Moving To Korea: What to do with hair?

[socurlyqt]

Hey Ladies,


I got a job teaching English in Daejeon, Korea and I was wondering what should i do about my hair. Im a 4a natural, apl and I suppose i could bun for a whole year (sad face)..and maybe ship myself enough products to get by..mango butter, coconut oil, aussie conditioner...etc..


Any suggestions? Anyone familiar with Korean Hair products. Do they let Americans on American Military Bases..i heard they have good stuff there..

To the ladies that have been outside the country for an extended amt of time, what have you done?

Thanks!!

 

[oooop2]

Stock up now...And check out sites like iherb.com...

I've been living in Japan for 3.5yrs now and I haven't had any issues getting what I need for my hair. You'll be living in Korea, so you should be fine getting your staples. I was able to find stuff there when I visited.

I think you can get on base if you have a military friend that escorts you on base. But don't QUOTE me on that...LOL

Enjoy Korea and it's amazing food!!!

 

[trey21]

I was in Germany for 7 years and prior to that I was in Guam for 3 years. The base was had a pretty good supply but it depends on what you use. Also being overseas sometimes, the PX/BX will sell out quickly. I ordered a lot of products online and when I would come home for visits, I would stock up. Safe travels and enjoy the shopping! Wish I was going too

 

[MonPetite]

I was there for an exchange program take CHELATING POO! You may be looking at some seriously hard water.

I was in Seoul though.

ENJOY THE FOOD!

And the amazing beauty products!

IF your hair does cones it doesn't hurt to take a month's worth of stuff so you've time to find the closest stores to get what'll work and can experiment while having what you know will work on hand.

I'm so jelly of you!

 

[Junebug D]

No advice, but I'm jealous!! I heard it was extremely difficult for Black people to get teaching jobs in Korea.

 

[Princess Tam Tam]

No advice, but I'm jealous!! I heard it was extremely difficult for Black people to get teaching jobs in Korea.

I heard in China too....

 

[MonPetite]

...REALLY?

I've never heard it was difficult for black people to get jobs there. I had a bang up time.

 

[VinDieselsWifey]

i lived in Korea for a year. i'm in the air force. STOCK UP ON YOUR PRODUCTS. the BX does have some products, like ORS, Bronner Brothers, Motions, Mizani. unless you have someone that's military to sign you on base you can't come.

they have plenty of Africans over there that do weaves, sew-ins, micros, etc.

the water is hard so invest in a shower filter. i lived in Japan for 2 years before i moved to Korea. the water is hard over there too. some of the shops near Osan had black hair products. but they looked so old & dusty.

but enjoy the food. get you some yaki mandu, bulgogi, have some Soju (Korean whiskey) but be careful, cause IT WILL F U UP!!

and girl shop till you drop. Songtan has the best shopping. i think i spent over $1000 on purses! but girl i'm rocking the Chanel, LV, Gucci, Prada, Coach, Jimmy Choo, etc

all the name brand clothes are super cheap over there. i'm in recovery mode right now matter fact from all that shopping. i just left last month but i'm already missing the food and the shopping.

and you can price haggle with them. NEVER pay the price they want.

 

[Junebug D]

...REALLY?

I've never heard it was difficult for black people to get jobs there. I had a bang up time.

I heard they highly prefer white Westerners. I heard it was even difficult for Korean Americans to get English teaching jobs in Korea, lol. They assume you have an accent or your English isn't the best if you are not White American or Canadian. That's what I read online, anyway.

 

[MonPetite]

I heard they highly prefer white Westerners. I heard it was even difficult for Korean Americans to get English teaching jobs in Korea, lol. They assume you have an accent or your English isn't the best if you are not White American or Canadian. That's what I read online, anyway.

How...disheartening.

 

[that_1_grrrl]

I heard they highly prefer white Westerners. I heard it was even difficult for Korean Americans to get English teaching jobs in Korea, lol. They assume you have an accent or your English isn't the best if you are not White American or Canadian. That's what I read online, anyway.

Colonization at its best. If this way of thinking is on the Korean side, they'll be sorry. If there's one thing White folks are good at, it's erasing other people's cultures.

But back on topic, I have no advice but please tell us if you find any good hair care practices or products there! I'm pretty sure you would be able to find natural products there. Have fun!

 

[socurlyqt]

Thanks ladies but i have a few questions...what is PX/BX?? And yes im hoping ill find some ladies in the military thats gonna hook me up! Im hoping all be ok, cus i DEF dont speak/read korean, soo i need to learn how to read ASAP!! Im scared im goin to buy a box of perm or something!! and mess my ish up!


And yes there is some truth to the some places not hiring blacks/koreans. My tae kwon do master is korean and he told me the same the same thing. He also said it was racist, but i feel that its like this because it is a homogenous society so they dont have much contact with other cultures. However, i do know alot of black teachers that are in korea. Maybe i should add that they only have my resume (which is bomb by the way) and i havent sent in my photo yet...so they dont know im black....guess ill see when they get back to me after they received my materials..

 

[socurlyqt]

i lived in Korea for a year. i'm in the air force. STOCK UP ON YOUR PRODUCTS. the BX does have some products, like ORS, Bronner Brothers, Motions, Mizani. unless you have someone that's military to sign you on base you can't come.

they have plenty of Africans over there that do weaves, sew-ins, micros, etc.

the water is hard so invest in a shower filter. i lived in Japan for 2 years before i moved to Korea. the water is hard over there too. some of the shops near Osan had black hair products. but they looked so old & dusty.

but enjoy the food. get you some yaki mandu, bulgogi, have some Soju (Korean whiskey) but be careful, cause IT WILL F U UP!!

and girl shop till you drop. Songtan has the best shopping. i think i spent over $1000 on purses! but girl i'm rocking the Chanel, LV, Gucci, Prada, Coach, Jimmy Choo, etc

all the name brand clothes are super cheap over there. i'm in recovery mode right now matter fact from all that shopping. i just left last month but i'm already missing the food and the shopping.

and you can price haggle with them. NEVER pay the price they want.

I was thinking about getting all the name brands too! but i heard they were all just really good knockoffs, soo great that sometimes the stores dont even know they are knockoffs. Is that true!??!?!

No advice, but I'm jealous!! I heard it was extremely difficult for Black people to get teaching jobs in Korea.

Dont be jealous...lowkey im am terrified!! but excited still..but 3 yrs is long time to be away from my fam. Im just hoping i find some fine black dudes while im there....

 

[oldcrayons]

Cool, I plan to teach in Korea for a year because they make good money... lol

 

[gimbap]

I've been here for almost a year, getting ready go home soon. Korea has been ROUGH on my hair. I've decided to transition to natural while I've been here. The water is awful. I thought I brought enough hair products to last me a year, but I didn't. I had stuff shipped here. The Africans in Seoul sell products, but they are much more expensive than what they are back home. You can get someone to get them off the military bases for you. I had micros in the summer, right now I have a sew-in weave. The prices are pretty much the same as they would be back home.

ETA: And be prepared to be stared at like you're a 3 headed alien

 

[LaidBak]

Thanks ladies but i have a few questions...what is PX/BX??

Post Exchange (Army)
Base Exchange (Air Force)
Its the base store for clothing, housewares, drug store items, etc.

I was at Osan Air Base (Songtan) for a year. I'm not sure where Daejeon is in relation to that.

If its near a military base you should be able to find a nearby Korean beauty shop that caters to black hair. We had "Ms. Kim". She had every type of relaxer, hair grease, moisturizer, etc. It was all laid out on a counter and you chose which one you wanted her to use.

Like the others have said, make friends with Military sisters if you can so you can get on base. But just don't count on that happening right away, bring a couple of months worth of stuff with you.

