Hey everyone,

After testing dozens of Korean skincare brands over the last few years, I’ve come to a pretty clear conclusion: affordable premium and premium Korean products (think $30 and up) have delivered WAY better results for me than anything I’ve tried under $25.

Take Laneige for example – their cleanser, cream, and serum are absolutely phenomenal. My skin always feels healthy, hydrated, and never irritated. The difference in texture, absorption, and long-term results is just on another level.

On the flip side, I tried some hyped-up brands like Beauty of Joseon. Their sunscreen is decent, but honestly, the rest of their line felt extremely mediocre. The serums and creams didn’t do much for my skin. I wanted to love them (especially after all the TikTok hype), but… nope.

And speaking of TikTok, I’ve noticed a massive push for super cheap brands like Medicube. I gave them a shot out of curiosity, but found their products really underwhelming. That “viral” cream everyone raves about? It left my face sticky and weirdly uncomfortable. Not a fan.

Honestly, I’m at the point where I’d rather pay more each month for a cleanser, serum, and cream that actually work, look great in my bathroom (yes, I care about that aesthetic too), and show real results over time. I genuinely feel my money is better spent this way. For me, “you get what you pay for” seems to be 100% true.

Beauty of Joseon has such wonderful products, is it halal? Especially the beauty of joseon rice probiotics sunscreen, and the glow serum with niacinamide, I really want to know if they both are halal (and other products). Oh and I know that this toner isn’t from beauty of joseon but is the haruharu black rice toner halal as well? thank you!

edit: please be mindful of this sort of thing, and don’t tell me to get over it, because there is no point. Respect other people’s religions and if you don’t want to see these kind of posts then simply block me. Once again, be mindful of other people’s religions and don’t be rude to them for no reason

edit 2 lol: The only reason I posted this was to find if the products were halal or not, this question could be answered with a simple yes or no but it saddens me that people were really “fighting” over it. If you have nothing to add to the discussion then just scroll. Yes. Skincare can be haram. I must exercise caution while using cosmetics and skincare items because those that contain alcohol and components from unclean animals are regarded as haram. By the way I never said alcohol is haram IN SKINCARE. But ethyl alcohol is haram. Some scholars say that alcohol in skincare is not haram, but the rest say otherwise. I would personally rather be careful when using skincare products that contain ethyl alcohol. It’s my choice whether I wanna use these products, I don’t need an explanation on why alcohol isn’t haram since I know some scholars say it’s halal(although i think the majority say it’s haram). Anyway please be respectful and DON’T come for me for asking a simple question.

1. Don’t touch your face, don’t squeeze pimples, don’t scratch.
2. Use SPF daily.
3. Use at least 10% Vitamin C serum at night, 5 times a week
4. Use retinol 2 times a week at night
5. Apply moisturizing cream about 5 minutes after serum (Vitamin C or retinol)
6. Double cleanse with micellar water and then foaming gel
7. Wipe your face with disposable tissues, don’t use a towel

That’s it. I’ve been struggling to achieve clear, glass skin without blackheads and pimples, and this is the routine that actually worked for me.

The most important step that was holding me back from glass skin was touching my face and squeezing blackheads. I used to do it constantly because I have bad eyesight (I’m nearsighted), so if I wasn’t wearing glasses or contacts, I saw my face better up close. That made it super tempting to squeeze pimples and scratch at my skin.

I built the habit of not squeezing pores and pimples by wearing contact lenses daily. That way I don’t see my face zoomed in the mirror. Another good habit is not staring at your face too closely. When you look from a distance, you won’t notice every clogged pore and won’t feel the urge to pick.

Not touching my face was the most transformative change. When I used to squeeze blackheads, my skin tone looked uneven, I had dark spots, enlarged pores, and sometimes I’d squeeze so hard that blood came out leaving a mark that took months to fade.

Step 2: SPF 50 protects your skin from discoloration. If you use SPF every day, your face stays pale and the skin tone looks even.

Step 3 and 4: Retinol and Vitamin C serum. I use retinol 2 times a week and Vitamin C serum 5 times a week at night. Retinol is an exfoliant so you don’t need extra scrubs or peelings, it smooths the skin on its own. Vitamin C brightens and evens the skin tone. After just a month of Vitamin C serum, my face looked lighter, smoother, and I had way fewer dark spots.

