So Seoul Wrong

I've often used this blog to write about how Korea does many things "so right". Sadly this post is about how it went so so wrong. I've been living in Korea for 3 months and it was time I addressed a very serious and important issue. My hair. Sure, while I've been here I've had a trim, a blowout, even a deep conditioning treatment, but that's where it ended. I've been ignoring the dark and rapidly growing halo just above "my" blonde hair. It was time to get some more blending blonde highlights or go "back to my roots" as they say.

I chose the latter. I decided that my hair has been dyed and fried for too many years. I mentally prepared to be a brunette again. (As you can imagine it took several weeks of self motivation to decide on such a life altering decision.) I decided that since my birthday was coming up and we were hosting a birthday dinner I would get my hair done the morning of the party so that I could unveil my new look at dinner - because, um, everyone else cares about my hair as much as I do.

Anyhow, I went back to Juno Salon where I've had several fantastic experiences in the past. I sat with my hair guru and, through an interpreter, discussed my hair situation to great lengths. He (I don't know his name but I like to call him Edward Scissor Hands - ESH for short) suggested that I go for a reddish brown, rather than a mousy brown, which might look muddy. I was extremely hesitant and said that I don't mind a reddish tint but that I didn't want my hair to be orange (you can see where this is going already, eh?) After pointing, comparing and contrasting, and lots of iced green tea and cookies, I finally decided to go with the reddish brown because ESH assured me it would be browner with a red tint, rather than the opposite.To make a long and painful story short, I now have pumpkin hair. My hair is Rainbow Bright orange. It’s the color of a beautiful sunset that doesn't seem to end. It's worse than the time I dyed my own hair hot pink by accident. That was at least a little "punk" even if I wasn't. This is horrible. It took me hours to stop crying and days to accept that I'm stuck with it, if only for the next week and a half before we can "fix it". I don't know if I believe there is a fix for this, at least not with the same person who turned me into the little orphan Annie of Seoul, but I have no choice but to give it a try.
Until it gets fixed I'll have to settle for looking like the best friend of the love interest in a 1980's Daniel Day Lewis film, but with better teeth. Kind of.

Here's a pic taken at our apartment before we went out for my birthday dinner:

M's Inner Sleeping Beauty

M loves his "hairstylist" back home (me, not so much) and he was worried about how he would manage here without her. Well the time came and he needed a cut so Yerim and I took him to Juno, where I got my haircut a few weeks ago. M got the same VIP treatment as I did, the coffee and pretzels, the scalp massage, the warm blanket covering him while his hair was being washed, and his favorite, the two people blow drying his hair at the same time. In the end he got a very stylish cut (something Nicole, his "stylist" back home never seemed to be able to achieve if you ask me) with more perks and at a lower cost than at home. While reflecting on his experience at Juno, M says,"they awakened my inner sleeping beauty." Nuff said.

Before:

During:

After: