I Got the Best Haircut of My Life in Korea. Here’s the One Thing We Can Learn from Korean Stylists

Over the years of being a beauty editor, I’ve had the privilege of getting my hair done by some of the fanciest and most famous stylists to the stars. As you might expect, some of them were great; others were surprisingly underwhelming!

But the very *best* haircut I’ve ever had was in Seoul last summer. I found this stylist randomly on Naver (aka the Google of Korea). She had no Instagram following, accolades or press clips to her name, but she had availability in her schedule, so I booked an appointment and lucked out because I ended up with my favorite haircut to date. Here’s how I know it was a good haircut: It fell into place nicely with very little styling or manipulation needed on my part.

After that lovely experience, I went down an Instagram rabbit hole of various Korean hairstylists and kept noticing one thing that all of their cuts had in common: layers. More specifically, well-placed, highly intentional layers. Let me show you what I mean.

The stylist behind this look refers to it as a “layered contouring cut” in his caption—and honestly, I can’t think of a better name for it. See how the layers frame her face in a way that works with angles of her cheekbones?

Here’s a similar iteration of the cut, but with full airy bangs and longer side pieces that connect to the rest of the hair.

If you want to refresh your look without losing too much length, you could also opt for some subtle bangs and curled in layers that start just beneath your chin. This is a good option for those with straight hair because it adds a bit of visual texture to your stands.

Curled in layers can also work well with short hair. Cut just above the collarbones, these shorter pieces create a nice framing for your face, while adding a touch of bouncy volume to the ends.

If you have wavy hair (or a perm), adding some longer layers that blend throughout can help break things up visually and bring out your wavy texture. Add a few face-hugging pieces in front for the aforementioned contouring effect.

Showcasing the power of well-placed layers and bangs on curly hair.

Last but not least, I love the way these curtain-style bangs taper down the sides of this woman’s face and blend in with the rest of her hair. The beauty of this type of front layering is that it looks just as nice when you pull your hair back into a ponytail or bun.