New year, new hair, new you!

For those of us who pride ourselves on moving with the times and look to our Korean counterparts for the latest hair inspiration, there’s nothing better than a guide on what’s going to be hot in Korea for the upcoming year, so we’ve delivered precisely that – a complete guide to Korean hair trends in 2020!

We asked Kyle Shin, Chief Director Stylist of Singapore-based Korean hair salon chain Apgujeong Hair Studio, to share with us all the hairstyles to ask for at the hair salon, as well as one that you should probably ditch this year – read on to find out what it is!

Korean hair trends 2020: Build perms and dandy cuts

In 2019, gentle Bohemian waves were in vogue for the ladies.

While curls are not going to be out of fashion anytime soon, the Koreans have shifted the focus to building volume, hence the Korean “build” perm will be the style everyone is gunning for in 2020.

This is a variation of the Korean digital perm that features a mixture of C-curls and S-curls to bring greater volume and movement to your hair. As this style helps to give the illusion of voluminous hair, Shin particularly recommends this for women with medium to long hair, who may have thinner hair at the crown.

The good news for the gentlemen is that the “dandy cut” is still trendy, so you can stick to this if it’s your favourite go-to.

Featuring short sides and back with the crown left fairly long, it gives a clean and crisp look that is appropriate for both work and school. Shin also recommends perming the hair on the crown for more volume and texture if desired.

Although these styles may look simple at first glance, they may be difficult to create by yourself at home. Hence, it is recommended that you seek the advice of a hairstylist you trust if you are interested in exploring any of these styles.

Korean hair trends 2020: Breath of fresh mint

Forget muted hair colours – it’s all about being loud and bold in 2020!

Shin believes that mint will be the trending colour for 2020. He explains, “Mint represents an optimistic, forward-looking hue and exudes a sense of calm. This colour has also been featured in several Spring/Summer 2020 collections on the fashion runways.”

If you are concerned that it won’t look great on your skin tone, Shin assures that with the right colouring technique, anyone would be able to pull this soft blue-green colour off, so go ahead and book that dyeing appointment ASAP!

Korean hair trends 2020: No more peek-a-boo

We know that some hair colours and styles are timeless (think perms with layered cuts and dark brown colours), but more importantly, we wanted to know which ones are going to fall out of favour in 2022 – after all, you may not want to waste your time and money on a hair trend that is not as well-loved anymore.

Shin shares that hidden colours, or undercolours where the hair is coloured with a bright and bold colour on the underside but covered with natural coloured hair so that the bold colour is only visible when the hair is tied up, was once very popular.

However, this will start to fall out of favour among Korean women, who are preferring to go all-out bold and show off their personality & flair with their hairstyle choices, rather than keeping it hidden.

Korean hair trends 2020: K-pop celebs to watch for #hairinspo

BLACKPINK

BTS

For those of us who like to keep tabs on fashion-forward Korean celebrities, who are the ones that we should be watching in 2020 when it comes to the hottest hairstyles and hair colours?

For Shin, Korean boy group BTS and girl group BLACKPINK are the fashion icons to watch in 2020 – their fashion choices and hairstyles are closely watched by millions of adoring fans and often at the forefront of the latest K-styles, so when you see them getting a new dye job or fresh haircut, you know that there’s a chance that the rest of Korea will follow suit.

Now that you know what are the hottest Korean hair trends in 2020, here are other articles that will keep your finger on the K-beauty pulse: