Seoul color analysis studio: Summer Soft, not warm tone, Serah Studio

Everyone's talking about their "chuguimi" (the look you aspire to) these days, right? The thing is, I had no idea what mine was. I figured I'd need to know which colors suit me before I could find it, so I went to Serah Studio Bangbae Station branch (세라스튜디오 방배역점), a Seoul image consulting studio that does personal color consulting to build a color identity that fits you!

Where is Serah Studio Bangbae Station branch?

Serah Studio Bangbae Station branch is in Room 401 on the 4th floor of the "Bangbae Studio Bill" building in Bangbae-dong, close to Exit 3 of Gubanpo Station. It's a Seoul image consulting studio that goes into detail on which personal colors suit you.

The studio is in the "Bangbae Studio Bill" building, near the entrance of Bangbae-dong's café street and next to the newly built Insignia Banpo apartments. There's an H. DAVID hair salon on the first floor, so the building wasn't hard to find. The consulting space is on the 4th floor.

Press the Room 401 button on the intercom right next to the entrance, then take the elevator up and you'll arrive at Serah Studio Bangbae Station branch.

The studio atmosphere and the owner

Inside, Serah Studio Bangbae Station branch is a tidy, cozy space with calm, new-age style music playing. I felt at ease the moment I walked in.

The table was neatly set up too, with drape cloths to hold up near your neck so you can see which colors suit you.

The owner's personal color certificate sits off to one side. She has worked as a reporter and as a matchmaker, and she says she has studied for a long time what kind of style boosts a person's confidence and makes their vibe shine.

She also earned a Pilates certificate in Australia and went on to develop a carriage cover for the Pilates reformer. She clearly cares about body balance as well as color.

Maybe that's why materials on body type image consulting caught my eye too. With a body type analysis, apparently you learn what kind of clothes you should wear. I only had the personal color consulting today, so I'll focus on that.

What is the personal color analysis process?

Pre-consultation checklist

The personal color consulting at Serah Studio Bangbae Station branch began with a simple checklist. I wrote down my favorite colors, the colors of clothes I often wear, my shopping habits and how I buy cosmetics, which was a nice way to get to know myself.

Feature analysis: measuring skin tone with a colorimeter

Next came the feature analysis, where we looked at my innate traits like hair, eyes and skin.

She said my skin had a slight redness around the cheeks, and the number came out at 7.5.

My cheeks came out between b1 and b2.

Then she pressed a machine called a colorimeter against my cheek to measure my skin tone. It let me see the exact numbers for my skin's brightness, redness and yellowness. The result: I learned there's a bit more redness in my cheeks.

Once you know your skin tone like this, it's much easier to tell which colors suit your face. It really cuts down the "will this color work for me?" worry when choosing clothes or foundation. Super useful!

Feature analysis: hair, eyes, iris and face shape

My hair is average thickness, and she said it isn't that black, around a 2.5. My eyes aren't fully black either, coming out as a brown of about 5. The owner also looked at my iris and face shape and went through my overall image in detail.

Base analysis: cool tone or warm tone?

In the base analysis at Serah Studio Bangbae Station branch, I came out cool tone. This analysis looks at the underlying tone of your skin; the owner explained that warm tones have a yellow base and cool tones a blue base. We placed various drapes over my upper body to see which colors suited me better.

Even within the pink family, a warm pink made the lower half of my face look much darker, while a cool pink made me look clear and brightened my cheeks. So fascinating, haha

In the reds, magenta suited me well, and in the browns, she said burgundy gave me a slightly mature yet soft, sophisticated feel. It felt like a new discovery, finding colors that suit me that I never knew about^^!

Base analysis result 👉 I'm a cool tone. In warm tones my face looked puffy, while in cool tones my features came out sharp and clear! I'd lived all this time thinking I was a warm tone, but I was cool.

Tone & type analysis result: Summer Soft

The tone & type analysis checks which of light, bright, mute and dark suits you. There's also a soft tone that sits between mute and dark, and she said soft suits me best. Tone & type result 👉 I'm a Summer Soft.

Toner analysis: what to wear instead of pure white and black

In the toner analysis, ivory-tinged white and charcoal came out as my colors. When she held up a pure white, my face actually looked yellow,

and the ivory-tinged white suited me far better. I was also told charcoal is the best for me, so I'm planning to wear lots of charcoal from now on :)

Pattern analysis and accessory recommendations

In the pattern analysis, she said medium-sized prints suit me when I wear patterned clothes,

and I found out that Burberry's summery, pink-tinged checks look good on me.

For sparkle, rose gold suits me, so I got the tip that it's great for accent necklaces or rings. Gold didn't suit me.

Lipstick and foundation for Summer Soft

At Serah Studio Bangbae Station branch, I also tried lipstick and foundation on myself to find cosmetics that suit me :)

• Lipstick: a pink that isn't too deep
• Foundation: an ivory one tone darker than my skin

Diagnosis sheet and color palette by email

After the personal color consulting at Serah Studio Bangbae Station branch, you get a diagnosis sheet, and the owner also emailed me detailed comments and attachments once more. The email had a neatly organized color palette chart of colors that suit me, plus examples of outfits I can put together in those colors, which was really useful. It'll be a big reference when I pick clothes from now on^^

Is personal color at Serah Studio Bangbae Station branch worth trying?

After the personal color consulting at Serah Studio Bangbae Station branch, I feel like I've found my "true colors," the ones that suit me best and that I never knew before. I think choosing clothes and cosmetics will be a lot less stressful too. If you're wondering what style suits you, I hope you'll try this special experience of discovering yourself at Serah Studio Bangbae Station branch.