Report No. 4: Cold Perm and Root Volume Training in Seoul, 16 and 18 August 2026

In short. In August 2026 I went back to MASSTIGE HAIR Academy in Gangnam for training in two techniques: the Korean cold perm and root volume. The classes were on Sunday 16 August and Tuesday 18 August, with Hong Jihoon. I recorded about four hours of lessons on the first day alone. The return flight via Shanghai cost 51,000 ₽. After the training, root volume went straight into my studio menu in Moscow.

How it was

I left Moscow on the evening of 10 August and flew via Shanghai, with a night in Pudong, landing at Incheon on 12 August. With two suitcases the return ticket cost 51,000 ₽; the cheapest aggregator offer with one suitcase had been 87,000 ₽. Banks were closed from 15 to 17 August for the national holiday, so I changed euros on 12 and 13 August.

Day 1, Sunday 16 August, 12:14-20:03. The class started with theory: the structure of hair, what the first and second solutions do, and how Slavic hair differs from Korean. The teacher's figure that stayed with me: Slavic hair is 20-30% finer, so it takes the solution faster. Then the test strand, types of winding, root volume and the volume perm, strand thickness, end papers and tension, and the root-volume tool. In the afternoon we worked on a mannequin and a live model: the teacher did one side of the head, I did the other, and an assistant repeated the opposite side. His rule was that I do each step once under his eye, starting with a single strand on live hair. The day ended with rinsing and fully drying the hair before the neutraliser, the neutraliser itself and the mist.

The cold-perm line on the table was TENGRITY, three steps, and we tried two Korean cold-perm solutions on the two halves of the model's head: one gave a softer curl, the other a more defined shape.

Day 2, Tuesday 18 August, 11:35-16:12. Practice, and my own second perm (Report No. 3).

An interpreter worked at the training. I brought cakes for the team, as I had brought chocolate in March.

I am not publishing the order of application or the proportions of solutions. That is the working protocol.

What I got

• Root volume. By September I was doing root perms on clients in Moscow, with a result I am happy with: lift at the roots and straight lengths.
• Cold perm. I practised on a mannequin first; the canon for my studio now is a soft natural wave without heat, which Moscow calls biowave.
• Homework. The teacher asked me to test the digital perm solutions I took home on Slavic hair and find which works best, and to unwind and check every strand I wound. After August I changed how I neutralise, which solution I use and how much restoration goes into the procedure.

16 August 2026, 13:13-13:14: TENGRITY T1, T2 and T3, the cold perm line used in the class

Who it suits and who it doesn't

It suits a stylist who already perms and wants the Korean cold perm and root volume as two separate, deep techniques. It does not suit a beginner: the class assumes you can section and wind. And as in March, you need your own interpreter.

Verdict

9/10. I changed my neutralising, my solution and the share of restoration after it; it changed my studio.