Korean hairstylist / salon recommendation: JUNO HAIR EDAE #2

Where to do hair in Korea? Korean salon recommendations? Where to perm hair in Korea? Good Korean salons?

Finally got to writing this. A lot of people have asked me about doing their hair in Korea and I’ll be fielding some of the most common questions and also giving a recommendation, right down to the outlet and hairstylist lolol.

Q: Is it expensive to do hair in Korea?

A: Depends on where you come from? For me, I think it’s a lot cheaper compared to Singapore. Obviously there are places that do it at the same price, but the quality you get in Korea is MUCH HIGHER. Haircut average at 25,000won (SGD30), coloring at 100,000won onwards, perm / magic (straightening) at 150,000won onwards – average prices. Unless you go to a Cheongdamdong salon (think super high end neighborhood), then perhaps you need to pay .. a lot more?

Q: Where are the good places to go?

A: If you are a girl, I suggest going to Edae (Line 2 on the subway), and come out of exit # 2 or 3. For the uninitiated, Edae is the neighborhood or area right outside Ewha Womans University. You know, where girls gather, this means you get a lot of fashion boutiques, cosmetic stores, salons, manicure places etc. So basically everything you need is there. And I believe all the places there are good, if not they would have run out of business. Besides Edae, Myeongdong is a good place to do your hair too (: It’s likely that they have more English speaking stylists!

Q: Do they speak English??? What if I cannot communicate with the stylists?

A: Yes, most of them do. Well, at least the places I’ve been to. The standard varies, but you can get by. And they try really hard to communicate with you, so don’t worry. The place I go to seems to have a lot of foreigner customers, so they are used to it. Basically you don’t need much communication, unless you are the kind that are super picky and particular on how they do your hair and have all sorts of requests. All that is needed is point at the hairstyle you want (they give you a book full of pictures of the latest celebrity hairstyles to look at), choose. Ask how much and they will punch in the figure in the calculator for you. hehe. Done.

Q: Is it intimidating to walk into a Korean salon?

A: Erm no? Maybe I have a biased answer, since I can pass off as a Korean and I speak Korean. Usually the stylist won’t know I’m not Korean until I introduce myself or show too little concern regarding the style I want. I have realized that Koreans are quite particular about what they want and they usually go into a salon knowing what they want to do. I’m always like “okay whatever, you decide ok?” and some of the stylists were like .. “MMMM don’t you have something in mind? You foreigner?” lol.

Q: How’s the service?

A: Damn good? I always hate going to SG salons, because 1. expensive 2. they can never give me what I want 3. they like to tell me I cannot do much to my hair since I don’t have nice hair -.- Korean salons never tell me what I can’t do, they try their best to give me what I want. And I don’t have to wait like an idiot while the stylists serve many other customers and just come back to me to cut my hair in like 10 mins -.- Korean stylists are super attentive and they make you feel like you are in safe hands.

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For those who are still a little apprehensive and unsure of what it’s like, here’s a breakdown of what goes on in a hair salon visit! (I based it on my visit to JUNO outlets)

1. Go to the counter and tell the person you want a cut / perm / magic / coloring etc. Say that you are a foreigner. Well, unless you obviously look like one.

2. An assistant will take your belongings from you to put them into a locker and they will help you wear the salon cloak. The belongings will be locked and they will put the key in your cloak pocket. I usually take my phone out beforehand so I have something to play with in cased I get bored.

3. They are likely to guide you to a side area where you are seated. They either ask what you want to drink or give you a small menu to look at. The drinks are free (for JUNO at least) and I usually ask for iced green tea lol. The stylist will come to you with a book / ipad full of celebrity hairstyles. You take your pick and discuss with the stylist here. Ask for the price during this stage, unless you totally don’t care how much you are spending.

4. The assistant will bring you to wash your hair and then you are seated in the erm salon seat (you know, with the mirror in front of you). I don’t think I need to describe the whole do-hair process right?

5. Go to the counter. You take off the cloak and the assistant will get the key from you and give you back your belongings. Make payment!

See! Quite easy (:

Time for a more concrete and detailed recommendation right? 😀 I usually go to JUNO HAIR, which has a lot of outlets all over Seoul and Korea. I’m not going to discuss whether boutique salons is better than chain stores whatsoever, just go for what you like. Among the bigger salons, JUNO HAIR is quite reasonably priced. I made the mistake of going into another major salon (the Gangnam outlet) just for a quotation, and I am totally like omfg so expensive. haha I cannot remember that salon name, sorry. JUNO HAIR also have a free membership program where you can get discount for their services.

Like many major salons, once there are a lot of outlets, standards vary. I’ve been to several JUNO HAIR outlets across the city and the one that I like best is the one I’ve just visited: Edae Juno Hair Outlet #2 (click on link). Well, it’s not the prettiest or most stylish outlet but I really like my stylist there, and also the assistants!

I did magic (straightening) to 2/3 of my hair and perm 1/3 (the ends) of my hair, permed my fringe so that it will curl in slightly instead. Normally this will take 3 hours or more, but my stylist is damn efficient. “Fast with my hands and good” – quote from her. hahaha. I went after dinner (nearly 8) but she managed to finish before 10 and she did it even better than my previous stylist.

It was good to go in the late evening, cos there weren’t many people and the staff were more attentive. hehe it’s good to be a foreigner who can speak Korean. hahaha. I think they find me very interesting and my stylist even got an assistant to stay back just to help me do straightening. Apparently he’s the best in it in the whole shop and yup I agree!! Super detailed and attentive.

Had a good chat with them and they even gave me free treatment on my hair!! ^^ Super happy.

Stylist: 시우 (Si Woo)

Assistant (who is damn good at straightening): 김국현빈

(haha i asked about his name and apparently 김국현 is his real name and 빈 is added on as a nickname hahaha)

hehe if you look at the JUNO site (link above), you will see that there are many compliments for my stylist! So rest assured that you are in safe hands, and yes she can get by speaking English!

시우 is off on every Tuesday and you can book an appointment with her at 02-364-0605. Walk ins are possible (I did) but doesn’t guarantee that she will be free.

You can tell her that you saw the recommendation from this blog ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Not sure if she remembers me though!

Now for directions.

There are THREE Juno Hair outlets just in Edae and usually I go to Juno Hair #1. But I much prefer this #2 outlet!

준오헤어 이대 2호점

서울시 서대문구 대현동 37-3

It’s quite easy to get there. Come out of exit 2, walk all the way straight until you are near to the Ewha Womans University main gate. Instead of crossing to the gate, turn left. Walk down the street, past Kosney etc until you see Juno Hair Outlet 3. Turn left in the straight and walk a bit to see Juno Hair #2.

I’ve attached the Naver Map image if you are interested. It’s located on the 2nd floor of the building! Shops in Korea are ever changing. I went at night so I didn’t notice if there was really an Evisu outlet below, but yeah.