Korean Perm Price Guide 2026: Seoul vs Singapore vs Dubai vs LA

In short. In Seoul, a Korean digital perm costs about $121-136 on published salon menus, a cold perm about $106 and a root perm about $60. In Singapore, a Korean salon on Orchard lists a digital or setting perm at about $280-343 before tax. In Los Angeles, a Korean salon lists a digital perm with a cut at $270-330. In Dubai, guides give AED 350-1,200 (about $95-327) for a Korean perm, but none of the salons I checked publishes a perm price on its own page. The bigger difference between cities is often what the price includes: a cut, tax, a test strand, a surcharge for long hair.

How I collected these prices

Every price below comes from a salon menu or a published guide, with the date I or the source checked it. I converted won and Singapore dollars at the 22 October 2026 closing rates (1 USD = 1,325.6 ₩ and 1 USD = 1.2777 S$) and dirhams at the fixed peg of 3.6725 AED to the dollar. Dollar figures are rounded. Salons change prices, so treat this as a map, not a quote, and confirm with the salon before you book.

I trained twice at MASSTIGE HAIR Academy in Seoul in 2026, so I know what goes into each of these procedures. The types and how they differ are in Korean Perm in Seoul: Types, Prices and Time.

Price comparison at a glance

Seoul

Seoul prices come from salon menus published by Koreabridge and checked on 24 August 2026.

Time in the chair: about 90 minutes for a root perm, two hours for a cold perm, three hours for a digital or setting perm, and up to four hours for a digital perm combined with root volume. Seoul salons work fast, often with four hands: a stylist and an assistant.

Seoul is also where the techniques change fastest. New perms appear roughly every six months, so a salon's older photos may show a perm it no longer offers.

Singapore

The clearest menu I found is J. Seoul, a Korean salon at Scotts Square on Orchard Road, in a post dated 2 October 2026. Prices are before 9% GST.

Extra-long hair adds S$50, and a cut is booked separately. Damaged or bleached hair may need a treatment first, at an extra cost.

For context, Daily Vanity's December 2024 round-up listed digital perms at two other Singapore Korean salons at S$230-255 and S$280-380, and cold perms at S$150-300. Those prices are almost two years old.

Los Angeles

Hao Jian Cai, with salons in San Gabriel and Costa Mesa, publishes a full perm menu in a post dated 21 September 2026. It is the only US salon in my search with open Korean perm prices.

Straightening during a perm costs an extra $80.

Dubai

Dubai is the hardest city to price. The Korean Digital Perm Salon in Oud Metha lists a strand test at AED 79 (about $22) on its Fresha page, but no perm prices. The two guides that give numbers are:

• salonsindubai.ae (published 19 July 2026, updated 3 August 2026): AED 350-1,200 for a Korean perm "depending on length and method", about $95-327. The guide contradicts itself in places, so treat the range loosely.
• dubaisbest.com (22 October 2025): AED 700-1,080 for a hair perm at Korean salons, about $191-294, given as an estimate.

The salonsindubai guide also gives typical times: two to three hours for a cold perm, three to four for a digital perm.

What really changes the price

Comparing the first number on a menu is misleading. Four things move the real price:

• Hair length and density. Every menu here grows with length. Singapore adds S$50 for extra-long hair; many salons add a charge for thick hair.
• The type of perm. A digital or setting perm uses heated rods and a machine and takes longer, so it costs more than a cold perm almost everywhere.
• What's included. In Los Angeles the cut is in the price; in Singapore it isn't, and GST is added on top.
• The test strand. Some salons charge for it separately, like the AED 79 strand test in Dubai. In Seoul, every new client gets a test strand at the lower back of the head before the technique is chosen. Ask whether it is included.

Read next: Digital Perm Machine, Korean Cold Perm, Korean Root Perm for Volume.