dries lifts at the root and separates through the length, which is why this is the treatment people book when the complaint is flat, lifeless or thinning-looking hair.
In the chair
What actually happens on the day
1 · Read and design
Pattern, damage, colour history — then rod size, placement and how much curl you actually want. On a hot perm the design matters even more, because the result is what you see dry every day.
2 · Reduction
The reducing agent opens the bonds. Checked repeatedly rather than timed, then rinsed thoroughly.
3 · Wind onto heated rods
Each section wound and brought to temperature under control. This is the technical heart of the treatment and the reason it takes longer than a cold perm.
4 · Heat-set
The shape is set at temperature. Too little and the curl is soft and short-lived; too much on hair that cannot take it and you have damage. Judgement, not a dial.
5 · Neutralise
This treatment does need neutralising. An oxidiser reforms the bonds in their new position and locks it in. Hurried here and the curl drops within weeks.
6 · Unwind and finish
Rods out, conditioned at a low pH, dried the way you will dry it at home — so you leave knowing exactly what it does.
What you actually get
No tools
No tongs, no round brush, no wand. Rough dry with your fingers and the curl arrives on its own.
It reads as your hair
Because it is curliest dry, it looks like hair that grew that way rather than hair that was done.
Body and apparent thickness
Root lift and separation through the length make fine hair look considerably fuller.
More forgiving
Softer, glossier and less prone to frizz than a cold perm, and far less punishing if your styling is careless.
Who it suits — and who it does not
Ideal
S9 – W8 · damage at N
A slight natural bend at most, healthy bonds, and someone who wants the result without learning a technique. The most requested Up treatment for good reason.
Very good for
Fine hair that reads as flat or thinning
Curl that springs dry creates apparent density. This is the treatment people are usually describing when they say they want their hair to look thicker.
Usually no
Bleached, or damage at DD
Heat plus chemistry on hair with destroyed cystine is the worst combination on this site. A curl will go in and drop, and the hair will not forgive it. This is a consultation question, not a web-page one.
Book a mini consultation →Whatever it is called elsewhere, this is the category.
Digital perm · Hot perm · C-curl perm · Korean perm · Volume magic · Setting perm
Largely the same technique under different national names. It is the standard perm across Seoul and Tokyo, and comparatively rare in London — which is why most people here have never been offered it.
Wavement Hot is my own system. Read the perm guide for the cold-versus-hot comparison and Korean systems for where it came from — 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 Wavement Hot: alkaline for the reduction, then heat does the shaping. Two mechanisms rather than one, which is why it is the more technical of the two perms.
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 Wavement Hot: opened chemically, then re-set under heat on the rod. That heat-set memory is why the curl activates as the hair dries rather than when it is wet.
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 Wavement Hot: critical, because heat and porosity together are how damage happens. Porous hair gets lower temperatures and shorter contact — or it does not get this treatment.
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 Wavement Hot: what you are actually buying. The spring that appears as the hair dries only exists if the bonds can provide it.
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 Wavement Hot: both. Neutralisation locks the heat-set shape. Hurried here and the curl is gone within weeks.
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 Wavement Hot: three to four hours — longer than a cold perm, because each rod is heated and controlled individually.
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.
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.
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
What is the actual difference from a cold perm?
When the curl shows. Cold is curliest wet and relaxes as it dries. Hot is soft wet and springs as it dries. That one difference changes how it looks, how you style it and who it suits.
Will it look permed?
Less so than anything else here. Because the curl arrives as the hair dries, it reads as natural texture. That is precisely why it took over in Korea and Japan.
Do I need to learn how to style it?
No — that is the point. Wash, rough dry with fingers or a diffuser, done. If you want more definition, scrunch a little product in while damp.
Is it more damaging because of the heat?
It is more technical, which is a different thing. Controlled heat on hair that can take it is fine; uncontrolled heat on hair that cannot is not. On bleached hair I will say no.
Will it make my hair look thicker?
Generally yes, and it is one of the main reasons people book it. Root lift plus separation through the length reads as density.
How is it different from just using tongs?
Tongs last until the next wash or the next shower of rain — hydrogen bonds only. This is in the disulfide bonds, so it lasts months and it is there every time your hair dries.
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.
Can men have this?
Yes, and it is common in Seoul and Tokyo. On the men I see the answer is more often Wavement Cold, and I will tell you which suits your hair and your cut.
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.