Ok, we all know that getting a hair cut at the mercy of a new set of hands often plays like a Romantic Comedy (think Pretty Woman) that morphs into an Adventure Flick (Romancing the Stone, Part I) and often ends up looking like Nightmare on Elm Street (green and red stripes, horrible burns/highlights, and chop chop chop from Freddie himself). 

Photo: When he walked out of the Korean Barber Shop with that 'do, my Mom woulda grabbed him by the
ear and marched him right back in!
 

Aside from the cinematic allusions, most men and women are even more vulnerable in Korea, where a haircut plays out like a game of charades, with fingers frantically gesturing to commicate everything from length, curl, color, bangs/no bangs and price. 

Communication in English is often just one issue; as I personally found out when I visited the Blue Club.  The infamous Blue Club, loved and praised by ajjossi and taxi driver alike for their 6,000 won a snip price tab, quick, efficient factory line approach and, unbeknownst to this writer prior to the finale, resulting in a uniform hair cut geared to the 50 year old Korean male that ranked slightly above having a bowl slammed on my head and a flo-bee applied. Bearing the pain and confusion suffered by Expats with naturally curly, thick or non-black hair, our kind readers at HiExpat.com have helped compile a list of the top hair salons and barbershops to go for a haircut, coloring or other hair treatment. 

We also polled our expat users on their experiences at Korean hair salons.  Surprisingly, the result was generally positive with almost 70% of our expat users rating their experiences OK or better.  Those that were particularly impressed with their haircuts have provided us with their recommendations, but we'd like to get additional feedback from you first to see what we missed, what we should modify and what we should know when it comes to helping a foreigner get a hair cut in Korea.

Image: HiExpat Poll - How would you rate hair cuts you've had in Korea?

Read enough?  Ok, get on to booking an appointment and finding out directions in English by clicking here for our Listing of Hair Salons!

Share this page