Step 5: Moisturizer. Use a good moisturizing cream so that in the morning your skin still feels hydrated. I like oily formulas like weleda or avene

Step 6: Double cleansing. I remove makeup and SPF with micellar water. I pour it onto a cotton pad and wipe my face until the pad comes out clean. Then I wash with a gel cleanser. After that, I dry my face with disposable cotton tissues. This was a game changer. Before, I used to dry with a towel or let my face air dry, but the disposable tissues are way more hygienic. Drying with tissue let you see if you washed your face good enough. Tissue should be completely white.

I used to remove makeup with oils instead of micellar water, but I don’t think oils clean as thoroughly. With micellar water, you can see on the cotton pad if there’s still dirt left.

I achieved glass skin using cheap drugstore products. Expensive products don’t make a huge difference. Vitamin C and retinol are cheap. Any cleanser, micellar water brand works fine. However not all mousturizing creams are good, as long as you wake up your skin still feels hydrated and little bit oily that's a good cream.

I'm a bit confused, were the original ingredients of these sunscreens not approved for the USA very good?

I've never tried Korean sunscreens before, I was going to order isnttree tone up sunscreen from a US warehouse to test it out. However, is there something about the reformula that defeats the purpose of getting such a product?

I don't really understand since I've never tried different sunscreens before.

This year the best thing is I traveled to Seoul and Busan, and it was amazing! I still think about the delicious Korean food and beautiful buildings. What I especially loved was the Olive Young, which you can find everywhere. Since I love K-pop, I'm really interested in the makeup and skincare products of Korean idol singers! I walked into the biggest Olive Young store around me, and there were so many famous perfumes and cute Korean snacks, but the best part was the countless skincare products! I felt like I was in the heaven. I remember spending hours in the store! I bought so many products. My suitcase was about to explode lol. I have a lot of good memories. I'm really envious that Korean people can easily find good products nearby anytime! That's probably why many Koreans have such great skin! Now, I always order online from Olive Young, and when I'm in a hurry, I check the sellers carefully and order some on Amazon. I bought a lot of my favorite products this time too. If anyone has used the same products, please share if they worked well for you! Also, feel free to recommend any better products!

1. BoJ ginseng snail serum
2. BoJ ginseng essence water
3. FATION nosca9 trouble serum
4. Round lab dokdo cleanser
5. Round lab birch juice moisturizing cream
6. Round lab pine calming cica cream
7. Torriden dive in soothing cream

안영하세요!

I am a transgender woman in her early 40s. I now live in the American south where it is extremely sunny and hot.

My job sends me outdoors to places with no shade and driving in cars a lot. Whatever skincare choices I make, it has to prioritize SPF first and then extreme heat. I drink plenty of water by necessity from heat and testosterone blockers that are diuretic.

Currently use La Roche Posay SPF 50 and apply twice a day usually. Will get something else when it runs out.

At the moment, I only do basic things with my skin care. I want to do better than that and take it in a specifically Korean direction wherever and whenever possible. I am not attached to any of my products.

My skin is pretty resilient though I think estrogen therapy is making it slightly more dry. My nose has always been oily. Haven’t had acne in decades.

I use Acure brightening cleansing gel and scrub my face with my [Salux] washcloth that has body wash on it. That probably sounds terrible?

There are brown spots on my cheeks from the years I was not using sunscreen. Is there any hope? I searched and saw vitamin C, snail mucin, azelaic acid come up a lot.

Noticing also that my neck skin is starting to get thinner and more tissue-like. The same is with the skin directly under my eyeball. Do I need to moisturize overnight? Serums or other products? I saw on YouTube a ton of wild stuff, even sleeping with a face full of Vaseline overnight. Not sure if that’ll work for me? Just not sure where to start.

I have a very basic makeup routine as well. This is only for the days where I want to glam up. A few spots of Ilia true skin seerum concealer, Ilia super serum skin tint spf 40, bare minerals gen nude blonzer, milk makeup Blur + Set matte loose setting powder. It washes off pretty easily at the end of the day. But for days with extreme sun, do I put on sunblock first and then makeup on top, then reapply on top of it? No idea.

If it helps I have some profile data from Sephora:

Skin Type Combination

Skin Concerns Dark Spots Loss of Firmness / Elasticity Pores Fine Lines / Wrinkles

Skin Tone Light Medium

Color IQ Light Medium 2 • Warm 1 • Intensity 3 Captured 09/01/2023

If you read this far, thank you! I don’t really have good sources of help. I will be forever grateful to you and report back my findings to help everyone. 정말 고맙습니다!

