Hapjeong hair salon for damaged-hair matte brown color: Recteur Seoul

My hair had gone past brown poodle territory and was basically turning into Hagrid, so I finally went to check out Recteur Seoul, a Hapjeong hair salon I'd been curious about! It'd been a while since I did a real hair transformation, and I also finally took care of the damage I'd been ignoring for way too long!

I'd been keeping a hippie perm for a long time, so my hair itself was super dry and pretty badly damaged..! It had grown long enough and the tone was so patchy that I needed a full dye rather than just a root touch-up, but I was full of worry going in — wouldn't a fresh dye just damage it even more?

But bottom line, I came back super super satisfied!! If you're near Hapjeong Station or Hongdae looking for a salon with real skill and good vibes, I totally recommend Recteur Seoul.

Where Recteur Seoul is, plus parking and booking

Recteur Seoul is about a 5-minute walk from Hapjeong Station, and there's even a bus stop right in front of the shop, so accessibility is really really good. Parking is supported too — there seems to be a separate, fairly spacious lot! It seems like a great spot to visit comfortably by car.

You can book through Naver Reservation, and phone bookings get a quick response too!

Honestly this shop is so hip I'd had it saved as a place I wanted to visit for a long time — the interior has this great metal-toned edge and all the staff look hip too, which gave me real confidence they'd give me a trendy transformation!

And above all, the seats are spaced really widely apart, so it never felt cramped! Sometimes you end up seated way too close to the next chair and it gets a bit awkward, but here everyone faces the wall with distance between seats, so I could comfortably check my phone and take pictures.

After being shown to my seat, they set up a drink service — choice of tea, coffee, or juice! I asked for iced coffee, and when they brought it out they also gave me a huge pile of snacks, which really surprised me haha. I don't think I've ever been to a place that piles on snacks that generously — and since I'd come early in the morning and was pretty hungry, I devoured the castella that came with my drink haha.

One-on-one consultation and choosing between the three clinic courses

My stylist at Recteur Seoul was Hana, and since it was my first visit she gave me a quick one-on-one consultation and explained the service! She carefully checked my history with bleach, dye, and perms, checked how damaged my hair was, and carefully recommended colors that were actually possible given my hair's condition! It was great that she consulted with me while looking at the exact color photo I'd brought in.

I personally like hair colors with no red undertone, and since my hair had faded a lot and had strong yellow-plus-red tones, I went in looking for a matte color! When I showed her the photo, Hana immediately caught on —

You want a color with no red tone, right?

— and said she'd match my color nicely, which really built my trust.

Since my hair was so dry I also wanted a clinic treatment, and it turns out Recteur Seoul has a 3-step clinic system!

• A: Shiseido clinic — total-care feel that fills nutrition inside the hair
• B: fills nutrition more on the surface than inside the hair
• C: a dye-and-perm-specific clinic done together with the service itself

I decided to go with Course C added to my dye, and right away she showed me the final price on a tablet, length surcharge included! My hair is nearly waist-length now so a length surcharge was inevitable, and while most salons don't tell you that surcharge clearly upfront which always makes me a little anxious, here they nailed down the exact price before starting the service, which was such a relief.

It was also nice that I didn't have to bother with the pricier clinic course and could just add it onto the dye — though next time I do want to come back just for Course A alone, for some dedicated coat maintenance ^.^

How the Course C color works, with clinic product mixed into the dye

My hair had a serious situation where the top and bottom sections were almost two different tones apart because of old service marks and damage, so before diving into the actual dye, she said she'd wash my hair once first on purpose to reduce the color gap between the damaged ends and the roots — I really appreciated how carefully she thought this through just to get the tone even haha.

And the Course C clinic done together with the dye this time is a specialist treatment made for dye or perm, and what surprised me most was that the clinic solution gets mixed directly into the dye itself for the service!

Hana showed me the product herself and explained kindly — mixing the clinic product into the dye itself not only improves the vividness of the color but also protects the hair from damage during the process! For anyone worried about hair damage, this really felt like an essential course haha.

Clinic time at the shampoo station

After the dye sat for a while, I moved to the shampoo room in the back — and the shampoo room itself was super cozy too! They covered me with a warm blanket so I could lie back comfortably for the shampoo and clinic treatment haha.

For the shampoo, she used a clinic-specific shampoo and gently followed it with a nourishing treatment! Hana's scalp massage felt so good I wished the moment would never end, and especially the scent of the products was so subtle and lovely that I felt great the entire time I was getting shampooed.

After the shampoo, back at my seat, I saw my tone-corrected hair for the first time in ages, and even while still damp, the subtle brown color already looked so pretty that I was silently cheering inside — yippee! I fell in love with it before it was even dry.

Blow-dry styling and the home-care gift at the end

After the service, my stylist asked if I had any plans later, and said if I had an evening appointment she'd blow-dry my hair nicely — I was so grateful! And I was even more touched that she asked whether I wanted to try a new style or stay close to my usual one — she finished the blow-dry beautifully and thoughtfully, tailored to my face shape and hair texture haha.

My hair had been extremely damaged, frizzy and puffy and messy from the hippie perm, but after the service, feeling soft hair again for the first time in forever... my hair basically got proper CPR haha.

After everything was finished and I was heading out, they even sent me off with a kindly written care guide so I could keep up the maintenance at home, plus Ayunche shampoo and treatment samples as a gift! Touching service right to the very end,,!

I heard their cuts are also excellent, so I think I'll enjoy this color a while longer and come back for a bob cut next. If you're near Hapjeong or Hongdae looking for a meticulous, tasteful salon, or want a pretty dye without the damage, I really really recommend Recteur Seoul and stylist Hana haha.