K-Style TripThe kind people at home ask you about
Most things bought on a trip end up in a drawer. Hair does not — a perm set with heat holds three to six months and is visible every day of them. And the styles below are recognisable: people can tell where they came from.
Bring a photograph
Every stylist says the same thing. Even with the right word, the picture in two heads is not the same picture. Two or three saved photographs of what you want will get you through almost any language gap. A side and a back view help more than another front one.
Booking
Salons that take foreign customers almost all work by appointment, and the days with concerts fill first. Booking one that handles English in advance is the safer move.
Hair
US$18–106시스루뱅
si-seu-ru-baengA fringe cut from a very shallow section so that the forehead shows through it.
Unlike a full fringe, you can see skin between the strands.
Being thin, it separates quickly in heat and humidity.
Worth knowing if you will be standing in a crowd for hours.
How long it lasts Until the next cut. A fringe reaches your eyes in two to four weeks.
레이어드컷
re-i-eo-deu-keotCut in layers, then set with an inward C-curl or a wavy S-curl.
It is the base of a great many Korean styles rather than a style in itself.
Layers lose their shape as they grow, so plan on a trim rather than treating it as a one-off.
How long it lasts Six to eight weeks, then the layers grow out of shape.
히피펌
hi-pi-peomA perm wound on thin rods of 12–20mm, densely, from the roots to the ends.
The curl is deliberately irregular rather than uniform.
On shorter hair the volume can read as too much, and it is a long appointment — allow three or four hours.
How long it lasts Three to six months, done as a digital perm.
디지털펌
di-ji-teol-peomA perm set with heat, so the curl is held in the hair's memory.
A hippie perm is usually done this way.
It lasts about three to six months.
A cold perm without heat drops sooner.
If the budget is tight, ask which one you are being quoted for.
How long it lasts Three to six months. A perm without heat is shorter.
퍼스널컬러
peo-seu-neol-keol-leoA consultation that reads the tone of your skin, hair and eyes — warm or cool, light or deep, high or low contrast — and gives you thirty to forty colours that suit you.
Usually done by holding fabric beside your face.
Many people have it done before deciding on a hair colour.
How long it lasts Indefinitely. The reading does not expire.
Booking through this link costs you nothing extra — the price is exactly the same.
We separately earn a commission when the booking goes through.
Hair, nails and make-up
Salons and nail shops in Hongdae, Seongsu and Gangnam style visitors the way the people on stage are styled. Most take bookings only, and the days with concerts fill first.
Nails
US$9–113As visible as the hair and much quicker. An hour or two, and it goes straight to the concert the next day.
젤네일
jel-ne-ilGel cured under a UV lamp.
It keeps its gloss far longer than ordinary polish and does not chip as easily.
How long it lasts Usually two to four weeks. It is still hardening for the first two or three days.
원컬러
won-keol-leoPlain gel in a single colour, no pattern.
"원컬러요" is the whole order.
How long it lasts The same as gel. Basic care is normally included.
아트
a-teuFrench tips, gradients, painted designs.
Priced as an addition on top of the single colour.
How long it lasts The same as gel. The more elaborate it is, the longer the appointment.
케어
ke-eoSanitising, cuticle work and smoothing the nail surface.
You can have this alone, with no colour.
How long it lasts Until the nail grows out.
Hanbok
US$7–77Hair lasts months, nails weeks, a hanbok an afternoon. What survives is the photograph — and of the three it is the one that needs no caption. Anyone can see where it was taken.
전통한복
jeon-tong-han-bokThe full traditional cut, with a wide skirt worn over an underskirt.
This is the one that photographs like a hanbok in front of a palace.
That width is awkward on stairs and at subway gates.
Worth knowing if you plan to walk a lot.
생활한복
saeng-hwal-han-bokA modernised cut.
Looser and easier to move in, and the better choice if you are wearing it all day.
Free palace entry depends on the garment meeting the shape requirements — ask the shop whether theirs qualifies.
대여 시간
dae-yeo si-ganRentals are sold by the hour.
Shops offer everything from a couple of hours to a full day, and the price moves with it.
A short slot covers one palace.
If you mean to walk on to Bukchon, the all-day is the calmer choice.
헤어 세팅
he-eo se-tingHaving your hair put up to match the hanbok.
Some shops include it in the rental and some charge for it separately.
Check which on the booking page.
Adding it on the day means waiting for a chair.
Booking through this link costs you nothing extra — the price is exactly the same.
We separately earn a commission when the booking goes through.
A hanbok, at the palace
Rental shops cluster around Gyeongbokgung and Bukchon. Wearing one gets you into the palace free, and some shops photograph you as well.
This is a description of what each treatment is, not advice on what would suit you. That belongs to somebody who has seen your face.
Souvenir-making workshops ›Photographs you can only take here ›See how to spend the day of the show ›Korean slang ›