Seoul | BLUEHOUR Hongdae Idol Makeup / Class

What is BLUEHOUR in Hongdae?

BLUEHOUR is a hair and makeup studio on the second floor of a red brick building off Wausan-ro in Hongdae, the district where much of Seoul's K-beauty and K-pop culture actually happens day to day. The studio works one to one rather than on a production line, so a designer reads your features and personal colouring before deciding how to build the look. Its signature offering is the Saebyeok-Core package, a set styling that the studio rebuilds every month around whatever is currently trending, which is why the reference photos change from one visit to the next. Alongside the styling side, BLUEHOUR runs one-day makeup classes for people who would rather learn the technique than be made up. The studio is a five-minute walk from Hongik Univ. Station, which is served by Line 2, the AREX airport line, and the Gyeongui-Jungang line.

What can I do at BLUEHOUR?

On the styling side you pick the look you want. Saebyeok-Core is the monthly signature. Daily gives a polished finish that reads naturally in person and shows just a hint of blush in phone photos. Detail adds contouring, shading and semi-smoky work for anyone who normally wears a more defined face. Photo carries enough colour and contour to survive bright studio lighting while staying understated, which suits ID and profile shoots. Idol goes further again, with defined lashes and stronger colour built to hold up under strong light. Men's styling is available as its own package. Every styling package can be booked as makeup only or as makeup with hair, and the appointment runs roughly sixty to ninety minutes. On the class side, sessions run one to one and last between sixty and a hundred and fifty minutes depending on which one you take.

Which should I choose, a styling package or a makeup class?

Choose a styling package if you want to be made up for something specific, a shoot, an event, or a day out in Seoul, and pick the intensity by how bright the lighting will be: Daily and Saebyeok-Core for everyday and phone photos, Photo for studio and ID shots, Idol for the strongest finish. Add hair if you want the look finished top to bottom, since the salon does styling rather than washing. Choose a class if you want to keep the technique. Good to Me is the full programme, three sessions of forty to sixty minutes covering consultation and base, then eye, then contouring, and it can also be compressed into one 120-minute sitting. If you only want one piece of it, the Only Eye, Only Skin, Only Contouring and Hair Styling classes each cover a single area.