Sangnam-dong hair salon jelly perm plus root color: Vivienne Hair

Vivienne Hair, Changwon 23 Danjeong-ro, Seongsan-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongnam, South Korea, 2F Unit 201 Underground parking available at the building

Why a perm came before the bob: booking Vivienne Hair in Sangnam-dong

I'm a nurse! My face had been giving me serious 'aged out' vibes lately and I really wanted a bob, but I thought I'd get a perm first before cutting it short — so I booked Vivienne Hair in Changwon. You can park either in the building's underground lot or at Real Parking Lot. I parked underground, and there were fewer cars than I expected so it was an easy park. The entry road was fine too, so even a beginner driver like me could manage it 🫧🤍 (I visited on a weekday afternoon!)

Vivienne Hair Changwon is on the 2nd floor of Moise Building in Sangnam-dong, and the underground parking connects by elevator straight up to the 2nd floor, so it's convenient even on rainy days!

Inside Vivienne Hair: salon atmosphere and waiting area

Vivienne Hair was an all-white-toned salon, clean and spacious overall. You can book on Naver Reservation, so feel free to reserve there!

This is the waiting area — the chairs were super comfy, and there were chargers for different cable types available, which was really convenient!

There's a self-serve bar set up too, though I didn't end up grabbing anything!

Can color-treated hair take a jelly perm? The damage check

Before: this is what my hair length looked like! It was an awkward length — too long to call mid-length bob, too short to call long — and honestly a bit damaged from frequent dyeing ㅠ_ㅠ I talked with the designer about the perm I wanted, mentioning a jelly perm and bringing reference photos of the style I wanted! She asked about how often I dye my hair, whether I've had straightening or perms before, and generally whether my hair was in a condition to handle a perm. We decided to check the exact damage level after washing my hair!

The shampoo room was spacious and well set up too, and I washed my hair before the perm. I think it's because you can tell the damage level more accurately when the hair is wet.

She told me a perm was possible, but since my hair was color-treated, the curls might come out a bit looser than a super bouncy result rather than nice and springy! It wasn't impossible though, so I decided — jelly perm it is!!!!!!!!!!!!

How the jelly perm was done, step by step

Winding the rods ~ I feel like it's genuinely been almost 10 years since I got a perm!

They brought me a snack while I was getting the perm — hehe. I was hungry, so I happily munched on it between steps.

Waiting while the perm processed. They rolled the rods, wrapped them in plastic, and had me wait under heat for about 15 minutes — I think this cycle repeated once or twice! The designer checked on the condition periodically and took good care of it throughout. The perm itself took about one to two hours, and since I was already there, I decided to get root color done at the same time, so that started next.

Adding root color: 3 hours 30 minutes in total

She applied the dye carefully and I waited a bit over 30 minutes. After that came a wash and final blow-dry to finish. All in, the jelly perm and root color together took about 3 hours 30 minutes!

After everything was done, the designer sent me off with some shampoo. While drying my hair, she explained how to dry permed hair properly, what products to use for upkeep, and various other care tips, and she gave me plenty of shampoo to take home too!

How the curls looked on the day and the next morning

My hair right after finishing. Perms tend to hold their curl better when the hair is a bit damp, so they finished it up that way, and even with my hair being on the more damaged side, the curls came out this well! Honestly it felt a bit unfamiliar since it'd been almost 10 years since my last perm, but I think the curls turned out great!

This is my hair the next day, once it was completely dry! Perms can really vary depending on how you style them, so as someone who's not great with hair styling, managing a perm has still been a bit tricky. It looks a little frizzy in the photo, but my friends and coworkers said the perm turned out great and looks like a fresh change! Still, I went ahead and bought the curling essence and foam the designer recommended, and I'm going to take good care of it to keep these pretty curls going as long as possible :-)