Dress fitting makeup with long lashes in Hongdae: Today Makeup salon

Why book Today Makeup in Hongdae for a dress fitting?

Today Makeup is a makeup salon on Wolgeuktbuk-ro 1-gil in Mapo-gu, Seoul, and I went there for a wedding photoshoot dress fitting. Apparently when you try on dresses, your makeup needs to be stronger than usual so your face doesn't get "pushed back" by the dress, so I booked accordingly.

Let's start the review!

Fill up on food before going to pick out photoshoot dresses, and take a million photos while you're at it!

Today Makeup hours and how to get there from Hongik University Station

Business hours are 08:00-17:00, and they say times can be adjusted if you ask.

You can walk from Hongik University Station, but I didn't feel like walking so I took the bus — it was just a 2-minute walk from the stop, haha. If you can, it's worth checking bus routes too for an easier visit.

Inside Today Makeup: private rooms and waiting area

It definitely has that hip, stylish, Instagram-worthy, trendy vibe.

I was cutting it a bit close packing my dress-fitting bag, so I must have looked flustered — the artist handed me a glass of water first. T_T It felt like water for a weary traveler👍🤍 The waiting area is spacious too, so it'd be comfortable to wait there while others get their makeup done.

The makeup rooms are separated, so it seems like you could get done at the same time as a friend if you're going for a friendship photoshoot together, haha.

My makeup was done privately in an individual room.

Booking the Dress Tour M&H package and how long it takes

I pre-booked the Dress Tour M&H package. I did wonder whether I should just do my own hair, but since the price difference wasn't huge, I decided to go big — get pretty hair and makeup done and take photos too. 👰‍♀️🎀🤍✨

After going through it, I'd say budgeting a generous 2 hours total for hair and makeup is the way to go.

The makeup process, from toner pack to consultation

This is what I looked like right after washing my face and finishing basic skincare that morning. My skin condition lately has been:

• 🤍Some spots from sun exposure
• 🤍Acne scars still healing on my chin
• 🤍Pores starting to show themselves a bit after summer..?

First, the artist laid a solid foundation with a toner pack — lots and lots of hydration for dry skin. I'm exposed to a dry environment a lot in general, so my skin is really, really dry. So dry that at home I slather on Vaseline or thick creams. T_T The artist built up the base carefully, and it got moisturized instantly — so satisfying!!!

For the wedding photoshoot, we had a makeup consultation about what style I wanted. As you might guess, I'm a lazy bride-to-be, so I just vaguely said "not coral, pink please!" — but she found specific references that would suit me well and showed them to me. So good. She went through each makeup point during the consultation, which really built my trust.

The color cosmetics selection was really varied, and above all, so clean! Since it's touching my skin, I pay special attention to brushes — and the brush cleanliness passed with flying colors!!!!!! The artist was calm and incredibly thorough! I loved it.

Finished makeup: long lashes and brow asymmetry correction

For dress selection, I went stronger than my everyday makeup but lighter than wedding-day makeup. It came out with clean, glowing skin, defined eyes, and bright pink color tones.

I especially loved the eye makeup. Normally, if I put on lashes longer than 9mm, they really don't suit me — I end up looking like a greasy camel, LOL. Seriously, true story.

I told her this, and she picked up on the point exactly. We debated, but thought long lashes might actually suit me, and since I'll probably be getting makeup done a lot more, I wanted to know for sure what works — so I trusted the artist at Today Makeup in Hongdae and gave it a try. Genuinely, completely satisfied.

What I especially loved was that my brows are slightly asymmetric, and she corrected them to be about 99.99% symmetric — symmetric enough that it looked even in photos. And instead of just leaving them straight, which would've been boring, she added a slight arch that matched my face shape for a touch of sophistication. I want to tattoo my brows in this exact shape... Plus my double eyelid lines are uneven too, which always stressed me out drawing them myself, but she handled that detail perfectly too — heart eyes ❤️❤️❤️

The blush was slightly juicy, just as I wanted — I actually love that dewy, fresh-faced look. I've always aspired to that juicy look but kept giving it up, feeling like it was too much, like I was trying too hard to look young at my age. But having a professional at Today Makeup do it, I was reborn as pure juiciness. Dazzling...✨⭐️

When I mentioned wanting a muted, dusty, slightly toned-down, luxe feel, she applied this lip combination. I immediately went and bought it at Olive Young. I really wanted to ask about every single product she used, but felt like I'd be too much of a pest, so I timidly asked about just the lip product. 🥲 I'm using it so well! I'm going to stock up! She has so much experience and skill that she instantly knew what would suit me.

The hair: long, thick waves

Once the makeup was done, I was "handed over" to the hair artist.

I asked the planner whether it'd be better to wear an updo or leave my hair down, and she said down — so I decided on long wavy hair!

As you know, I have a genuinely thick head of hair... I mentioned this, and she picked up on it perfectly, giving me exactly the bold waves I wanted. Plus, since I have so much hair, she rolled the back slightly and tied it with a hair tie to control the volume. You couldn't tell it was tied at all — my boyfriend even said my hair looked pretty that day.

Both the hair artist and makeup artist have experience with stage/character makeup and have worked with celebrities — true experts! The conversation flowed the whole time, so the hours flew by. ❤️🧡💛

A photo I brought just to show off the hair! Even the baby hairs in front were flawless! Such lovely bold wavy curls.

Was Today Makeup worth it for the dress fitting?

Here's the finished makeup!

The skin finish had a glowing sheen, overall like an announcer's look — not overly heavy or mask-like, which I loved!

When I actually put on the dress, my face didn't get overshadowed at all, and I could picture how each dress would look while choosing — I really felt like it was worth getting done. The dress shop manager even complimented how pretty my makeup was! 🖤🩶🤍 It would feel incomplete to share the dress-fitting makeup post without a photo actually wearing the dress, so here it is, haha.

If you're debating whether to get hair and makeup done for a dress tour or a photoshoot/wedding-day fitting, I'd recommend getting it done! With a bright, glowing face, you feel confident in any dress, and you can capture those once-in-a-lifetime dress photos you can't easily get otherwise, hahaha. 🎀✨🤍 Huge thanks to the artists at Today Makeup for hair and makeup I loved so much. Highly recommend Today Makeup in Hongdae!!!