Ilsan hair salon: root dye + volume magic in 2.5 hours, Hair Onsae

Looking at my mom's hair, I felt it was about time for a proper reset. Her roots had grown out a lot and needed dyeing, and overall her hair was puffing up in a frizzy, unkempt way.

So this time, instead of putting it off, I decided to get everything sorted in one go and headed to Hair Onsae, a hair salon in Pungdong, Ilsan! My mom got root dye and a volume magic perm together that day, done by designer Eunhye.

Hair Onsae's location and parking — near Poongsan Station Exit 2

Hair Onsae is right near Poongsan Station, so it wasn't hard to find. The address is 3 Jungsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea, B101, and it's close to Exit 2 of Poongsan Station too, so it's a fine spot to reach by public transit.

If you're driving, there's dedicated parking, but you need to call the salon to have the barrier opened when you enter the lot. Same goes for when you leave, so if you're driving, keep that in mind!

Heading toward the building, you'll spot the Hair Onsae sign. If it's your first time, you might look around a bit for the entrance, but once you see the sign, it's not hard to find.

Salon atmosphere — also runs a barbershop, restroom inside

Walking in, Hair Onsae was quite a bit bigger than I expected. It had a clean, tidy overall feel, and besides the usual open styling area, there were separated spaces scattered around too. Since it also runs a barbershop, the layout was a bit unique.

And personally, I think a restroom matters a lot for long sessions, and it was nice that one was inside the salon. Since I went in expecting the volume magic perm to take a while, this small thing ended up mattering more than I thought haha.

Consultation — not flat, keeping some natural volume

This time, designer Eunhye at Hair Onsae handled my mom's hair. I thought a volume magic perm shouldn't just flatten out all the curl — keeping some natural volume mattered.

I was especially worried that if it was straightened too flat, my mom's hair might end up looking thinner. So the plan was to tidy up the frizzy, messy parts overall while avoiding a look that was too flat.

Root dye — just connecting the grown-out part changed the parting completely

First they worked on the roots, which had been bothering me the most. Since a full dye wasn't needed, they focused the root dye on just the newly grown parts.

Before it started I just thought, oh it's grown out a bit, but comparing after the dye, the difference was huge. Once the visible part along the parting was seamlessly blended in, her hair already looked a lot more put-together.

The volume magic perm process

Along with the root dye, they did the volume magic perm too. It went from applying the solution, checking the hair's condition, and then straightening it out.

The main goal for my mom was fixing the overall frizziness. But she didn't want the typical dead-straight look that comes with a magic straightening perm either. She wanted something easy to style later that would fall naturally, and I got curious how it would turn out from this point.

How long does root dye plus volume magic take together?

Getting both root dye and a volume magic perm done together at Hair Onsae took about 2.5 hours total. I sat nearby watching the whole time, and it moved along faster than I expected.

Honestly, I thought doing two things together would take quite a while. My mom also came in expecting to sit for a long stretch, so finishing sooner than expected was a nice surprise. Since she tends to get tired sitting for long periods, it was great that the session wasn't too long.

The moment you watch most closely during a volume magic perm

She straightened it section by section, smoothing out the overall texture. It wasn't so much straightening everything dead flat as calming down the frizzy parts overall. I was especially worried the crown area would end up too flat, but seeing the finished look, that worry turned out to be unnecessary.

Before and after — less bulk, volume still kept

Before the service, her hair was spread out and looked a bit puffy overall, but after the volume magic perm at Hair Onsae, the shape itself became neatly organized. And it didn't cling flat to the scalp the way straightened hair sometimes does. The overall bulk was tidied up while natural volume still remained, and it suited my mom really well.

The difference is even clearer from behind. Before, her hair used to puff up unevenly in different directions, making the overall silhouette a bit frizzy, but now it falls down calmly and looks much tidier. Her hair texture also looked much smoother overall, so even though the length was the same, the whole impression looked different. My mom touched her hair and was happy it felt so much cleaner.

And here's the part I was glad we did together — the root dye! If she'd only gotten the volume magic perm, her hair texture itself would've looked clean, but if the grown-out roots were still showing through the parting, it would've felt a bit off. This time, doing the root dye together with it gave a genuinely put-together look from top to bottom. Especially at the crown, the difference between visible roots and no visible roots was pretty big.

Who this is for

Before the service, her roots had grown out a lot and her hair was frizzy overall, at the point where it was time for a salon visit. After, everything felt sorted at once — root color and overall hair texture together! And the flat, overly straightened look I was most worried about never happened, which I loved.

• Anyone whose hair puffs up and gets frizzy, but who finds a typical dead-flat straightening perm too much
• Anyone whose root dye timing overlaps, wanting to get both done in one visit
• Anyone who has trouble sitting for long periods and wants a shorter service time

This time, since my mom's hair really needed a proper reset, we visited Hair Onsae, a hair salon in Pungdong, Ilsan, together. Designer Eunhye did the root dye and volume magic perm together, and the whole process took about 2.5 hours. The roots got cleanly sorted and the frizzy hair calmed down, so the before-and-after difference was quite satisfying.

Above all, I loved that even with the volume magic perm, her hair didn't end up sticking too flat and instead settled naturally. My mom probably won't have to wrestle with frizzy morning hair for a while now.

Hair Onsae visit info

• Address: 3 Jungsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea, B101
• About 94m from Poongsan Station Exit 2
• Dedicated parking available / call the salon when entering or exiting
• Designer: Eunhye
• Reservations available via Naver Reservation