Want a Korean hair makeover? Here’s how to achieve the Seoul salon look in Singapore
Four Singapore-based hairstylists break down Korean perms, colour, custom curls and layered cuts, plus how to recreate them here.
(Photo: iStock)
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Somewhere between TikTok’s endless before-and-afters and the rise of beauty tourism, getting a haircut has acquired frequent-flyer status.
We have all seen the videos: Someone travels thousands of miles, sits down in front of a hairstylist Insta-famous for dramatic makeovers and emerges looking inexplicably better cast in their own face.
Seoul, in particular, has become a destination for those chasing the precision cuts, airy layers, glossy colours and softly sculpted perms associated with Korean salons.
Ted Kim, managing director of Suchewa by Ted, which specialises in Korean perms, says K-styling has earned a reputation for precision cutting and perm work that “moves differently and lasts longer”. Some of his clients even build a trip to Seoul around a salon appointment “the same way they’d plan around a restaurant booking”.
K-styling has earned a reputation for precision cutting and perm work that moves differently and lasts longer.
Jesly Teoh, founder and master trainer at Picasso Hair Studio, credits Instagram, TikTok and Xiaohongshu with making overseas stylists easier to discover, while Eri Su, founder of Eirlume, sees hair appointments increasingly becoming part of the travel experience.
“People today are no longer just buying a haircut or a colour; they’re buying an experience,” Su observed.
Oh Yura, hair director at JungSaemMool, similarly notes that travellers increasingly want to experience Korean salon culture firsthand.
But there is one problem with flying abroad for your dream hair: You eventually have to come home.
Men may need a cut every three to four weeks, while women commonly return every four to six. Colour fades. Perms soften. Layers grow out. And a hairstyle that requires a plane ticket every time it needs refreshing is hardly practical.
The good news? You don’t necessarily need to fly 2,907 miles to Seoul for the transformation.
Rather than trying to replicate a viral makeover exactly, the experts say the key is understanding what makes it work in the first place – from the silhouette of a perm and placement of layers to your hair history and the way a style behaves in Singapore’s humidity.
Here’s what to look for when recreating that Seoul salon effect closer to home.
1. FOR A KOREAN PERM: THINK ABOUT SHAPE BEFORE CURL
The Korean perm has become shorthand for soft movement, flattering volume and ends that somehow know where to go. But simply asking your stylist for “Korean curls” isn’t enough.
According to Kim, the real trick lies in the silhouette.
“A lot of perms just add texture. A Korean perm is designed around the whole silhouette – how the curl works with your face shape, your part, and how it falls as it grows out,” he said.
Hair texture and density affect how well curls hold and how much volume appears, while length can determine whether a tighter curl looks polished or busy.
A Korean perm is designed around the whole silhouette – how the curl works with your face shape, your part, and how it falls as it grows out.
A good consultation should therefore go beyond choosing a curl from a reference picture. Your stylist should consider how the shape works with your face, hair and everyday styling habits – and how it will look weeks after you leave the salon.
According to Kim, the aim is for the shape to relax gradually while still falling as intended, rather than quickly becoming flat or frizzy.
Singapore’s humidity matters too. Kim recommends a gentler perm, larger rods or looser curls here, as tighter curls can frizz more quickly.
Maintenance does not have to be complicated. At home, he recommends applying a lightweight leave-in product or curl cream to damp hair and scrunching instead of brushing, which can disturb the curl pattern.
2. FOR COLOUR: LOOK BEYOND THE VIRAL BEFORE-AND-AFTER
Those dramatic colour transformations filling your social feeds can be useful inspiration. They can also give a misleading idea of what is possible in a single salon appointment.
“One of the biggest misconceptions is that every transformation can be achieved in one session,” explained Su.
“What people don’t always see are the hours behind the scenes, the hair history, multiple appointments, lighting, editing or the maintenance that follows.”
Previous bleaching, box dye, rebonding and repeated colouring can all affect how hair lifts and holds pigment. That means two clients arriving with the same reference photograph may require very different processes – and may not leave with identical results.
The best colour is the one that makes people notice you first, not your hair.
A good colourist should therefore ask about your hair history before promising a transformation.
Su also recommends considering your skin undertone and personal style when choosing a shade, because “the best colour is the one that makes people notice you first, not your hair”.
Reference images, he added, should be treated as “a conversation starter, not a blueprint”. Be upfront, too, about how much maintenance you are prepared to commit to.
And when deciding who should colour your hair, don’t judge a stylist solely by their most spectacular social-media transformations. Su suggests looking for consistency across clients with different hair types and starting colours – a better indication of whether a colourist can adapt the technique to the person in the chair.
3. FOR A CUSTOM PERM: MAKE SURE IT IS ACTUALLY CUSTOMISED
If you are considering a custom perm, the exact curl size should be one of the last things you worry about, according to Teoh.
Your hair texture, growth pattern and head shape should determine how the perm is constructed.
On naturally frizzy or wavy hair, for example, she recommends soft rebonding at the roots before placing curls lower down. “High curls could exaggerate frizz, while lower curls often produce a softer and more polished finish.”
Volume requires similar precision. More is not automatically better: Where that volume sits can alter the proportions of the hairstyle and even how wide the face appears.
Even if the curl pattern is technically perfect, an unsuitable haircut or poorly designed layers can prevent the curls from creating the intended movement and volume.
The haircut underneath is just as important.
“Even if the curl pattern is technically perfect, an unsuitable haircut or poorly designed layers can prevent the curls from creating the intended movement and volume,” Teoh pointed out.
So when discussing a perm with a stylist, pay attention to whether the consultation goes beyond choosing a curl pattern. Are they looking at your existing cut? Your natural texture? Where your hair needs volume – and where it doesn’t?
Ultimately, Teoh said, “a successful makeover is the result of the cut, layering, curl placement and perm working together as one complete design”.
4. FOR A KOREAN CUT: LOOK AT THE LAYERS FROM EVERY ANGLE
A good Korean layered cut is built around shape and movement, so where the layers sit matters just as much as how short they are.
According to Oh, “even a small adjustment to the layers around the face can completely change how someone’s features appear”.
The test of a well-designed cut is also what happens when the salon styling wears off.
“A well-designed layered cut should still have shape and movement even when the hair is simply blow-dried,” she said.
That is worth remembering when scrolling through a stylist’s portfolio. A beautifully curled and styled final shot may show you the finished effect, but it does not necessarily tell you how the underlying haircut behaves on an ordinary morning.
A well-designed layered cut should still have shape and movement even when the hair is simply blow-dried.
Reference photographs are still useful, but Oh recommends bringing images of your desired hairstyle from different angles and in different settings.
“If the client likes the cut from all angles and in different situations, then she’s definitely responding to the haircut – instead of the model or celebrity in the photo.”
Finally, be realistic about how much styling you are prepared to do yourself. “If you’re happy to use a hairdryer or curling iron each morning, you can opt for a more dramatic layered style,” Oh said.
The Seoul makeover, in other words, may be less about geography than it appears on social media. The techniques that make those transformations compelling – careful consultation, personalised shape, strategic layering and an understanding of how the hair will behave after the big reveal – can be applied closer to home.
The plane ticket can remain optional.
Source: CNA/yy
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