Seokchon-dong hair salon for a 0.5-tone-darker root touch-up: Mad Hair

Why a root touch-up at Mad Hair in Seokchon-dong before a Shanghai trip

I got a root touch-up at Mad Hair, a hair salon in Jamsil-Songpa's Seokchon-dong. Lately I'd been looking in the mirror and something felt oddly dated. Turned out the culprit was my grown-out roots! With a Shanghai trip coming up soon, I rushed over to Mad Hair for a root touch-up and came home very satisfied!

📍 Jamsil-Songpa Seokchon hair salon: Mad Hair

⏰ Hours / Mon–Fri 10:00–20:00 / Sat, Sun 10:00–19:00

Before: awkwardly grown-out roots

You know how awkwardly grown-out roots always look worse than you'd expect? So messy... and dated. If you dye your hair you'll get it — you basically need a root touch-up once a month! But you also have to go somewhere that's actually good at it, otherwise you end up with a visible line, so picking a salon is always a worry.

In bright light the urgency of the root situation was even more obvious... It's hard to find a salon that's genuinely good at root touch-ups without leaving a line, which is exactly why I hadn't been dyeing my hair often. But this time, Mad Hair in Songpa did such a lovely job that I think I've found my regular spot!

Where Mad Hair is and its opening hours

Mad Hair is located west of Seokchon Lake! It's tucked into a quiet alley, so it never feels crowded, which I loved. Get your hair done, take a walk around Seokchon Lake, then head straight into a date — sounds perfect!

This Songpa hair salon is open every day of the week, weekdays and weekends alike, so you can drop by anytime!

Inside Mad Hair: floor-to-ceiling windows and the waiting area

The inside of Mad Hair is clean and bright with floor-to-ceiling windows, giving it a really open feel! When you're at a salon as a woman, appointments can take a while, and feeling boxed in makes it worse — but Mad Hair's openness meant I could get my treatment done without any of that stuffiness!

I arrived a little early for my appointment, and the waiting area was set up comfortably so I could wait at ease. If you come with a boyfriend or kids for their haircuts too, everyone could wait without any discomfort! There were also plenty of books, so you could feed your mind while you wait or even during the treatment.

The owner also brought out drinks and snacks, so my energy never dipped while waiting or during the treatment!

How the root touch-up went, from scalp protectant to scalp massage

Since I was getting a root touch-up at this Songpa salon, they first applied a scalp protectant and checked my hair color! I have sensitive skin at the back of my neck, and the stylist caught that right away, carefully checking in about anything uncomfortable — I was really touched by the attention to detail.

They applied the dye to my roots very meticulously! Such a clean application, no discomfort at all — perfect!!!

After the color had processed for a while, they shampooed and dried my hair! Maybe because Deputy Director Yeonwoo, who took care of me, is a man with a strong hand pressure, the shampoo turned into an actual scalp massage — so, so satisfying! Refreshing~~~ It felt like I got a bonus scalp massage on top of the root touch-up, which made the whole thing even better.

After: root color 0.5 tone darker than the existing hair

Root touch-up complete!!! At first I thought, is this a bit dark? But apparently they deliberately mixed the color about 0.5 tone darker than my existing dyed hair, accounting for the fact that the color lightens over time. That way, as my hair grows out, it connects naturally with my original hair color! Having someone check such fine details and kindly explain why they did it that way made me even happier with the result!

If you're looking for a Songpa hair salon that's great at root touch-ups, I highly recommend Mad Hair and "Deputy Director Yeonwoo"!