Do you cut or color your hair first?

You should always go with the treatment that has more chemicals first; that would be the perm. If you get a perm and like the perm but still aren't happy with the color of your hair, get a temporary dye to color your hair with. This will do the least amount of damage. If you don't want to mess around with your hair after it's gone through a perm, then don't do anything more to damage it. Get a curl-defining shampoo and conditioner and find a nice hair spray to hold the curls. If you like the base color of your hair, try highlights and lowlights. For more information, ask your hairdresser.