As soon as the portable hair roller product "Kuroll," which actor Ku Hye-sun directly took part in developing, was unveiled, debate over its price erupted online. Kuroll is a hair roller that Ku developed with a research team after she was admitted to the master's program in engineering at the Graduate School of Science Journalism at KAIST.
According to the related industry on the 5th, Ku Hye-sun recently shared the official sales page for the hair roller she participated in developing on her social media. The product sells for 13,000 won for one, and 25,000 won for a set of two.
After the product was revealed, opinions online diverged sharply over the price. That is because many hair rollers on the market sell for a few hundred won to around 1,000 won. Some users said the Kuroll price is expensive, noting, "Paying over 10,000 won for a single hair roller is burdensome," and "It's similar to the price of a rechargeable hair roller."
On the other hand, quite a few say the price is understandable given the development process and technology. They argue it differs from a simple beauty item because Ku Hye-sun directly took part in every stage—including planning, design, NAMING., and branding—to raise the level of completion.
Earlier, Ku Hye-sun appeared on MBC's "Radio Star" and mentioned the background of Kuroll's development. Ku said, "I graduated from Sungkyunkwan University after 13 years, and one of the graduation requirements was a patent filing," adding, "I got the idea by seeing the hair rollers students were wearing and filed a patent."
Kuroll features a structure that modifies the conventional round hair roller. Made from a high-functional polymer composite that applies silicone laminating to a wave-shaped mold structure, it can be laid flat and rolled back up, and its size can be adjusted, earning reviews for improved portability.
In particular, a key strength is its "self-recovery" function that snaps back to its original shape with a light snap motion without separate heat or electrical devices. With this technology, the Kuroll product was selected for an Excellent Patent Award and drew attention.