In my opinion the importance of hair for one's appearance is greatly underestimated. If not totally ignored.
Hair styles make or destroy a kpop idol.
This is why having a good hair cut/ style might be even more important than your face itself. A good haircut can make an otherwise ugly face into an 'ulzzang'. And bad hair vice versa.
So you should really put some thought into what you do with your hair.
Health
If your hair is very damaged or if you have totally outgrown dyed hair, especially orange-tinted hair, cut it off.
Your hair should look clean and very healthy.
If you don't want to cut, because maybe your waiting to grow long hair since forever, you have to take good care of the damaged parts, like conditioner, hair oils, etc. As for ugly dyed parts, dye it back to a very dark colour (that's isn't black).Cut
Jessica's hair
Just like everything about the ulzzang look, your hair cut shouldn't be really dramatic or fancy. No crazy layers, no bob which is shorter at the back than at the front and so on.
If you want layers they should be subtle and natural looking, and the overall length of you longest hair strands should be about equal in length.
A flattering cut would be to cut the strands surrounding your face about chin length (or actually a bit longer). These strands - if you give them a slight wave - can frame your face naturally and cover up any square chins and wide cheek bones, etc.Bangs
Bangs or a fringe are the face transformer! Why? They make you look cuter and younger instantly!
Ulzzang/ idol hair cuts seem to be divided into two styles only: bangs or no bangs.
Personally, I find it easier to look like an ulzzang with bangs. While no-bangs is quite a universal hair style, bangs seem more to be an Asian thing. So it will instantly remind others of Asians or ulzzangs (if your surrounding are aware of that phenomenon) if you wear them.
Ulzzang bangs are typically straight or upside-down-U-shaped (not side-swept), but the thickness varies from a few strand to a real block in front of your face. Wearing thicker bangs is my tip for you to boost your ulzzang appearance! Like bangs will shift your look from neutral/ Western to Asian/ulzzang, the amount of strands/thickness will determine the degree of shift. The thinner your bangs are, the less like bangs they will look until it will look more like no-bangs at all. That means the transformation will be more effective when your bangs are really thick. I guess they just look more in-your-face when thicker and have a more extreme effect. I'm not exactly sure what about bangs exactly makes you younger, but I think it's partly because having hair in your face makes you look more like a child as opposed to an adult's clean and exposed forehead resulting from advanced hair styling capabilities? Makes any sense? No?
Whatever, believe me, bangs are your rescue.
And don't listen to people who say that your forehead is too short for bangs, even when it's your hair dresser! If you forehead is really short, take strand from really high up your head and integrate them to your bangs! This is also a good way to fake a high forehead (which is needed for the ulzzang look!), because people will automatically and unconsciously assume that your forehead is as high as your bangs.
Difference between bangs and no-bangs You should be aware that having bangs or not gives a completely different vibe and makes you a different ulzzang!
I know, I said the thicker the bangs the better. But looking like a baby just isn't everyone's thing. So what is the effect of having no bangs?
◄With Bangs you will look younger, cute, childish, more playful, maybe a bit tom-boy-isher. And the thicker your bangs the more of all of these.
▼No bangs make you look more mature, more grown-up, feminine in a I'm-a-woman-way, more elegant, sophisticated, gentle and noble-looking. An exposed forehead in comparison to a covered forehead also makes you look more competent, smarter and capable. That's why if you prefer the sexy look, definitely no-bangs would work better for you.Pinkage - Seul
Pinkage
See-through-bangs
They have been very popular in Korea for a few years and or optimal for indecisive people. These bangs are very very thin so that you can still see the forehead underneath.
Because of that they combine the cute and youthfulness of regular bangs, but the feminine feeling of the exposed forehead still remains, but with a more casual appeal.
Plus you can easily style them out of your face.Pinkage - Seul
Yubsshop - Min Young
Exid - Hani
Bangs can be easily cut at home by yourself, with a normal pair of scissors for school (although I wouldn't recommend that for beginners, as I don't want anyone to sue me for inflicting fugly bangs).
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Just pick an amount of your hair from quite the top of your head, not the highest point though. The reason for picking strands that are further away from your forehead is that it will make it appear like your forehead is longer and thus elongate your overall face shape, working against a round or square face shape. This is also the reason why there's nothing like Your forehead is too short for bangs. A short forehead can be easily camouflaged by bangs.
The bangs are
starting way too near
to the forehead, making the hairstyle looking weird
But be sure to not pick too much hair! That's 1 of 2 of the worst,
most devastating thing you can do. I repeat - don't pick too
much hair! So when you have grabbed an amount of hair -
really I beg you - think thrice!
Arooki
There's nothing you can do about a fringe which is too thick,
except for looking like an idiot. Better take less and cut more
when you find it too thin!!! You have been warmed.
- Make these strands wet, grab the strands at the center (if you want to have the outer strands longer to create a frame), slightly pull them downwards and cut them one finger-width beneath your eyes! Don't cut them too short, that's the 2nd most terrible thing you could possibly do to bangs! It will look like crap!
