Diversification and individualization are pursued to fulfill the increasing human desire for beauty. There are many methods to change human appearances; of these, a permanent wave is often applied to improve beauty. A permanent wave uses physical and chemical methods to break and reform the bonds of natural hair. Thus, research into the optimized conditions for permanent waves is necessary to minimize hair damage and improve the effi ciency of the treatment. The object of this study is to examine the effect of varying the alkalinity (8%, 12%, and 16%) of the permanent wave treatment on the wave effi ciency, degree of hair damage via tensile strength, and degree of hair protein release. The results indicate that the treatment with the highest alkalinity (16%) is more effective than that with 8% alkalinity; however, the degree of hair damage when treated with the 16% alkalinity wave is higher than with the 8% alkalinity wave. Additionally, hair proteins increasingly dissolve with increasing alkalinity of the permanent wave.