Gangnam hair salon long hair layered cut, end texture fix: Heeol Hair

Today I'm writing about my visit to Heeol Hair's flagship store near Gangnam and Sinnonhyeon stations!

Heeol Hair Gangnam Flagship Store: location, hours, parking

• Location: 3F, 37 Bongeunsa-ro 4-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, between Sinnonhyeon and Gangnam stations
• Hours: Mon–Sun 10:00–19:00
• Parking available, validated based on treatment time, up to 4 hours
• Parking 1. Megabox City branch parking – mechanical parking (422 Gangnam-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Yeoksam-dong)
• Parking 2. Gangnam Jump Milano Gangnam e Square parking (432 Gangnam-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul)
• From the parking lot to the salon is within a 5-minute walk!

How I picked the stylist

I went through the Naver booking tab for Heeol Hair Gangnam Flagship Store and checked each stylist's Instagram, looking for whoever mainly did work similar to the style I wanted!

Stylist Songgeon mostly did layered cuts on long hair similar to my length. So I decided to go with Stylist Songgeon for the treatment!

I went on a weekday afternoon at an awkward time, so it wasn't crowded and I could get the treatment in a relaxed atmosphere :)

Wood-tone interior, first impression

The interior is wood-toned with a cozy feel! Is it just me, or when a hair salon's interior isn't well put together, you get a bit anxious about their skill...? Haha. Aesthetics matter in this field after all lol.

My hair covers my whole chest, I stick to long hairstyles, and I mostly get layered cuts, so I'm quite sensitive about thinning and texture work. Because of that, when getting a cut I research thoroughly and even spend a lot of money to avoid disasters lol — I only go through with it when I find a designer I really like.

This is the photo that made me book

As someone who examines this so carefully, this is the photo that made me decide to go ahead with the treatment. Once I got my cut, my length would end up shorter than in the photo, and since I'd recently gotten a high layered cut, I wouldn't get layers positioned as low as in that photo...!

Anyway, even if I couldn't match that exact design, what I wanted was end texture that wasn't too chunky or too sharp and flyaway, but had just the right amount of texture work... I wonder if that makes sense. People who are really particular about cuts might get it — overall I liked texture that wasn't too light and flyaway, but also not too heavy, so I decided on Stylist Songgeon!

I usually book based on Instagram portfolios, and I'm guessing most other clients do too?! So I think managing Instagram well is the most important thing. If there aren't many portfolio photos, I feel hesitant to book... T.T Especially with cuts, once you mess it up, there's no undoing it, right^^.. I have a trauma from messing one up once and spending about 2 years growing it back out, so I'm really particular about this T.T

Three months of neglected long hair — here's what I asked for

I got a cut back in May this year and hadn't had another one since, so it had been about 3 months of neglect! It had grown ridiculously long, so I asked them to trim the slightly flyaway ends and naturally blend the chunky layers from my high layered cut into my existing layers, so it would look like a regular flowing layered cut!

Why the consultation felt like a proper hair consulting session

Some stylists seem to just nod along when you make requests like this...? And the moment that happens, my anxiety maxes out. But here, before the consultation even started, they went through my hair type, styles I dislike, styles I prefer, and even analyzed my face shape!! That's the advantage — it makes it much more likely that what you actually want gets reflected.

The stylist slowly explained which areas of my head needed volume, so it felt like getting a proper hair consultation! And she understood my vague request — like wanting something 'hot but cool, like iced americano' — perfectly, like we were on the same wavelength!!

The finished layered cut

And this is how my hair turned out! Haha. Texture at the ends that isn't too chunky, thickness kept full but not too heavy, and not so thinned out that it flies around everywhere! Lol.

I couldn't completely fix the leftover chunkiness from my previous high layered cut sitting on my shoulders T.T but that's something that can only be fixed once the length grows out more... Anyway, I was completely satisfied!

Since I don't use a hair iron much, I couldn't quite capture the texture in photos, but can you get a rough sense of it? Sharp but not chunky end texture! Haha... (Thankful she didn't treat me like a difficult customer... I'm obsessed with texture work, lol)

Conclusion of a serial salon-hopper

I've been a bit of a salon nomad for years while getting my hair cut..! But I think I might finally settle down. If you're into long hair with layered cuts like me, I recommend Stylist Songgeon!

It's near Gangnam and Sinnonhyeon so it's easy to get to, and the prices — which you can check on Naver — are pretty reasonable too! I recommend everyone give it a visit ✨