Barbie Hair Salon in Seoul ♥ 바비 헤어 &스토어

Did you know Seoul is the home of the world’s first Barbie themed hair salon??  Yes, that is right!!  Barbie is well-loved in Asia, and in Korea you can find things like Barbie beauty hair products, a Barbie shoe store, and now finally a Barbie hair salon for you to get your locks looking as lovely as Miss Barbie herself!

Thanks to an insanely rude Seoul cab driver (oh they can be such gems…) we got let off on a random dark road one night at 1am,  but before I could get mad I looked up and gasped~  Was I looking at a huge Barbie building??? A HAIR SALON?!  My anger melted away and I quickly fired up my Naver search to find out more because I love Barbie, and had to give this a try for myself!  My love for themed fun in Korea is not limited to cafes after all

This Salon I stumbled upon had it’s grand opening this year at 방배점 on 1/28/2013 and is the first of what they say will be about 100 salons throughout Korea (Perhaps internationally in other areas of Asia~ they have not specified yet) by 2015. Currently Korea has two Barbie Salon locations… perhaps as trials because they are located in Bangbae (the one I will feature today) and way out in Suwon for the other….

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I’m a bit puzzled about why such removed locations from the target market, but maybe because the rent is cheap and they can test out the concept? *shrugs* I guess we will see if they open more locations next year!

Anyway, thankfully this week I was VERY due for a cut!  I recently got back from Tokyo with new extenshions that needed a trim to freshen them up a little + a bang trim, so this was a perfect time to give them a basic test!

Inside the interior was very clean and stylish~  lots of modern ornate black pieces with hot pink touches, a big chandelier from the ceiling, and a fun mirrored staircase leading up to the salon.

I love chandeliers~ someday I will love someplace I can actually hang one! haha

Pricing in the Seoul Barbie Salon is actually very reasonable!  As you can see, they pretty much offer the basics here~ cut, color, perm, and a few treatment packages.  Being Korea, obviously the perms are the star of the show and have a large selection lol

For color, they have a basic (but again typical for Korea) color chart mainly intended for tinting darker hair.

Shockingly most of the people in the salon this day seemed to be older women (40′s)  and men…. actually lots of guys came in for haircuts, just normal guys too.  Nara and I kinda wondered if they knew who Barbie was, but this could have a lot to do with it being in Bangbae which is not a very hip or young location…

It’s a Barbie kinda day for me in Korea!

While you wait they offer you a refreshment which is typical in Korea (Juice, tea, coffee) but I have to say I was a bit sad they did not make it a little more sweet… like pink lemonade or something you know? A few simple cute cookies passed out as service would have also been a nice touch…ooh with pink icing!  Are you taking notes Korea? Cute theme cafe expert here! lol

big thanks to my fiance Nara for snapping photos for me today!

We came in without an appointment, but it was a weekday and although they had a flow of people coming in and out they found time to take care of me rather quickly since I just needed a trim!  I’m not sure how busy they get at this location, but if you come on an off time you could attempt to have a walk-in~ for things like perm or color you should call and make an appointment or stop by beforehand though!

Time to go upstairs and check out the salon!

Let the trimming begin!  This was very basic~  I just needed my ends cleaned up and my bangs cut!

Thanks to my pinch braid extenshions from Argent Sue in Shibuya I had lots of long hair to trim this visit!

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(FIY if you are new to the blog or never caught me saying it in another post, I am a big fan of “Japanese-style” pinch braid extenshions for length and or thickness.. my hair is super fine!  I usually get them in Japan, in Korea I have been unhappy with the quality thus far.  Still looking for a good place to recommend that actually stocks light hair colors in Seoul)

First up, she set to work wetting and trimming my bangs! I skipped the shampoo step because with my extensions it takes forever to dry~  normally you will get a shampoo treatment before this step of course!

Everything in the salon was “Barbie” brand but still classy!  It was a lot of fun to look around and enjoy.

Visit Barbie’s closet in the corner to kill some time on the internet while you get your hair done

Time for a complimentary styling!  I opted for princess curls of course, I’M SO FANCY!

They had an even number of male staff, and much to my joy I found that they had cute “Ken” uniforms!

Rolling~ Rolling~ Rolling~

Quick final bang fluff and DONE!!

What do you think? It was simple, but I was happy with the result!

Downstairs they had plenty of Barbie hair products for sale if you wanted to take some home~ even Ken hair wax! This appears to be a different line compared to the other Barbie hair products they sell in Korea, but I am not totally sure!

Looking to open up a point card? Barbie Hair Salon in Korea gives you several adorable choices!!

PS. My adorable bling Barbie ring is by Danielle Miranda on Etsy! I love it

So do I recommend visiting this place?  Well if you are a fan of Barbie it will be a very photogenic place to visit, snap a pic at, and say you went to the worlds first Barbie salon!  Going and snapping pics sure was a lot of fun for me! However, for people living in Seoul like myself, currently I would not make this my go-to salon~ but I am glad I went and experienced it once!

This chain overall has a lot of work to do to make it more marketable in the long run in my opinion~ especially in a place like Seoul where girls are super fickle and not very excited about theme stuff like I am,  but as a single experience it was amusing and made for some lovely photos and a decent trim! ^^

DIRECTIONS

Barbie Hair & Store 바비 헤어 &스토어

Hours: 10:00 am – 9:30 pm

Bangbae Seoul Location Featured in this post:   서울시 방배동 908-7

Barbie Hair Salon in Korea currently has 2 locations, the 2nd one in Suwon will be opening officially this fall though.

To get to the Barbie Hair Salon in Seoul it is VERY easy, although the stop really does not have anything else fun around it so you will have to make a special trip to the area.  I suggest doing this on your way to Gangnam if you are visiting Seoul since it is only a few stops away ^^ Bangbae station will be on the Green Line #2 and is just after Sadang station!

When you arrive at Bangbae Station simple use exit #4 and walk just a short ways down the street!

Barbie Hair Salon 바비 헤어 &스토어 will be on your left and is very hard to miss!

 Barbie Hair & Store Korea – Official Site

Did you know Korea was home to the world’s first Barbie hair salon?  Have you been? Would you go to a Barbie-themed salon or other location? Comment below and share!