The Korean Salon Menu, Translated

Walk into a salon in Seoul and the menu on the wall is a wall of Korean. Most of these words don't translate the way you'd guess — 클리닉 is not a clinic, and 다운펌 removes volume instead of adding it.

Here is what the common ones mean. Screenshot this page and point at the Korean when you get there — that genuinely works.

Perms

• 열펌 (yeol-peom) — Heat perm. Rods plus heat. Gives a defined curl that holds its shape longer.
• 일반펌 (ilban-peom) — Cold perm. No heat, chemical only. Softer, looser wave.
• 매직 스트레이트 (magic straight) — the opposite of a perm. Chemical straightening. This is the one behind the very flat, very shiny "glass hair" look. It is not a blowout — it's permanent until it grows out.
• 다운펌 (down-peom) — Down perm. Flattens hair that sticks out, usually at the sides. Popular with men.

Cuts and treatments

• 컷 (keot) — cut.
• 투블럭 (two-block) — short, clipped sides with length left on top.
• 클리닉 (clinic) — not a hospital. It means a hair treatment — a conditioning service, usually add-on.
• 염색 (yeomsaek) — hair color.
• 뿌리염색 — root touch-up only.

Lashes and brows

• 속눈썹연장 — lash extensions. Individual fibers attached to your own lashes.
• 래쉬리프트 / 속눈썹펌 — lash lift / lash perm. Curls your own lashes, nothing added.
• 엠보 (embo) — microblading. Hair-like strokes drawn into the brow.
• 반영구 (banyeonggu) — "semi-permanent." The umbrella word for cosmetic tattooing.

Words that show up on the price list

• 남 / 여 — men's / women's price.
• 단발 — short (above shoulder). 중단발 — medium. 롱 — long. Longer hair usually costs more.
• 디자이너 vs 원장 — stylist vs. director. 원장 is the senior stylist and costs more.
• 추가 — additional charge.

What things actually cost

Real prices from stylists listed on Beautia, so you have a reference point:

• Cut — ₩25,000 (about $17) at 블레스헤어 송파점, Seoul
• Cold perm — ₩80,000 (about $54) at 더예뻐지는손길헤어, Seoul
• Heat perm — ₩120,000 (about $81), same salon
• Color — ₩80,000 (about $54), same salon

Prices vary by salon, stylist level and hair length. Every designer on Beautia lists their own menu, converted into your currency.

The part nobody tells you

The menu is the easy problem. The hard one is that you can't tell which stylist does the look you want — Korean salon reviews are on Naver, in Korean, and a salon's name tells you nothing about the person holding the scissors.

That's why Beautia leads with portfolios. You scroll through actual work and pick the person whose photos look like what you want, then book. No menu reading required.

Frequently asked