Seongsu hair salon dark brown dye with patchy roots redone: Toni&Guy

Today I'm sharing my honest, real visit review of Toni&Guy Seongsu, a hair salon in Seongsu that I went to recently.

How were booking and waiting at Toni&Guy Seongsu?

I booked through Naver Booking, paid a ₩20,000 deposit in advance, and went for the 4 PM slot with my assigned designer. The salon is really close to Ttukseom Station, so getting there was super easy.

I was excited to change up my usually messy hairstyle and arrived right on time. Even though I got there exactly at 4, there was still a bit of a wait!

As soon as I walked in I could see the designers. "Oh, that must be my designer!" I thought, all excited, haha.

Maybe because it was crowded, I waited about 30 minutes. The waiting area was rather small, but they brought me a coffee first, which kept me from getting bored and let me wait fairly calmly, haha. After the wait, I finally sat down and had my consultation with the designer.

A consultation recommending dark brown instead of mint brown

In the consultation, instead of my original first pick, "mint brown," I was recommended a calm, classy dark brown shade. When I said I didn't want it too light, they told me mint brown is much brighter than people expect, so if I wanted to go dark, another dark brown would be better!

I took the expert's advice and settled on the recommended color, and right up until the treatment started I was totally hyped for my big transformation, hahaha.

Before

I didn't even know my hair was patchy! When I took the photos, I thought, "Oh, I really needed a dye job, good thing I came!!!"

Who actually did the dyeing at Toni&Guy Seongsu?

Prep before dyeing

Before dyeing, a staff member carefully applied a face guard and protective care so the dye wouldn't touch my skin, so my first impression was that they were very thorough.

First dyeing: mid-lengths and ends, skipping the roots

A staff member handled the entire first application, skipping the roots and applying only to the mid-lengths and ends, and it took quite a while. Even then the designer wasn't involved in the process at all (maybe they were watching from afar at some point...?).

Wondering "why aren't they doing the roots?", I asked the designer directly, and she answered, "The roots have body heat, so they need a shorter processing time. We'll apply to them separately later." So I thought, "Oh, I see!" and reassured, I obediently waited again.

Second dyeing: applying to the roots

The second root application was also done entirely by a male staff member by himself.... Honestly, I kept comparing it with other salons.

At other places, even when staff do most of the work, the designer drops by to check or lends a hand. My designer was busy with other schedules, like cutting other clients' hair, and never came to my seat at all. Even someone who came in that day just for a fringe trim got the designer's hands, you know, lol T_T I wondered, "Is this just how this place works?" and tilted my head a little.

First result: patchy hair with only the roots bleached bright

The first dye result at Toni&Guy Seongsu was patchy all over, with only the roots lifted bright. I figured "as long as the result turns out pretty!" and left after shampooing... but my roots were shining brightly for the whole world to see, lol.

At first they said it would look fine once my hair was fully dry, but after it was completely dry, they admitted it was "wrong," a mistake in the treatment. I've never once ruined my hair at a salon in my whole life, so I was really flustered.

Unable to hold back any longer, I gently pointed out to the designer, "Is it true you weren't involved at all? The staff member did everything from start to finish." Only then did she say she'd been checking in throughout, and apologized. Thankfully she offered to redo just the roots to match the color, and since I needed my hair back to looking human, I held it in and held it in some more...

Final result after the root redo and total time

With the root redo, the dye at Toni&Guy Seongsu was finally finished well over 3.5 hours after the consultation began. For the corrective treatment, the designer did the finishing work herself, haha.

The client at the next seat, with a different designer, was also getting dyed, and the staff did all her application early on too. Just as I was about to think, "Oh, I guess in this shop the designer isn't involved in dyeing," I saw her designer come over at the end, apply the finishing coat carefully, and check the color closely.

However I look at it, I reasonably suspect that my designer was either too busy with other clients' cuts and treatments at that time, or paid less attention and care because I was a sponsored-review customer, and that's how this mess happened, hahaha.

I booked trusting the designer's experience and skill, so it was hard to accept that staff handled the treatment from start to finish. Of course mistakes can happen during a treatment, I get that. But isn't the whole reason a stylist's hand skill and experience matter to prevent exactly that kind of risk? It honestly felt like my hair became a staff member's practice dummy T_T

Honestly, if they were going to be that busy, shouldn't they not have taken Naver bookings in the first place, and not recruited sponsored reviewers either? T_T

Still, at the end they matched the color to the lower part without any visible mismatch, so the final result looked decently presentable in the mirror. But who compensates me for my precious time, and for my hair, damaged by being dyed twice? T_T

I figured saying anything would just hurt feelings on both sides, so I paid only the remaining balance after the ₩20,000 deposit I'd paid at the start and left the salon.

Toni&Guy Seongsu dye: pros and cons

• Pro: Convenient location near Ttukseom Station
• Pro: Friendly service, like coffee while waiting, and thorough face guard and protective care
• Con: About a 30-minute wait even when arriving on time, and a rather small waiting area
• Con: Staff did both the first and second applications, with the assigned designer barely involved
• Con: The first result had patchy, bright roots, requiring a redo and over 3.5 hours in total

There were clear pluses, like the excellent location near Ttukseom Station and the friendly service attitude, but after sitting through 3.5 hours of the designer's careless schedule management and a hands-off treatment system, it just wasn't a good fit for me, and the visit left me disappointed. The treatment was partly sponsored, but I believe I should honestly share both the good and the bad, so here's my review exactly as I experienced it!