Remember how annoying baby hairs can get or how everyone wanted to get rid of them? Well, if you were a part of the latter, it’s time to embrace your baby hair like how Korean celebrities are!
We can’t say we’re too surprised by this trend since we’ve already seen countless Western celebrities sport styled baby hair looks on campaigns, photoshoots, red carpets, or whenever they liked to.
For the uninitiated, styling your baby hair has been around since the ’90s or earlier and was made popular by the iconic Black actress Josephine Baker. More than just a trend, it’s part of a culture. Every Black and Latina woman knew the drill when it comes to styling baby hair — they’d use a toothbrush or hard-bristled brush to smoothen their baby hair into squiggles and designs framing their faces.
And for decades now, many are being more aware of the origin and history of baby hair and trying out the look themselves.
Credit: Pinterest
What’s the Korean baby hair trend all about?
@priscillakwon
For the longest time, bigger foreheads were considered to be beautiful for a woman in Korea. Possibly linked to “feng shui“, Asians believed that a wide, round, smooth, and prominent forehead indicates power, wealth, and good fortune.
Bae Suzy, Korean singer, model, and actress, was known to have lasered off her baby hair. Kim Kardashian, who’s never late to trends, lasered off her baby hair back in 2016 and shared that she regretted it.
Credit: @rockchaeeun/TikTok
Fast forward to the last few years, people are embracing their baby hair and netizens seem to be happy about it. Some who don’t necessarily have baby hair at all or visible baby hair are even creating it by cutting their tresses themselves. That’s because having lots of baby hair around your hairline will make your face look smaller and give you a more youthful look.
There are also talks about how beauty standards have changed and evolved over the years for baby hair to be seen as trendy and beautiful instead of messy or unruly. But the key thing to remember is that, baby hair or not, there are no restrictions in the realm of beauty or things that are “unacceptable”.
How to DIY your baby hair
You can most definitely get your baby hair professionally cut in salons or do it yourself at home.
Before you channel your inner hair stylist, do remember to be especially careful. You’ll want to be gentle and you wouldn’t want to end up with strands of baby hair that are too short.
Credit: @katiecung/TikTok
First, use a hair band to push the bulk of your hair back or tie your hair up into a pony.
Next, take a very small portion of hair along your hairline which should look like thin strands of hair. It’s important to note that you’re creating baby hairs and not baby bangs which are a lot thicker, so don’t section off too much of your hair!
Use your fingers on one hand as a “clip” of sorts and pull it away from your face so that it’s straightened. With the scissors on your dominant hand, start cutting with a jagged motion from the middle portion of the hair. This will help to create a soft slant to frame your face.
For better visualisation and more in-depth instructions, you can check out Korean YouTuber Krystal Lee’s tutorial!
How to style your baby hair
On days when you want to jazz it up, you can choose to style your baby hair to your desired look too!
@amberbuzz edge tutorial 💓 my mom has been laying my edges since i came out the womb 😂 #hairtok
For a more obvious gelled look, you can wear your styled baby hair with a bun, braids, or a ponytail. Start with your hair already damp. Separate the loose baby hair from the contour of your head and comb them towards your forehead.
Then, use a pomade or gel and the tip of a small brush to form the designs, either little waves or curls will both look great. A tip is to make “S” movements with your brush.
And for it to last longer, use a ribbon or cloth to tie it on top of and cover your gelled baby hair till the strands are completely dry.
@imjiw_d
You can also use the same method to manipulate your baby hair into the shape you want even if your hair won’t be tied up. Just use a hair band or hair tie to keep your hair away from your face, gel up your baby hair, and then let your hair down!
Related read: 5 types of “slimming bangs” loved by K-pop idols that you should try
Feature image credit: @katiecung/TikTok, Pinterest