Cut it longer than your eyes, blow dry. That's really important, because dry hair is shorter than long hair! And remember, you pulled the hair downwards when cutting, but it will be shorter when it's not pulled down. - Check if that's the length you want. Possibly they are too long, because that's like the maximum length of bangs and like the ideal length for see-through bangs, which are longer than normal bangs. So when they are too long, make them wet again and take off some hair so that it's like either reaching your eyes or still covering half of your eyes. Be that patient and cautious man! Especially if it's your first time!! If you already know what length you want you can of course trim them to this length in one step!
- You might want to have longer strands to your sides, as the might look more flattering. Just anyhow cut these strands not as short as your bangs and learn-by-doing. It's not really bad if you cut those strands not significantly longer enough than your bangs - just remember that for the next time. Also - not always will those longer side strands look better.
- If you want to cut see-through bangs, just pick a really small amount of hair. It can't be small enough, I tell you. Also don't pick wide-spread strands, but rather pick them higher up your head, if you cut them they will fan out and cover your forehead to a certain extent. Otherwise you might not attain that see-through-bangs effect! Also these bangs should generally be quite long to achieve that casual effect. And the longer the strands are, the easier you can style them out of your face!
Styling helpHelp! My bangs look like shit! My hair is too straight and the hair behaves in a really unnatural way!
If your Asian and have that really stubborn, super straight hair which makes your bangs really stiff and not naturally falling at all, I feel you!
Since your hair is too straight, you must break it by curling it! After washing your hair, when it's still semi-wet use a curling tong, a flat iron or dry your hair over a round brush/ hair roller.
If your bangs got irreversible out of shape during sleep, etc you can wet and curl them again.
In the morning or when you find that your bangs deflated you can help them getting back into shape by using a hair roller during getting ready
My bangs look ridiculous from the side! They always curl up on my forehead!
The really important thing is that you should never curl your hair too much. If that happens it will furl up weirdly on your forehead and sit on it, which won't be noticeable from the front, but from the side it looks very stupid.
There's two things you can do about it
- Either only really curl the roots of your bangs, directly at your scalp, in a slight motion away from your face. This will create a more flattering shape of your bangs by raising the hair up, the rest of your bangs will then fall in a slight curve into the direction of your face. But you can nudge that natural motion, by curling the rest of your bangs, but only shortly. Always curl and check again if it's okay.
- Or when you have already curled your hair and it does sit stupidly on your forehead, take a brush and comb that curl out. Depending on how stubborn your hair is, do that when it's still warm (when you used a curling tong, etc to curl it), so that it cools in the desired position or use a wet comb. After you get what you want, it might be necessary to fix everything with hairspray (depending on how much of a sucker your hair is).
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Just pick an amount of your hair from quite the top of your head, not the highest point though. The reason for picking strands that are further away from your forehead is that it will make it appear like your forehead is longer and thus elongate your overall face shape, working against a round or square face shape. This is also the reason why there's nothing like Your forehead is too short for bangs. A short forehead can be easily camouflaged by bangs.
Colours
The easiest hair style which will make you look more ulzzang is simple black long hair.
Black hair has several advantages. First of all - for Asians - it's low maintainable.
Then black hair makes you look more pure and innocent (when you are Asian) (because only vain bitches and grown-up women dye their hair). G-Friend for example, all have dark brown/ black hair and sport a very girly, teenage-y image.
Most ulzzangs have black or at least dark brown hair. That's why it's easier to associate you with ulzzangs when you have the same hair colour.
And the last big advantage is - black hair provides the biggest contrast to your skin colour. Which means if you are not that fair - and ulzzangs have to be fair before anything else - dark hair will make you appear fairer.
G-Friend
Still recently coloured hair has gained more and more popularity - ranging from your natural brown and blonde shaded to grey, pink, purple you name it.
If you want to go blonde or any brighter colour keep in mind that it will make you appear 'blacker' as we Asians called it. Especially if you don't achieve or want a cool blonde, but a warmer or more neutral tone, it can emphasise any yellow or brown undertone of your complexion in a very negative way and make you appear kinda dirty.
The same goes for red hair and a redder complexion.
So if you are unsure, better stay black.
Girls' Generation - Taeyeon
If you are dyed and have ruined your hair or appearance and want to reset your hair, don't dye it black. Pick a dark brown colour and then grow out your damaged hair. Dyeing hair black can look very obvious and not natural at all. If you dye you hair dark brown though, you can grow out your roots without much trouble and it won't look too obvious.
If you want to dye you hair a bright hair colour, here's some advice.
I would say it is totally possible to bleach and dye hair at home, with the help of another person or for more experienced persons by themselves.
You might have to repeat the bleaching process 2 or 3 times to really get rid off orange, yellow hues.
And after that you can dye your hair a colour that you like.
Don't bleach too much though, you can really damage your hair, making it weird like rubber band or stuff.
If you do end up finding that you look totally 'South-East-Asian' afterwards, use a bright makeup to provide that fair look. Of course it shouldn't contrast too much with te rest of your skin.
