Something I Thought I Would Never Do in Korea!

I got highlights and a haircut. My hair has been driving me crazy. With the humidity and the need for a haircut, my hair just became too much of an issue. I was going to grow it out and it was at the point where it fit mostly into a ponytail which was really nice when it was humid. But now that we are into September, the humid days are getting fewer. Curt wanted to get a hair cut at a beauty salon in Home Plus and I decided to do it too. Luckily, there was a customer there who knew English and could translate what we wanted.

Our stylist was a guy and he started with Curt's haircut. Then it was my turn. They do it differently here than in the States. Your hair is cut dry with an occasional spritz from a water bottle. It was really strange to be in hair salon with no curling irons anywhere, no bottles of mousse, styling gel, or even hair spray. The hair dryer appeared from under the chair. They keep their tools (scissors and combs) in a tool pack around their waist.

They gave me several books to look at cuts. I chose one and showed him. He then cut my hair using techniques I had never seen before. One technique, he took a clump of my hair and as he dropped it on his scissors, he cut away. I saw HUGE clumps of my hair falling to the floor and my first thought was, "I'm glad my hair grows pretty fast!" He finished the cut and then styled my hair. I started to get up to leave, thinking he forgot about the highlighting, he gestured for me to sit down. He went into another room and came back with the blue goo but no tin foil (I'm used to getting foils). He basically highlighted my hair like you would do when you get foils. I sat for about 20-30 minutes and then he led me to the shampoo area and my hair was shampooed and conditioned. He laid a white blindfold on me before he started. Back to the chair where my hair was blow dried and styled. No curling iron and no hair spray.

I think he did a great job. I have only one complaint, he started the highlights about 1/2" - 3/4" from my roots so it looks like it's grown out some. Curt thinks I'm being too picky but I think next time I'll get him to go all the way to the root. The peace sign is what Koreans do when you take their pictures.