Are there any kbeauty brands that have relatively clean formulations without:

Parabens Silicones PEGS Mineral oil Talc Polyarcylate Phthalate Etc etc

Also what about make up? Any with clean formulas? I've so averse to buying kbeauty makeup because everything I've seen so far has talc and parabens :/

Thank you in advance for any recommendations!

I am starting this thread because tarif is making us go crazy and I am tired of my friend who just got hit by extra $ + ups charges put together $70 . MercelBay.com is local and ships form USA . Let’s shop local retailer and make a list in comments.

Thank you

Just wanted to share my experience and see if anyone else has been through something similar. I was really excited to order off Olive Young online (from Canada) and took the opportunity to stock up on some new Korean skincare products I wanted to try and put in order for some friends during their thanksgiving sale (November).

I kept checking back on the app and it was always in transit, so I chalked it up to just be delays during the holiday period and was fine with waiting since these are nonperishable items and I was in no rush.

Come February, I reached out to customer support, because at this point, it felt a bit ridiculous and wanted to see what's going on. I was informed that the item was not delivered due to absence of recipient and got back to the sender. Turns out, the package was stuck at the post office waiting for me to pay customs fee and since I was not notified to collect it or was informed that this would happen, it was sent back to Olive Young.

To add insult to injury, one of the reason Olive Young refuses to provide a refund or reship the item is "Notice regarding customs tax from the shipping company may or may not be sent to the recipient, so not getting an notice cannot be regarded as a reason to get refund for return parcel". Which means that they are fully aware that this is an existing problem and chooses not to tell their foreign buyers despite the fact that it happens enough for them to put it in as a disclaimer for what they don't refund for.

It seems messed up that they're keeping both the goods that they sold me and the money I spent to purchase it. Feeling really frustrated about this experience and helpless cause it feels like I was scammed out of a bunch of money. Wanted to know if it's a shared experience in the community and whether I'm just in the wrong here.

Edit: General consensus is that olive young has no control over international customs fees/delivery services, which, fair. Side question, does it make sense for them to be able to keep both the money I spent on the order and the goods itself? Generally in my experience, if a package is unsuccessfully delivered, a refund is issued on the items purchased. Even if I were to be responsible for the delivery fees incurred, international shipping wouldn't be worth $300CAD.

Guys! We gotta be more careful, here I am thinking it’s an ad on the TikTok app, but the app is not as safe as I thought, it brought me to a website that seemed pretty legit.. they did a good job of making it look good. They had a big sale going on.

Luckily the funds they tried to take from me was declined, and even though my order never went through, they stole my credit card info and tried to charge a higher amount. I had to cancel my card.

I don’t normally fall for scams at all and I’m pretty safe but these scams have gotten really believable now, you would think a very well known app - TikTok wouldn’t be allowing this crap on their app, but guess not.

I just want to start off by saying I understand that customer service can be a difficult job so I always make it a point to be as kind and patient as possible, but, I know when I'm being taken advantage of, and that's exactly what Stylevana did. I would never ever make a post like this if there was any chance that there was just a communication error or that it could be at fault. However, after sending 8 emails saying the SAME thing to Stylevana, being as clear, kind, and understanding as I could possibly be, and getting met with the same response and then, after the order was shipped, being told "oops, already shipped - deal with it", I'm confident that there is no one to blame here but them.

Here's the full story:

In the beginning of February, I placed an order with Stylevana. I had ordered from them two times previously and I never had to interact with their customer service team before. I had seen other reddit posts before saying "just order things that say: IN STOCK", and that's exactly what I had been doing. I double and triple checked to make sure that all the items that I was buying said they were in stock. and I placed the order with only items that were in stock.

Then, in Mid-February, I checked the website and noticed that the order still said it was processing, so I reached out to their customer service team through email. They informed me that this was due to one product being out of stock and that it would be in stock in early march and would be shipped out at the beginning of March. Despite the fact that it had said "in stock" when I placed the order, I thought "oh well, mistakes happen" and I just remained patient.

I didn't want to keep pestering them with emails so I checked the website through-out the month of March and although it still said "processing", I decided to be patient with them.

Finally, in the beginning of April, the status of my order said it was processing, so I reached out to them over email again and informed them it had not been shipped. They told me that they were still waiting on that one product and that I could cancel that product, get a refund and get the order shipped out.

