‘Chopping’ the Mop

The next time you eat Chinese food, save the chopsticks--they could help you perm your hair.

Herb BuDoff of Pygmalion Hair Design in Tarzana says chopsticks are the ultimate tool for giving long hair an up-to-date permed look.

“The chopsticks give the hair a zigzag wave pattern, rather than the soft curl that normal perming rods give you,” he says. “It can be a wild look. If you dry the hair upside down, the waves look literally like one-inch steps standing away from the head. It’s like looking at a step from the side.”

The effect is achieved by weaving the hair in and out of the chopsticks, then tying the hair together with rubber bands. The perms, which cost about $100, have grown in popularity because, as BuDoff says, “The all-one-length, long-hair look is back in again.”

The results can sometimes be shocking.

“At first, when some of my customers see those square edges all over their heads, they say, ‘Oh my God, my boyfriend’s going to kill me!’ but then they love it,” BuDoff says. “It’s great to see the light moving through the hair at so many different angles.”

Still, not every woman likes her chopsticks to leave the kitchen for the hair salon.

“Some people get nervous when they see the chopsticks,” says BuDoff. “They say, ‘uh . . . what are you going to do with these?’

“Of course,” he adds, “for different effects, we also use tongue depressors, ice-cream sticks and pencils.”