Men and Women's Hair Dye in Korea

He looks positively plastic.

Korean Ken doll? He pretended to be timid about removing his shirt so as not to get dye all over it, but started flexing for the camera when I tried to capture his hair. Barf. Somebody wants to be a model.

In exchange for Frontpage, Photoshop and some thoughtfully selected music files (Chet Baker, The Cranberries and Louis Armstrong- all of which brought me back to my teens), I dyed his hair black. He's in his late 20's, but starting to grey. Korean men generally bald/grey later in life, because they have more testosterone than Caucasian men.

I hate those gloves that come with the kit, so my fingernails are now stained a brown-black, so attractive an 8 year old student rejected candy from my hand. Had Eva teacher been gardening or eating handfuls of chocolate cake? He was having none of it.

The result was pretty:

Japanese folk are more liberal with the hair dye than Koreans. Fly a couple of hours on a plane and you'll even see green. Koreans choose natural shades, close to their own color. My friend said one grad student was called a 'Yankee' by his engineering professor when he showed up with a bright orange/yellow shade. He was ordered to change it immediately.

Middle and high school girls are usually forced by school policy to keep their hair natural, and cropped above their shoulders. I thought bobs were the trend, but students aren't wearing the style by choice.

So, the box of hair dye. It looked like a Korean knock-off of L'Oreal's Feria. Silver box, but with a Korean actor posing on the front. I've never seen Brad Pitt on a Honeysuckle kit, or Johnny Depp modeling Jet Black. American actresses yes but rarely actors. Tae Hun said it's common for movie stars to advertise cosmetics- even men's makeup, like foundation.

As a foreigner you'll likely have some trouble finding American brands of hair color, at affordable prices. Try the big markets. But if you have dark hair, it's safe to buy a Korean kit. It works just like any other you've tried so you don't need to read the instructions.