Hairstyle
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Just lose
If you plan to just let your hair open then remember this: First of all, nothing is ever that easy. No what I mean is, especially for Asians, you can't wear your straight, boring hair like that and call yourself ulzzang. Your hair should always be more or less wavy. Nobody has thick straight black hair!
Wavy hair just look more flattering and feminine. It really doesn't have to be the perfect Lana Del Rey wave, just a hint of motion is enough. Which means that only curling the ends (with a big curling iron) will do the job.
Put your hair into buns when you sleep. The more buns, the smaller the waves/ curles. Tie your buns really really high, so you can still sleep comfortable and to prevent that they get undone you can cover them up with these small, thin skin-coloured socks Or just curl your hair with a curling iron/ hair straightener
And if you think now that this is easier than you thought, then let me tell you,nothing is every that easy. Just kidding.
For those of you that are really super perfectionist and crazily vain, there's one more thing you'd actually need to do, to really look perfect with open hair. The problem is that hair that just falls down can look really unflattering and flat depending on your head shape. To make your hair look more voluminous you can tease your roots to make your hair stand up. This is not so important for your hair at the sides, but it can be of quite importance for your hair at the back of your head. The upper part of the back of your head tends to be really really flat, resulting in a very unfavourable shape of your hair. If you find that it really looks painfully flat you might want to tease your deeper layers of hair to make it look fuller.
But this might be sth for more special occasions.
Up dos
PinkageI'm talking about all kind of updos here where all of your is gathered at one point and fixed there, be it ponytail or bun (is there anything else?)
There's two things that you have to keep in mind when doing up dos:
When your hair is out of your face it can look really unflattering, since it won't cover the sides but reveal our wide face in all its glory. That's why your hair has to be tied in a special way in order to still create a nice frame for your face.
Secondly, tied up hair also reveals or emphasizes our head shapes, which should be round like a baby's but actually isn't.
So how does an overall flattering up do look?- First of all we need wavy hair. As I said wavy hair just looks prettier, more feminine and playful
- Then, in order to achieve a good head shape and frame for your face we don't tie our hair too tight. We don't do the ballerina thing, where you tie tightly and flat on your skull. You don't want to look strict, but girly and easy-going. Also loser tied hair will have more volume = better frame.
- And your hair should be generally tied high up on your head. Not only because a ponytail at your neck will make it necessary to tease your hair at the top back and that's annoying, but also because a low ponytail looks too business-like, like too chic (the business woman or understated red carpet-style way). So always tie your hair at the top back. It doesn't need to be the highest point, you can check your side reflection in the mirror to see what shape you like.
- Now there's 3 ways to actually gather and tie your hair:
First, just do it like you would normally do it, but don't pull it back too tight. But leave out the two strands framing your face and gather them separately and extra lose into your ponytail, to create that frame
Another way to do it, is to bend forward, gather all your hair losely where you want your ponytail to be. Then stand straight again. With this technique your hair will automatically be loser.
Or, gather your hand parted into 4 (or more) strands, first the strand at the center, then the two strands to the sides of your face - these two have to be quite lose to still frame your face, then the strands at the bottom back of your head - also extra lose to make your head shape more round
Secure.The hair at the sides,
however you wear it, should
fall a bit, creating a flattering
frame for the face like an upside
down V-shape or a roof.
If they point directly backwards,
you could get a really ugly
hairline, which is too straight
or reveals 'bald' areas. -
A round head
shape looks cuter
and prettier than
a flat back.Pinkage - Seul
T-ARA Jiyeon in 왜 이러니?
Once you have tied your hair, tuck at all the strands a bit to create more volume.
Check whether the two front strands look good.
Another part to take care of is the bottom back. Use
another mirror to check if
it sits too tight and tuck
a bit more at those
strands.
- Lastly check whether your ponytail is hanging down now. This can look sloppy.
To make your ponytail stand upright pull at the top strands of your ponytail (but not too much or you will destroy all the volume you just created).
Pinkage
- Yeah, I know this is rocket science man. I never said this would be easy.
We are nearly done now
Check your reflection, if there are any parts around your face where there's not enough hair and it look stupid, use a dark eye-shadow or powder to cover these parts. Now we are done.
Tip: If you can't get the two strands to frame your forehead nicely, you might cut them to about ear length so that they will naturally build a frame without any additional work.
Here are two videos which demonstrate very nicely how a ulzzang hairstyle could be done.
She adds strand by strand to her ponytail, which results in a more voluminous and lose hairstyle.
You can see how when she ties her hair up, the strands at the front face downwards, creating like a roof for your head. After that she also tucks on the hair to make it more lose. See how actually none of her hair is point directly backwards?
She even curls any flyaways to make it all appear more natural and cute and it always creates more volume. Lastly she uses and eyebrow pencil to camouflage any bald spots.
Remember: Whatever hairstyle you do - even when your not tying all of your hair away or just wear a headband - , never forget the two strands framing your face and that the less strands point directly backwards (resulting in more 'frame hair') the better it will look!
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