Home > Bibliographies > AAST298J (Spring 2004)

Asian American Hair Care by Jung Yun

Books

• Kimura, Margaret and Marianne Dougherty. Asian Beauty. New York: Collins, 2001.

Interviews

• Hong, JooHyun. Personal Interview. 25 Apr. 2004.

  JooHyun Hong from Ha Nah Mee Yong Shil in Glen Burnie, Maryland, believes that Asian hair is hard to manage. She states that it is either very straight or stubbornly wavy. When Asian teenagers get their hair curled, it often takes multiple sessions because their hair is straight and perms wear off quickly. Asian girls who both highlight and perm their hair do much damage. Many Asian American girls have such badly damaged hair even the most extensive repair treatment is unable to save it. Finally, she states that many Asian Americans who visit her salon tell her that they will never go back to a white barbershop because they butcher hair.

• Kim, Eunmi. Personal Interview. 20 Apr. 2004.

  Eunmi Kim from Smile Mee Fang Won in Glen Burnie, Maryland talked about hair dying and styling. She states that many young Asian boys and girls dye their hair now as opposed to ten years ago. She personally thinks dying one's hair brown and blonde as a teenager makes them look worse and too American. Asian Americans also tend to magic perm (a perm that makes hair silky, straight, and shiny) their already straight hair and come in for hair treatments much more often than white customers. The most frequent styling procedures are layering, brown/blonde highlights, and magic perm. She states most Asian guys who come in like to spike their hair so it stands up with many wanting their bangs a little longer then the rest of their hair.

• Park, Sunmi. Personal Interview. 20 Apr. 2004.

  Sunmi Park works at Kim's Hair Salon in Silver Spring, Maryland. She states that most of her customers are Korean Americans and their hair styling is completely different than other ethnicities. According to Park, Asian hair trends are continuously changing. Just a few years ago, crazy long hairstyles were in for Asian American teenagers, and such cuts were very difficult. Unlike white people who liked clean, short, and easy haircuts, Asian guys request hairstyles that are more complicated. Nowadays Asian hair styles for men are more challenging because while many like their hair short, others like to grow their hair long and get it permed.

• Yun, Jung. Self Interview. 5 Feb. 2004.

  I went to Korea last summer and realized that hair fashion trends in Korea are exactly the same as in America. Most of the males sport short, spiky hair styles while the girls have long, highlighted, straight hair. Another thing I realized is that Korean salon stylists are more skilled with Asian hair then American stylists. The Korean stylists gave me a lot of helpful tips on managing my hair and were also able to get it the exact way I wanted it every time. One of the barbers also told me that while vacationing in the United States he discovered that non-Asians have no clue what to do when it comes to Asian hair.

Journal Articles

• Frith, Katherine Toland, Hong Cheng, and Ping Shaw. "Race and Beauty: A Comparison of Asian and Western Models in Women's Magazine Advertisements." Sex Roles 50.2 (2004): 53-61.

  This article reinforces the idea that Asian people have very pretty hair and nice complexion. The authors state that Asian American models are most frequently featured in hair and skin advertisements while other ethnicities usually model for body oriented products such as clothing. This article compares both Asian and Western models in magazines and claims that Asian women rarely appear in clothing advertisements, but are usually featured in ads that require nice hair and complexion.

• Rocafort, C., E. Bazemore, E. Werner. "Asian Hair: Its Properties, Physiology, Protection and the Market for Asian Hair Care." Cosmetics and Toiletries 119.2 (2004): 53-59.
• Zeigler-Johnson, Charnita, et al. "Population Differences in the Frequency of the Agouti Signaling Protein g.8818A>G Polymorphism." Pigment Cell Research 17 (2004): 185-187.

Newspaper or Magazine Articles

• Chen, David. "The Heads of Chinatown: Blue, Red, Blond." New York Times. 26 Oct. 1997, late ed., sec. 9: 3.
• "Michelle Yeoh: Not Just Another Bond Girl." Glamour 1 January 1998: 184.

