My only experience of home perm kits is from the late 70s-80s.
Then, they were REALLY harsh on the hair/scalp.
My real hair is/was dead straight and the woman who did mine had to leave it on twice as long as she said she normally would.
The resulting curls would have been great if the hairs hadn't snapped off at the roots in the following weeks!!

And you're right, some people's perms seemed to last for ages and others dropped out.
I don't know if that was due to the hair type or how the perm was applied.
There were also 'demi' perms which were designed to not last as long.
I think my mother had those about once a month.
As I said before, a bit like the mixed results people get with hair dyes.

I'm going to try this on an old piece I no longer wear, as the word 'perm' strikes fear in to me!
But I imagine they've moved on and improved since my experience!