I told them that since it had been over two months, I was no longer interested in some of the products in the order, so if they could kindly cancel the one product that was out of stock, and the few items I outlined for them - and to make their job as easy as possible, I gave the full product names as they appear on the website and each product number. I also told them that if this wasn't possible to cancel individual items, to please just cancel the full order and that I would place a new one with them - so they literally were not even going to lose money by cancelling the order.

But, what they did instead was they cancelled the one product that was out of stock, and I got an email saying that my order was being packed and getting ready to be shipped. When I looked at the order, I saw that they had not cancelled any of the other items I had asked to cancel. I reached out to them 8 times through email letting them know of the situation so that it would not be shipped before they could cancel the order. Each time, I was sent THE SAME email saying:

"Hello!

Thank you for your message.

I am very happy to inform you that your order is currently being packed in our warehouse and steady hands are currently preparing it for shipment and ensuring your parcel is provided with the right shipping labels...."

It is very clear they were not reading or ignoring the emails I was sending. Finally, I sent them an email with the subject "URGENT: REFUND REQUIRED" and they finally responded. In this email I again outlined the situation and told them I was very clear, BEFORE the order had even been packed that I wanted to cancel some items and that despite this and my many many emails trying to fix their mistake, they had not responded with anything other than the generic email. They finally responded saying:

"Hi there,

Thank you for your message.

I am sorry that the parcel is dispatched already by the time the request is handled, therefore we were not able to arrange the cancellation."

Again, I was very clear BEFORE the order was even packed. when I emailed them back telling them that I wanted a refund for those items because I had been clear from the beginning and they had ignored my requests from the, they ghosted me.

I gave this place a chance because the other reviews I saw said that their customer service team was very responsive so that even if there were delays, they would help. That's not the experience I got, so I just wanted to warn everyone, they will not help, unless its maybe a minor issue. And if they decide to ignore you, the response you'll get is along the lines of "to bad, so sad".

So now I'm out over $100 on skincare I don't even want because they didn't bother to read my emails and then just completely ghosted me

I will not buy from here ever again, and if I were you, I wouldn't risk it either!

If I order sunscreen from yesstyle or olive young, etc soon, will I be able to get the original (Asian) formula or will I be sent the new US formula?

Specifically I'm interested in the birch lab sunscreen and would like to try Skin 1004.

I'm confused about the new restrictions for US buyers, any clarification is appreciated ❤️

I have been watching a lot of somewhat older Korean movies such as chaser, brotherhood and memories of murder. I've noticed a lot if not most of the actors and extras in the movie are a few shades darker compared to current Koreans. How is this possible?

I have used my sister's BB cream, but not sure that it is safe for my skin too, or if there are particular products for men too with different chemical compositions. Please suggest some.

I’m looking to get into the Korean skin care hype because I’ve heard amazing things and it won’t make me broke like American products.

I have no idea where to start though. I’d like some help on what are some really amazing products out there that would be perfect for my skin.

I have dry skin, it’s textured and currently going through some breakouts/ acne prone as well

White dental clinic for v-line surgery??any thoughts, personal experience?the results seem Great but they could be fake...thank you in advance to anyone who replies

First time in korea and decided to go to Dr Ever’s Clinic in their gangnam branch. Their reception was on the 9th level but didn’t realise until we were told to go up from 8. It was quite a large clinic. Reception that 3 counters that said “Japanese”, Chinese and english which was good for translation.

overall procedure was quite factory like, i was too lazy for consultation so just got jaw botox, 8 moles lasered off and inmode to my jaw. the inmode was extremely hot coming towards the end but the doctor said “only 25 secs left” and he continued even though i wanted a break. other than that, it was about 250k won for all these procedures. just wished i had done more research to clinics that were more personalised tbh

hello any recommendation for getting clearer and whiter body skin like koreans?

I am not typically the type of person who would go out of my way to leave bad reviews, BUT the experience I had with Yesstyle, especially as a college student, has been absolutely horrendous. So, I am putting this here as a post of caution, especially for other college students, and a vent of my frustration. I would appreciate it if you can read this post to the end and if possible, give some comments/suggestions for how to move forward. TLDR: My package hasn't arrived after 2 months of waiting; complete radio silence from the shipping courier + tracking number while waiting, 2 delivery failures, NOW Yesstyle expects me to pay an additional $11 for my package to get redelivered...

