Experience with Asian hair care?

[misslynne]

I'm pretty new here, but from all my lurking I've noticed that most people here seem to be located in the US and Europe (correct me if I'm wrong). I've been living in East Asia for over a year now, although I'm not from here, and I've grown more and more interested in Asian hair care and products, especially because the water here hasn't been kind to my hair.

I don't have a lot of experience, but I have been experimenting with some different shampoos, conditioners, masks, and serums from Korea and Japan with pretty good results. I've tried some things from Ryo, Kracie Ichikami, Nature Republic, and I just purchased some products from Moist Diane.

So I'm wondering, does anyone else here have any experience with Asian hair products or an Asian hair routine? I'd love to hear about it!

[LizzyGrant]

Hi! I don't even live in East Asia and this might be a little off topic but just wanted to asnwer. I have a skin care routine with only Korean and Japanese products. I'm also interested trying hair care products but so far I don't have much experience with them. Well I did buy some Japanese hair oil recently and it seems to be very good.

[Begemot]

I'm very interested too! I have only used Asian sin care products and read about Asian hair products. I have been looking for something to try out but haven't yet. I'm going to stalk this thread closely

[pailin]

Well, I live in Southeast Asia. We have a bunch of western brands, like Pantene, Dove, Loreal, Tresemme, and Herbal Essences. But often times they're a little different; there's nothing marketed to curlies, and then there are things labeled for 'hair fall' - took me a while to figure out for sure that it's referring to breakage and definitely not hairloss (confusing because Pantene for example has 'hair fall' AND 'damage care' versions in the same product lines- it sounds like the same thing to me!).

We get some brands which are local to southeast Asia such as Rejoice, which I think is maybe Malaysian, but I'm too lazy to check. They're not high end ones though. Then there's a plethora of small 'herbal' lines here, and also some brands sold mainly in beauty supply places that I haven't bothered to figure out.

The higher end brands tend to be Japanese or Korean, especially in places like Watson's. I've used a few of them when I've gotten a big discount (>50%), and some are nice, but not nice enough for the full price tag. Also we get a line called 'Tsubaki' which I think is Shiseido at home, but it's cheaper here, and it's not my hg conditioner (that's Loreal Evercreme), but it's one I like. It's not as expensive as some of the Korean and Japanese ones.

There's some traditional hair care in this area; fermented rice water for example. It seems to be usually cited as a Yao thing, but it's definitely not just the Yao; the Shan for example do that. At least they used to; the younger women don't anymore. There's also a plant that I've never identified exactly what it is, but there's something that in Myanmar, traditionally they boiled the pods and used the stuff they got from that in their hair. I wondered if it might be something like soap nuts, but someone told me you might not want to try it in hair like mine (medium-dark blond) because it might make it darker....​And that seems to also be falling out of use in favor of shampoo.

[lapushka]

I've heard good things about Kracie. Can't remember where I heard it, but it seems to be a lovely product.

[misslynne]

Well, I live in Southeast Asia. We have a bunch of western brands, like Pantene, Dove, Loreal, Tresemme, and Herbal Essences. But often times they're a little different; there's nothing marketed to curlies, and then there are things labeled for 'hair fall' - took me a while to figure out for sure that it's referring to breakage and definitely not hairloss (confusing because Pantene for example has 'hair fall' AND 'damage care' versions in the same product lines- it sounds like the same thing to me!).

We get some brands which are local to southeast Asia such as Rejoice, which I think is maybe Malaysian, but I'm too lazy to check. They're not high end ones though. Then there's a plethora of small 'herbal' lines here, and also some brands sold mainly in beauty supply places that I haven't bothered to figure out.

The higher end brands tend to be Japanese or Korean, especially in places like Watson's. I've used a few of them when I've gotten a big discount (>50%), and some are nice, but not nice enough for the full price tag. Also we get a line called 'Tsubaki' which I think is Shiseido at home, but it's cheaper here, and it's not my hg conditioner (that's Loreal Evercreme), but it's one I like. It's not as expensive as some of the Korean and Japanese ones.

There's some traditional hair care in this area; fermented rice water for example. It seems to be usually cited as a Yao thing, but it's definitely not just the Yao; the Shan for example do that. At least they used to; the younger women don't anymore. There's also a plant that I've never identified exactly what it is, but there's something that in Myanmar, traditionally they boiled the pods and used the stuff they got from that in their hair. I wondered if it might be something like soap nuts, but someone told me you might not want to try it in hair like mine (medium-dark blond) because it might make it darker....​And that seems to also be falling out of use in favor of shampoo.

Interesting! I've definitely seen all of those brands here as well. I used to use a lot of Pantene and Tresemme, but once I moved here I found that they were much more expensive, so I decided to try some Asian brands instead! I'm thinking of trying Tsubaki sometime soon too

[misslynne]

I'm very interested too! I have only used Asian sin care products and read about Asian hair products. I have been looking for something to try out but haven't yet. I'm going to stalk this thread closely

I also love Asian skincare products, that's actually what led me to start taking better care of my hair in the first place! Definitely let me know if end up trying anything!

[Ylva]

I'm not expert in the area, but can share my two cents.

You mentioned Ryo - I'm interested in getting a scalp treatment from them just to test it out as my scalp generally doesn't mind stuff on it. This: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Amore-Ryo-H...r/253711902383

Some time ago I ordered a Korean hair serum, MiseEnScene Perfect Repair Serum. It was cheap for the size (70 ml for less than €8!) and the ingredients looked very good. Lots of oils and plant extracts etc.

[misslynne]

I'm not expert in the area, but can share my two cents.

You mentioned Ryo - I'm interested in getting a scalp treatment from them just to test it out as my scalp generally doesn't mind stuff on it. This: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Amore-Ryo-H...r/253711902383

Some time ago I ordered a Korean hair serum, MiseEnScene Perfect Repair Serum. It was cheap for the size (70 ml for less than €8!) and the ingredients looked very good. Lots of oils and plant extracts etc.

I actually have that exact same hair serum! I just totally forgot about it. The other serum I have is the Nature Republic Argan Oil one. I like them both and they're both pretty cheap!

I'd also love to hear about your results with the Ryo treatment if you end up getting it. I've tried their Anti-Hair-Loss shampoo and conditioner, they were nice, although I didn't really love the medicinal ginseng smell.

[Doreen]

I liked the Ryo Hambitmo conditioner and camellia treatment a lot! I use the treatment as a leave-in as well.

I tried Hambitmo, Jayangyunmo, and Jasanghwacho shampoos and none of them worked very well for me and seemed to leave a bit of a residue.