Olive brown gray coverage and cut at Salon de L, Wangsimni hair salon

Recommending a Wangsimni hair salon: Salon de L

115, 2F Tenz Hill Mall, 137 Majang-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea / Daily 10:00–19:00

Why root-only touch-ups left the hair damaged

I used to have some wrong ideas about hair care, haha ㅠ My hair wasn't great to begin with, so I thought 'let's avoid full dyeing and just do root touch-ups!' and kept doing that on a regular cycle. But the thing is, I should have kept up with cuts the same way. The damage got out of control, so I decided enough was enough — time to cut it off and do a full dye to cover the gray too. That's how I ended up at Salon de L.

Salon de L has held down this exact spot for a really long time! You know how hard it is for salons to stay in one place for years — that's proof of real skill, which is why I recommend it as a Wangsimni hair salon.

Located on the 2nd floor of Tenz Hill Mall, Salon de L has that hidden-master feel, haha. It's been a little over 3 weeks since my full dye, and right now I'm in Southeast Asia where the hard water is basically perfect conditions for color to wash straight out — yet it's staying even, which is exactly why I want to recommend Salon de L as a Wangsimni hair salon.

What the consultation with senior designer Hansol covered

I was seen by senior designer Hansol at Salon de L. Kind, and had that vibe of catching ten things when I only said one. Honestly I'm not a professional so explaining in detail is hard for me ㅠ and a lot gets lost in translation, haha ㅠ But everything came out exactly the style I wanted.

How many gray-coverage colors does Salon de L offer?

Something else I loved: gray-coverage dye usually has a really narrow color range, right? It always felt like just picking a brown 'number,' zero fun in choosing a hair color. But at Salon de L there were so many options — red-toned, yellow-toned, ash, and more! I don't like red or yellow tones so I went with olive brown.

Before: uneven tone and straw-like hippie perm ends

Honestly embarrassing to even show my before hair. From doing only root touch-ups constantly, the tone difference was severe and the ends got worse and worse... I'd also had a hippie perm, so it just looked like straw. I still can't quite believe how I lived with that hair. My designer might have thought 'oh, this is bad' too. But they bring it back every time.

You can probably tell how severe the damage was. Honestly, to cut all of that off I'd need a short cut, but I didn't have the courage, so I decided to cut to just below the collarbone instead. Goodbye for real ㅠ...

Suddenly going much shorter was a little scary, but they cut it to just the right length!

A mid-length cut that is easy to style without a perm

Since I was getting a gray-coverage dye, doing a perm at the same time wasn't really an option. And with hair that had been permed before... as a non-professional, I figured getting a decent cut would be tough ㅠ but they cut it in a way that's great to wear as-is right now, good for a future straight perm or rebonding down the line, and easy for me to style myself. I never even mentioned any of that, and they just handled it perfectly.

Cut off the whole disaster of a head. After the cut, it looked like a thick mid-length hippie perm even without an actual perm, and I loved it, haha. If you want a Wangsimni hair salon that's great at cutting = Salon de L.

Getting a tasty snack made me even happier.

Pre-dye clinic and how the olive brown was applied

At Salon de L, they did a clinic treatment after the cut and before the dye. Dyeing really does damage hair a lot, so having a clinic treatment alongside it is genuinely comforting... And instead of just mixing some product together, using an actual machine for it gave it a much more trustworthy feel.

Since there was such a strong tone difference between the roots and the gray sections, they carefully applied dye to the root areas first.

While waiting, hair care tips kept playing on the TV, haha, so the time flew by and it was genuinely fun.

While they applied the dye, what really stood out was how meticulous they were. I could feel them dividing the hair into so many sections to apply it, and it built real trust ~~~!~!

Olive brown result and how the color held after 3 weeks

?????? Is this really my hair???? It came out exactly the color I wanted. No red tones, no yellow tones, all the unevenness gone, calm and even to the point of looking healthy. Seriously, if you want a full gray-coverage dye, come to Salon de L.

Since my hair was already done, I wanted to celebrate, so they blow-dried it too for the full effect. Once my hair gets some rest, I want to try this look again. No unnecessary bulk in the cut, and above all the dye came out so clean — I'm obsessed.

Indoors it looks totally calm, a dark brown with an ash tone, and in natural light it turns into a soft, calm brown. Double thumbs up from me.

Scalp diagnosis machine and membership passes at Salon de L

They also had a machine that could check your scalp condition. Checking your own scalp condition first seems like it would help you get exactly the right treatment for you.

If you're a regular, getting a membership pass is a great deal! My hair finally feels like mine again with this clean cut and color. Even after washing multiple times in hard water, the color hasn't faded at all and is staying exactly the same, and the cut is so good that honestly, even without much styling, it looks like a natural mid-length hippie perm.