Cheongdam hair salon matte brown dye before a wedding shoot: Anew Hair

The day before my wedding photo shoot, I got a matte brown dye job from Chief Designer Soyoon at Anew Hair Cheongdam Main Branch. Through the Gangnam hair consultation, we checked my existing hair color and settled on a brightness of about level 6. At first I was thinking milk chocolate brown, but Soyoon picked a color that fit what I actually needed — cutting down the red tones and evening out the overall shade.

Consultation color starts from ₩158,000, and the price can change depending on length or design. But this wasn't money wasted — here's the review.

Why I gave up on milk chocolate brown

At first I was looking for a brown that suited warm tones and milk chocolate brown caught my eye. But the more I searched, the more the color varied from photo to photo even under the same name. Some looked reddish, some looked way brighter than I'd imagined... ㅜ Some of the milk brown photos looked as bright as bleached hair. I liked the tone but couldn't tell if I actually wanted that level of brightness. Choosing one single brown ended up needing me to ask all over again whether it was "milk" or "choco" haha.

What I wanted to change was the red and orange that had surfaced as my previous ash brown dye faded out. With the wedding shoot coming up, my priority was cutting the redness and evening out the overall tone. So when I consulted with Soyoon, I told her exactly what I liked and what I wanted to avoid from the reference photos.

What the Anew Hair consultation suggested: khaki and olive tones

Soyoon told me that with the state of my hair, ash brown alone might not be enough to control the redness, and suggested adding khaki or olive tones instead. I appreciated that she explained why she was recommending a different direction this time, even though I'd done ash brown before.

We also looked at photos from right after my previous dye job. I couldn't remember the exact brightness, but she said knowing the past brightness level helps determine whether the color I wanted now is achievable. After hearing that explanation, there was no reason to insist on the color name "milk chocolate brown" I'd originally mentioned — what I'd wanted from the start was simply a brown with less red showing through.

Choosing tone and brightness separately

The reference photos I'd gathered varied a lot in brightness. I liked the low-red feel, but some photos looked dark and others looked way too bright.

So when I showed her the photos, I talked about brightness alongside tone, not just the color itself. By separating tone and brightness in the conversation, we landed on matte brown for the color and about level 6 for the brightness.

What hair color do people usually pick for a wedding shoot?

While getting the treatment, I asked what color people usually go with for wedding dye. Soyoon said it varies by person, but ash brown is a common, safe choice.

What stuck with me was that during the shoot, outfits keep changing! It's not just a white dress — sometimes pink, yellow, or black outfits come into play too, so it's hard to pick a color that matches just one outfit. That cleared up my earlier question of "what exactly is 'wedding brown'?" For me, rather than just picking the color everyone else goes with, what mattered more was sorting out the hair color that had been bothering me ahead of the shoot. That's also why I switched direction from redoing ash brown to matte brown.

This time, instead of the bright milk brown look I'd originally searched for, we went a little deeper in tone. During the treatment, Soyoon explained that going a bit deeper like this is also a common choice for wedding shoot colors. The color name I originally had in mind ended up different from what I actually got, but I liked that the choice was centered on what I actually wanted to change.

Inside the salon, and how early to dye before a wedding

The atmosphere during the treatment was relaxed too. I kept asking questions because I was confused about all the brown names, and the conversation flowed naturally — we ended up talking about dating and marriage for a long while during the dye process. I went in to pick a hair color with Soyoon, who honestly has the vibe of a Transit Love influencer, and came out having had a whole relationship chat too haha. I dyed my hair the day before the shoot, but apparently the day before isn't actually the best timing — usually a week ahead is best! Talk through your shoot schedule and desired color together and figure out the best time to visit.

Is matte brown at Anew Hair Cheongdam worth it?

The wedding dye color I chose through this Gangnam hair consultation was matte brown. If you're as confused as I was about which "brown" is which, bring both a photo of the color you want and a photo taken right after your previous dye job. Beyond just saying "please do this color," adding "I want to reduce this kind of redness" is the best approach!!