 

[VinDieselsWifey]

I was thinking about getting all the name brands too! but i heard they were all just really good knockoffs, soo great that sometimes the stores dont even know they are knockoffs. Is that true!??!?!

well they get all their stuff from China. you know everything is made in China. LV and those others can claim Paris all day but that ish is made in China.

i know the purse ladies have factories where they get it from. so yeah they are knock offs but the very best knock offs you'll ever see in your life. right down to the last detail. i use to check the LV website and study the details. go downtown, they have that same stuff EXACTLY the same.

and the clothes have all the tags inside like if you were buying it from a department store. the Bebe jeans and the Coogi jeans would have the price tag just like the store would have. but all the jeans are $25. even less if you can talk them down

 

[half.cadence]

I lived in Singapore for a while..and technically, that is still my home. I dont know about Korea but they sell this product called Asience. It works well..they also sell Pantene, Aussie, and herbal essence (the old formulas where I lived..), Dove, Mane and Tail, Sunsilk..erm Im trying to think of more..but my mind is drawing a blank.

On base they had all the "black hair" products..but I rarely got a chance to check it out..we only know a few people in the service so we dont really have that many connections..

I just eventually turned to natural products using mostly butters, oils, and other coconut milk, avocado things..cause the products are pretty expensive there.

ETA: And be prepared to be stared at like you're a 3 headed alien

its like you're on t.v 24/7

have fun over there in korea.

 

[anon123]

Hey hey hey! I taught in Daejon (and Okchun)! What products do you feel like you absolutely need? You might want to take those with you. There are tons of hair care products, though. And you can go to Seoul and find foreigner spots to buy other stuff. There are military folk there, too.

Gimbap (cute name) is right. If you hate attention . . ., well, you'll get used to it. Maybe.

 

[socurlyqt]

thanks ladies...i have heard of people saying that they get stared at all the time. One of my friends said that people would come up to her and touch her hair and skin...

guess im gonna have to work on my "knock you the h*ll out" instinct.

shipping myself all these products are going to be a pain. And to the ladies getting sew in s in korea....you all really did that??? id be too afraid to have somebodys hand all in my hair..ESPECIALLY in korea.

 

[stepfun83]

I heard that the water in Korea is really hard, so a water filter will be a wise investment. I just returned from a deployment in Iraq, and I ordered alot of my hair products online (Amazon.com; sistasplace.biz; and drugstore.com). Ordering products online got me through 15 harsh months. The water there was very hard, my hair broke off something real bad when I first arrived overseas, I learned my lesson and used bottle water to wash my hair.

Best advise stock up on your fav products before you go!

 

[LadyPaniolo]

OMG, so so jealous! Korean guys are so sexy! Taller on average than other Asians. Wish I was going... just for the eyecandy (I'm married).

 

[The Princess]

The water is very hard there. They have little hair supplies. I kept may hair in braids and got my hair done at the PX on the base. They do every type of hair style there, and the Korean can braid some hair.

 

[kaykaybobay]

gosh I'm full of envy! I really want to go to Korean for the food, shopping, culture etc. I have a few Hanboks or the traditional dresses, they are really pretty. You should consider picking one up

 

[uofmpanther]

My sister is 4b natural and taught English in Korea for a year. She lived just outside of Seoul. We shipped her Garnier Fructis because that is her hair love and she could not find anything comparable. I will ask her for tips.

On a side note, watch your toothpaste in Korea. Not all of the toothpaste there has fluoride.

 

[socurlyqt]

OMG, so so jealous! Korean guys are so sexy! Taller on average than other Asians. Wish I was going... just for the eyecandy (I'm married).

this is off topic, but some korean men are hot arent they!??! i dunno if chocolate is their flavor over there though.
not sure if im gonna find a korean boo.

thanks ladies ill be sure to bring a water filter and i never thought the toothpaste might be different. I also heard that in some small towns you can not get shoes over a size 7 or clothes larger than a medium. so hopefully ill be relatively close to the big city.