Haircut in Korea

This is something that I have loathed since I moved here. Getting a decent haircut. I've been to several shops, I've done it myself. Nothing really works.

I should start off with background. Korean mens fashion for younger people is strictly what would be called in the west metrosexual. Perms and colouring are the norms. Hairdressers just do't understand how a man can't want to be pretty. The unisex places abound with young girls or very metrosexual men that want to shave the bottom half of my head and perm the top half. Though I guess if I am over 30 and still going to those kinda hair places they assume I am trying desperately to still be 22 and cut accordingly. If that look is what you like by all means, though when I see a man in skinny jeans and a perm taking 20 pictures of himself with a selfie stick I understand that there is a minimum level of masculinity that is required of a man before other men (and women) take him seriously.

Option two is cut your own hair. That always looks good.

So at long last I have figured out what to do. Local barber. Guy is in his 50's, and most of his clientele are within 10-12 years of that give or take. No perm, no music. He cuts my hair, and I give him $10. I actually found him after my surgery, when I had a small gap with no hair on my head. I needed it cut short, saw the barber, and went for it. I explained it to him, showed him a picture and he nailed it. I go in once a month for essentially the same cut. Perfect.

I have also learned a few interesting things about older men in Korea. For one, a haircut is a social event. Four guys will all go in at once for a cut. Second, they will shave your neck and face (though he doesn't shave my face due to my beard, which I don't think he would know how to handle, and fair enough). That shave is part of the service. Third, a shampoo is still a part of the cut.

So anyway, if you are a man in Korea who is tired of bad haircuts, go to your local 이용실 with a picture of a guy with a short cut. You'll be the only one under 40, but you won't come out looking like Boy George. I only wish I had discovered these places sooner.