First time visiting Soonsiki Romantique in Hongdae!

itsmochi

8 months ago

First time in Korea, first time at a Korean hair salon! Let me tell you guys about my *spoiler alert* great first experience🩵

I was contemplating for a few weeks by now, almost two months into my arrival in Korea about where I should get my hair done.. I did a lot of searching but found that Soonsiki was likely the easiest and safest option for a foreigner who doesn’t really know which hairstylist might be best (and whose Korean still isn’t also at a fluent level yet..)! Was I right in making this decision? You’ll just have to keep reading to know!🤭

I selected the Romantique branch which is also very nearby to their other two branches, so it’s not really that big of a deal which branch you go to, unless you have a specific stylist you want. The interior is also very cutesy.. (totally not the reason why I chose it).

📍SOONSIKI Romantique Hongdae Salon 164 Yanghwa-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Wonder Place 8F

How to get there: Hongdae Station -> Exit no.8

Note: You have to go through a bit of a narrow alley way to your left of the Musinsa Standard store then you’ll see a door on your right! I got a bit lost at first and was almost late to my appointment.. so make sure you’re there a bit early or know where you have to enter from.

When I first entered, I went up to the counter and showed them my appointment information. They took my bag and coat to the back for storage as well. They then ask you if you have a specific stylist you want or if anyone is fine. Head’s up that if you pick a specific stylist, the price might be different a bit depending on their “experience” but that’s how it is everywhere nowadays. I didn’t know who to have so I just told them that anyone is fine, then I was seated down and the stylist (shoutout to stylist Mujin🫶) came to speak with me.

You can let them know if you’d like to speak in English and/or Korean then they’ll gladly guide you through everything in the language that you choose. If ever, they also pull out Papago to make sure everything is being understood properly. I tried my best to speak Korean with some English slip-ups and everything was well communicated! The stylist asked what I wanted to do and I showed them a few pictures.

Huge important note, make sure to have pictures!!! They’ll keep it for reference the entire time and they will do exactly how the pictures are!! Even if you’re unsure what you want, please have pictures then ask for their recommendations!

The stylist then showed me a book with the prices they offer and spoke to me about the special hair treatments they have. To be honest, the treatments ARE expensive, more than the colouring process itself. They know it’s expensive too but BE HONEST and DON’T BE SCARED to say no, you can simply tell them you can do home care at home. I ended up buying some products since I didn’t have any since coming to Korea and I’m perfectly okay with that. There was also a coupon discount going on through Naver (which the stylist told me about at the end) so I just bit the bullet and got some products to take home.

The price is a bit on the pricier side compared to other salons in Seoul (comparable to the other chain hair salons to be honest), but also not insanely expensive compared to North American prices.

After that, I was sat down and given some cute snacks, an amenities bag (you don’t get to keep the bag but you can use the products inside during) and a menu of drinks I can chose from. Another stylist came by to make sure which colour I wanted exactly and then a third stylist came by to ask about which haircut I wanted. As for the drink, I chose an iced (hot) chocolate!

After that, they got to bleaching! Honestly, I’m quite used to the long waiting but if you’re bored easily, make sure to have a book or something with you.

I spent around 3 hours or so through the entire process (yes it’s long but that’s the norm, so be ready!!). After the bleaching process was done, the third stylist I mentioned previously came back and cut my hair into layers! He was very nice and made sure I was okay the entire time. It turned out exactly how I wanted from the picture I attached above!

For reference, I have straight thick dark brown asian hair that was previously bleached twice with blonde peekaboo highlights and hair length at chest level. I asked them to thin my hair out a bit and to cut slightly higher than my shoulders. I’m unsure how it’ll be if you have a different hair texture so your experience might be a bit different than mine’s. Please keep that in mind!

My now hair looks like this but slightly longer!

Finally after 3 hours, I was done!! I then asked for some product recommendations and as I said earlier, I caved in and got a product, but! There were also freebies of the other products so it wasn’t that bad! Head’s up that they use Kératase products a lot during the entire process so that’s what they were also selling.

As I also previously mentioned, I got my hair done with stylist Mujin and she's so so sweet. I spoke to her a bit with my limited Korean (as a foreign exchange student!!) for a bit of small talk and she was very receptive and understanding.🥺 She even accompanied me to the door as I left and wished me luck with my studies..

As slight cons, I do think it’s still on the pricier side and it’s a bit hard to say no when it comes to the additional treatments and buying products. However, I guess it’s understandable as they’re a chain salon. I also found that since it was busy, the switching stylists made it a bit confusing as I had to repeat myself a few times to make it clear what I wanted.

Overall 9/10 very welcoming and I'll for sure go back once I need to get my hair done again while I'm here in Korea!! Definitely get your hair done in Korea if you can and if you’re unsure where to go for the first time (like this poor soul right here), I’d recommend going to Soonsiki!☺️💕

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