Review: My Visit to Apgujeong Hair Studio Vivocity

Some close friends might know that I actually frequent Apgujeong Vivocity since it opened its doors sometime last year. So imagine what a pleasant surprise when I received an invitation to review its hair services, to which I of course chose Vivocity again, as it was most convenient for me in terms of location.

Being greeted with friendly and welcoming faces is always one of the best things I love about going to this salon. No matter who serves you. Everyone is pretty much smiley around there, so you’ll definitely feel welcome.

And no, I’m not saying this because they sponsored my hairstyling session this time round – well I’ve always been a paying customer at this branch, just remember that. J

After a very hectic month of falling sick, recovering (put that on repeat mode twice) and then coping with the regular stressful workdays, my hair was really uncared for, for close to 2 months!

OG. Imagine all my split ends, my ugly black hair sprouting out the roots, trying hard to blend in with the previous light brownish colours. A huge no-no.

When I got there, I immediately told my hairstylist, Yuri 최 (Assistant Director Stylist) and Alice 이 (Korean Senior Stylist) that I wanted a treatment and a hair dye. In fact, I wanted some ashy looking colours without really bleaching my hair – which of course I had expected it to turn out dark, though hoping for more dark ashy colours to appear at the end of it all.

My hairstylist patiently explained to me that I shouldn’t do that because my hair is already very damaged, and what with 2 months of no treatment! So, she suggested a colour which would still be able to be roughly seen as somewhat ashy under the sunlight and was clear that I would not be able to achieve the light shades of ash.

She used the inoa hairdye, which is supposed to be a less damaging type of hairdye. Throughout the process, I felt that I was quite well taken care of and that my stylist took time to share with me what kinds of shampoos and conditioners I should use. But I also liked that whenever they did that, they did not hardsell me the products, which could be quite a turnoff – like some hair salons I visited in the past who did so.

A selfie with Alice after the satisfying hair service :)

Cost Breakdown (my hair was considered long):

- Inoa Hairdye: $169

- Scalp protector: $20

- Mucota A treatment: $205

All in all, my hair felt softer, nicer and I was pretty pleased with my hair colour after everything, despite it being a dark colour. The total service time took a rough 1.5 to 2 hours, which I thought was very fast, too. Which is good.