Personal color diagnosis and ash brown at Chamer, Dongnae hair salon

Can't decide on a hair color? Chamer in Dongnae, Busan

I'd been wanting to change my hair color for a while, but you know how it is when you actually try to go to the salon — there's always that one nagging question. "So... what color do I want?" That was honestly the hardest part.

Should I go light or dark, brown or ash... And every time I searched for photos, there were just too many pretty colors to choose from.

So this time, instead of just picking a color I liked, I thought I'd start by finding the color that actually suits my skin tone. That's how I ended up at Chamer, a hair salon in Dongnae. My dye was handled by Manager Siwoo.

Where Chamer is and where to park

• 📍 69 Jungang-daero 1367beon-gil, Dongnae-gu, Busan, South Korea, 202
• 🚇 About 592m from Mieum Station Exit 14
• ⏰ 10:00–20:00 / closed every Tuesday
• 🚗 Free parking at Samsanjang Grill lot on the 1st floor

For parking, you can use the Samsanjang Grill lot on the building's first floor for free. If it's full, there's Sehyun parking lot about 100m away — that one's paid, but it supports 30 minutes free for cuts and 2 hours for perms or dyes.

Chamer is a premium total salon that runs hair, makeup, and head spa services together, and they do detailed 1:1 consultations to suggest a personal design for each client.

How Chamer's personal hair consultation works

Manager Siwoo specializes in personal hair consulting, it turns out. She said she considers not just your face shape, head shape, body type, and hair texture, but also the image and lifestyle you're going for, to suggest a personal design.

When I actually got the consultation, it wasn't a "so what color do you want?" and straight into dyeing kind of vibe — she checked my hair condition and what look I wanted first, which I really liked. And since we did a personal color diagnosis together this time, I got to compare colors I'd never even considered before.

The personal color diagnosis result: summer cool light

While consulting with Manager Siwoo, we went through colors that would suit my skin tone. My personal color diagnosis came back as summer cool light.

Oh — it was more specific than I expected, which made it kind of fun! It wasn't just "you're cool-toned so go ash," she actually compared colors one by one and picked out the best colors for me.

The final color: ash brown with a slight blue tone

The final dye was ash brown with a hint of blue tone! Rather than a brown that leans too yellow or red, I went with a color that suited my skin tone while giving off a calm feeling.

Ash brown can sometimes read as too gray or too cold, but this time it was adjusted to my skin tone so it didn't stand out too much, while still giving a distinctly different mood from my old brown.

How long the ash brown dye took at Chamer

Manager Siwoo's hands were really fast. From applying the dye to the whole process, everything moved quickly, but it never felt rushed or careless.

I tend to struggle a bit with sitting for a long time during dyeing, so I really appreciated that the whole process went faster than I expected.

Massage-chair shampoo and Ayunche nourishing care

Another thing I really liked about Chamer was the shampoo. You get your shampoo done in a massage chair. Lying back comfortably while they wash your hair — that alone felt like it melted away my fatigue.

But it wasn't just a shampoo, they also did thorough nutrition care. After dyeing, you're naturally a bit worried about your hair condition.

Thanks to all the nutrition care, my hair felt softer and more moisturized than I expected even after the treatment. Especially when I touched it, there was almost no rough feeling, which I really liked.

After dyeing, the color matters, but at the end of the day, your hair also has to look healthy to really look pretty. Chamer manages the shampoo with the Ahyunchae line, apparently.

How the finished ash brown color turned out

The finished color really showed itself under lighting. It was calm yet still gave off a different mood without making my face look dull — exactly what I wanted. I really love it.

It's kind of amazing how different your whole impression looks after dyeing, and I think this is the difference that comes from dyeing with your personal color in mind.