Review: Green Turtle Salon in Itaewon, Seoul South Korea

Most people take advantage of the fact that in their respective countries they can walk into a hair salon and get exactly what they want. That cannot be said if you are a foreigner residing in South Korea. It's not that South Koreans don't have any hair salons. In fact it's quite the contrary. The problem, however, is that a large percentage of the salons you see on the street aren't familiar with Western hair types and also don't speak much English. This proves extremely difficult for someone (like me) who is ultra picky with their hair and gets nervous every time a pair of scissors come near their head!

Several months ago I was due for my first hair cut after living in South Korea for 3 months or so. I asked around and after hearing several horror stories of unwanted bangs, semi-mullets and dry cutting I frantically searched around for an atypical Seoul hair salon. After much research and a few more split ends later, I happened upon Green Turtle Salon. I made an appointment for the next Saturday and the rest, you can say, is hair history!

The salon is very clean and full of friendly faces. They accept walk-in's, but it's always safe to call ahead of time to spare yourself any waiting (though they do have English magazines!). They'll wash your hair first (as most Western salons do) which is different from many Korean-catered salons who dry cut hair because Korean hair looks better when it's cut that way!

Your Green Turtle stylist will also ask what you want or need and even offer friendly suggestions. I'm not sure how they work so quickly, but they were finished with my thick head of hair in under an hour (it normally takes several) and the finished product was fantastic! They blow dried my hair and then took a really nice hair straightener to it, giving me one of the best styled hair I've had from a salon in a really long time!

Where is it?: Green Turtle Salon is very easy to find. Take the Itaewon subway stop and take exit 4, though any of the exits will work. It is on the corner in the Quizno's building and below the coffee shop there.

Phone number: +8227906266 or +8227906696

Prices: 25,000 Korean Won for female wash/cut/dry and 20,000 for men.

Green Turtle also offers a nail salon and massages, so book accordingly!

For more on living in South Korea, see my other work.