Over 5 weeks ago, I decided to have my hair chemically straightened in a "Korean straight hair perm". And I am now ready to give my reviews...
I LOVE IT! I absolutely LOVE IT! I honestly don't know how I am going to be able to leave this country. For the first time in my life I am able to blow dry my hair and go. Before I would spend 30 minutes after blow drying my hair to straighten it, and even then if there was humidity in the air, my hair was a goner! Not anymore!
My first month in Korea was hair nightmare. I would try to be able to wear it down, but it would frizz to the point of doubling in size. I thought something needed to be done. When I was in New Zealand, I had this done and it worked a bit, so I thought at this point, I needed to try again. In New Zealand I thought it was going to work wonders, so I paid a lot of money for it...embarrassingly probably around $250 NZ dollars. (that's ridiculous) And when it didn't work that well, it was depressing. I also tried to get it done in the States, with no results at all.
I brought the idea up with my co-teacher and she said that she had had it done to her hair. You might be interested to know that most of the Koreans with straight hair have had this process done! I didn't know that. I assumed that they were just born with ridiculously straight hair! Anyways, 2 of my co-teachers set me up with an appointment at their hair dressers. I got an appointment with the owner and she was let say... "very nervous" about doing a foreigners hair. I got many warnings:
" It may not work." ( meaning: it may not work as well as a Korean's hair)
" Your hair will be damaged." (meaning: your hair could have damaged ends)
" The bleached hair will be more damaged." (meaning: the bleached highlights could show more damage than the other areas)
She talked with so much drama in her voice that I thought that my hair was going to exist no more. As soon as I got verification that my hair would not fall out as a result of these things, I gave the go ahead. The process took 3 hours. She put a cream in my hair, kind of washed it out, then dried it and straightened it with a straightener, and then washed it again. Finally it was time for the test- the blow drying test... I could see the worry and concern on the owners face. As she was blow drying my hair I could see her face turn from stoic to a slight smile. Then as she was finishing it, a big smile came across her face and she was showing everyone my hair! I could hear the relief in her Korean words! That was when I got excited! If she was excited, then I needed to be excited! It was obvious that it had worked! The pessimist (the Korean salon owner) had been defeated by the optimist (the crazy foreigner lady that wanted Korean hair- ME)!
I have since found out that you can get the ends of your hair permed. The rest of your hair is straight and the last 5 inches have some curls. If only I had known that for those 7 years I had extremely long hair! Also, you can get a bang or fringe perm. This is when they perm just your bangs so that they are not plastered on your forehead! These Koreans are so smart! Thinking about getting bangs now...???
Alright, here are the results in pictures! 5 weeks have passed and I am still only blow drying my hair in the morning. I didn't realize how much time I was wasting before...There is a bit of damage on the ends of my hair, but nothing that a trim wouldn't fix! Overall....Best purchase EVER!
Salon: "H Hair" (에이치 헤어)
Location: Chilgok
Price: 100,000 won (varies for length of hair and thickness)
I WANT!!!!
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