Websites

• Hair & Make Apollonia. 2 Oct. 2005. Date Accessed: 7 June 2006. <http://www.apollonia.jp/salon/salon/index.html>.
• "Asian Hairstyles." 6 June 2006. HairFinder: International Hair Directory. Date Accessed: 7 June 2006. <http://www.hairfinder.com/asian_hairstyles.htm>.
• "Asian Hairstyles." 3 Dec. 1999. Styles on Video. Date Acessed: 7 June 2006. <http://www.stylesonvideo.com/asian.htm.
• Beauty-jp. Ed. Syugo Kubo. 2000. Date Accessed: April 5 2004. <http://www.beauty-jp.com>.
• "Coloring Tips for Asian Hair." 2006. iVillage. Date Accessed: 7 June 2006. <http://beauty.ivillage.com/hair/color/0,,81tr,00.html>.
• "Ethnic Differences in Hair Fiber and Hair Follicles." Date Accessed: 6 June 2006. <http://www.keratin.com/aa/aa002.shtml>.
• Formal Asian Hairstyles for Prom, Wedding, Party, Etc. 30 Nov. 2005. Date Accessed: 6 June 2006. <http://www.asianhairstyles.com/gallery.html>.
• "Frankly: The Truths and Myths About Our Hair." 2006. The Asian American Woman. Date Accessed: 5 June 2006. <http://asiams.net/Hair/Frankly/frankly.html>.

  Asiams.net talks a lot about managing Asian hair. There are helpful tips on highlighting and perming Asian hair as well as managing it. The site also provides information about the type of shampoo that works best on Asian hair and how often Asian hair requires washing. The overall purpose of this website is to inform people about the truths and myths regarding Asian hair. Asians can learn how to manage their hair and learn that some common beliefs about Asian hairstyling are false.

• "Glam Slam." 2006. The Asian American Woman. Date Accessed: 6 June 2006. <http://asiams.net/Hair/Glam/glam.html>.

  This website has a few pictures on modern Asian American women updos. It also gives directions on how to do your own updo hairstyle and tips that help Asian American women perfect the style. The instructions are detailed and include pictures which compliment the written directions. According to the site, contemporary up do's are a lot easier than before and can be accomplished at home.

• Hair Talk. 2006. HairBoutique.com: Banishing Bad Hair Days. Date Accessed: 6 June 2006. <http://www.hairboutique.com/forum/>.

  This forum is similar to Soompi.com forums except it appeals to an older, more diverse crowd. Many Asians ask for advice on topics such as the best shampoo, frizzy hair, and dying hair. Other ethnicities participate in this section of the forum and compliment Asians for their good quality hair. One of the main topics of conversation is hair dying, which seems to be a fad among Asian Americans. Over half of the threads concern hair dying, but there is also helpful advice on other hair subjects.

• In Asian Hair. 2006. RJ USA. Date Accessed: 7 June 2006. <http://www.rj-usa.com/pictg/asianhair.htm>.
• "Kakimoto Arms Stylebook." 2006. Kakimoto Arms. Date Accessed: 7 June 2006. <http://www.kakimoto-arms.com/mc004_hairstylebook/index.html>.
• "Monthly Hair: Voce Style." 20 Jan. 2006. i-Voce Online Web Magazine. Date Accessed: 6 June 2006. <http://www.joseishi.net/voce/hairfile/>.
• "Should Asians Be Able to Dye Their Hair and Look Like Non-Asians?" 29 Dec. 2005. Asian Fashion and Style. Date Accessed: 05 June 2006. http://www.mynippon.com/photos/photo116.htm>.
• Soompi Forums: K-pop for the Masses. Date Accessed: 6 June 2006. <http://soompi.com/forums/>.

  Soompi.com is a website that hosts a forum where Asian Americans chat about hair and fashion. Forum members give each other tips on styling hair and talk about the latest products that work best with Asian hair. People who participate in this forum are typical Asian teenagers who give advice based on personal experience. Anyone is allowed to join this forum which translates into a large number of contributors so a response to any question is almost instantaneous. The advice and tips given come from numerous individuals rather than commercial sources which may be biased towards their own products or procedures. This is an excellent site to ask ordinary people for hair styling opinions and tips.

• "True Colors: All About Hair Coloring." The Asian American Woman. Date Accessed: 6 June 2006. <http://asiams.net/Hair/Haircolor/haircolor.html>.
• White. 2003. Date Accessed: 5 June 2006. <http://www.hairwhite.co.kr/>.