Beauty customers are being obsessed with Korean hand skills. Following the K-beauty craze, customers are flocking to Korean American-owned and operated hair salons, makeup tattoo, and nail salons that require delicate hand skills.
Beauty salons in Los Angeles Koreatown are seeing a large increase in customers including non-Koreans, with more than three out of 10 of their customers being those from other ethnicities, especially the younger generation customers.
For makeup tattoos, such as eyebrow tattoos, which require delicate hand skills, the percentage of non-Korean customers has reached as high as 40% recently, according to the clinics. Korean American-owned nail salons are also seeing a steep increase in popularity from non-Koreans. Industry officials attribute the rapid growth of Korean beauty to the popularity of K-pop and Korean dramas, the high standard of hand skills, personalized service, and reasonable prices.
“The growing popularity of Korean culture has had a big impact on the number of customers who prefer the style of Korean celebrities,” explains Tiffany Shin of Koreatown hair salon, Atelier by Tiffany. There has been a noticeable increase in teenage customers who want to emulate the colorful hairstyles of K-pop idols, she added. “Korean American hairdressers have a strength in creating customized perm styles for different hair conditions to create natural waves and bouncy volume,” Shin said, “and I think this differentiated skill set is why we are seeing an increase in non-Korean clients.”
“With the transformation of Koreatown into ‘bed town’, the number of non-Korean customers visiting our salons has noticeably jumped,” said Jiho Kang, owner of M Hair and Beauty Salon.
Sharon Choi, owner of Candy Hair Salon, said, “Non-Koreans come to us not only for haircuts but also for perms and waves,” adding, “The secret is that we use high-quality products imported directly from Korea and the know-how of our Korean hairdressers giving natural looking curls and long-lasting results.”
Makeup tattoo parlors have also seen an increase in visits from other ethnicities. Sharon Yeo, owner of Sharon Permanent Makeup in Los Angeles and Buena Park, said, “As the credibility of Korean beauty has grown, we’ve seen a steady stream of non-Korean customers come in,” adding, “eyebrow and eyeliner permanent makeup procedures are highly sought-after.”
One customer at the clinic said, “I came here because I was heartbroken by the unwanted shape of my eyebrows after getting them tattooed at another shop,” adding, “I was impressed by the skill with which they were able to customize my face shape, proportions, and eyebrows.”
“The trend of Korean makeup that emphasizes naturalness is gaining traction among multicultural customers, and we have a lot of inquiries looking for Korean specialists,” said Kelly Kim, owner of K Brow.
Nail Salons
“People often ask to have their nails done the same way as the pictures of Korean influencers and Korean celebrities,” said Dajung Jeon, owner of Unni Nail, adding, “Koreans have good hand skills, and we have many regular customers.”
“We have non-Korean customers from Culver City and West Hollywood traveling 30 to 40 minutes to get their nails done,” said Joanne Hong, owner of Joa Nail Salon. “Customers prefer to get their nails done with different types of gems, including cubic, and unique designs, and I think that is why they’re looking for Korean-American salons.”
“One of the reasons why we have so many non-Korean customers is that we don’t charge extra for services such as cuticle removal, hand towels, massage, and oils,” said Juju Park of Juju Nail.
BY HAEUN CHUNG, HOONSIK WOO [chung.haeun@koreadaily.com]
