Time for a hair cut

My hair dresser at home was always confused that I couldn't just stick with one hair style and be done with it. But no, I get bored with the same hair and I always want to change it. I grow it long then cut it short, grow it long, cut it short and every time going for a different style. Well, it was finally time for me to go back. It is only my second time getting a hair cut by a Korean, though I did have a friend's sister cut my hair while she was visiting from the US (she's a hair dresser). The first time I was fairly satisfied with the result.... (I always feel only fairly satisfied when I leave the hair dresser, no matter what country). Last time I got it cut shoulder length, but I figure it's getting cooler now, I can cut it shorter, since I don't need to worry so much about putting it up. I settled on a bob cut with angled bangs. As usual, I'm fairly satisfied with the results... time will tell how I really feel about it. Here's a photo, if you're interested!


Anyway, if you're curious about differences between Korean and American beauty shops, There's not many, but a few that are significant enough to mention. Here in Korea, they have no problem cutting your hair dry. This time I got a shampoo before she cut it, only because of a slight miscommunication (She said "Do you want your hair washed?" and I thought she said "Did you wash your hair?", so of course I said yes. Oh well, some how it didn't cost me any extra for the shampoo this time. Last time I went, they cut my hair completely dry. I had my doubts, but it seemed to work just fine. Now that I think of it, I'm not sure why we wet our hair to cut it anyway, back at home. Other than that, it's the only difference I've found.

I have to mention, though, that for many foreigners, going to your average salon in Korea is not the wisest idea. If you have hair that is very curly, or some sort of texture that is very different from Korean hair, you'd best stick to someone like Green Turtle in Itaewon, that specialize in foreigners. My friend with curly hair went to an average hair salon, and the woman tried to brush her hair, which resulted in an hour and a half of detangling on the poor unsuspecting hair dressers behalf. Also, if you plan on dying your hair, remember that Koreans always need to go lighter because their hair is black, so the chemicals in the dyes are probably different if you're trying to go from light to dark. Make sure you go to a hair dresser that has the right kind of dyes for your hair. I'm no expert on this subject, since I've only ever gotten highlights once, and it was from a box and my mom did it for me (which came out really well by the way, but dried my hair out so bad that I had to cut off 3/4 of my hair just so I could get a comb through it every day... which is why I never did it again... ).

Anyway, I just went to a little place, looks like it could be a chain, though I've never seen another one, called Hair Box in the Kondae area. They didn't speak any English, so I had to practice my Korean skills. It worked out well, except that I didn't know the word for layers (fortunately, the boyfriend wasn't far away, getting his own hair cut and he told me what it was). My cut was only 10,000 won, and for my boyfriend, it was only 8,000 won. Not bad at all, cheaper than supercuts at home, that's for sure.

For those of you learning Korean, here's a few helpful words for you on your adventure.

미용실- Hair Salon
앞머리- Bangs (앞 is front, so literally it means front hair... very easy to remember)
머리(가락)- Hair (you don't need 가락 unless you need to be very specific)
자르다- Cut (자라요 in the conjugated form, sometimes people pronounce it more like 짜라요)
길다- Long (길어요)
짧다- Short (짧아요)
이렇게- Like this (you can use this when pointing to a picture)
그렇게- Like that