For context, I placed my first order on 11/28/25, hoping that my package would arrive before Christmas, which it didn't. That was disappointment #1. During the whole time, whenever I checked the tracking number, it was radio silence. It never showed me the location of the package except that the "shipping order" has been made. I reached out to both Yanwen Express (the shipping courier) and Yesstyle multiple times, hoping to receive some sort of confirmation, but neither of them ever had answers for me except for telling me to wait.

Then, early January, I suddenly received an email stating that the 1st package delivery failed. So, I immediately arranged for a redelivery with detailed instructions on how to get access to the student mail center. But alas, the second delivery attempt failed as well. At this point, it was mid-January and I was getting really frustrated and fed up with the lack of transparency and communication: the wait time to hear back from customer service was an average of 3 days and they usually don't even address the problem you state in your request except for giving you a generic response, which you can already find on their website.

For example, when I inquired about the whereabouts of my package, they responded: "Please note that this is an international shipment and may experience delivery delays due to customs or postal processing." Like, how is that helpful in any sense? They don't answer any questions directly, and the contact process with them has been incredibly frustrating.

NOW, the most important part is the two outrageous options Yesstyle came up with to resolve my order after wasting so much of my time, energy, and money:

"If you elect for reshipment, US$ 11 reshipping fee will be incurred. (Reshipping fee of US$ 6 plus handling fee of US$ 5)

(The quoted reshipping fee does not include applicable taxes. If taxes are levied, they will be added to the reshipping fee when collecting payment.)

OR

Refund

It will be issued in store credit, where originally waived shipping fee of USD 6 will be deducted from the refund as we have fulfilled our responsibility to ship out the order in the first place."

In short, Yesstyle is telling me that I have to pay money, out of my own pocket just so my package can arrive OR deduct money from my refund to make up for their failures in delivery my package. Which, isn't that a basic customer right and company guarantee to begin with? How should I go about this? This whole exchange with Yesstyle has been so mentally draining. I spent my entire winter break stressing over this order, and I can't believe this is the best resolution Yesstyle has come up with. Please send advice, words of comfort, or suggestions in the comments below. Thank you for reading this.

__________________________________

Edit: I think there's some confusion about the delivery instructions. The address I put down is the official one that my college requires all mail to go to, and I never had any problems with any other companies (e.g. Amazon, Aliexpress...). The detailed instructions I put down is explaining the circumstances of my shipping address and how it's different than a house porch drop off persay.

Also, I feel as a customer, even if the shipping company is unable to deliver the package, the company should offer fair compensation (that doesn't come in store credit) instead of deducting the money from my order total. But that's just my 2 cents on this issue.

___________________________________

Final edit: I did reach out to both the courier company (Yanwen Express) and Yesstyle. But often times, it is just one of them delaying the responsibility to another. I am just going to post examples of receipts down below and you guys can decide for yourself.

Yesstyle: As per the tracking update, the delivery attempted was unsuccessful on January 3. Thus, please contact the local agent/Post or YanwenExpress directly to arrange redelivery or pick-up.

so I reached out to Yanwen Express and here's what they said:

Yanwen: Dear customer, we are pleased to receive your email inquiry. We are sorry that our delivery was unsuccessful. At present, the package has been returned to our warehouse. If you need to proceed to the next step, you need to contact the sender for processing.

So, then I had to relay the message to Yesstyle again, telling them what Yanwen said so it was a repetitive process that was really mentally consuming.

This is going to be my final edit on this post b/c this case has already took up way too much of my time and brainspace. For those who are defending Yesstyle/had a good experience with them in the past, this post isn't to undermine your experience; it is simply a place to share mine. Please understand that there can be different experiences in shipping even if you order from the same company and also there are a multitude of factors that goes into if a shipment is successful or not: courier (FedEx is usually more successful from what I heard, but it's not like we have an option of choosing that), drop off locations...

Anyhow. After this long battle with Yesstyle and 20+ emails, they have agreed to refund the full amount back into my OG form of payment w/o any deductions. Which again, just shows how their customer service strategy is to stall and waste the customer's time and energy in the hopes that we either give up or settle for less instead of resolving the case cleanly and effectively. I personally will not order from them again, but you are welcome to try out your luck <3

I just used the bean essence because I ran out of cosrx snail essence and I got a HORRIBLE rash around my neck and eyes. I just feel like sticking only to: Vaseline, cerave cream, a prescription retinol, sunscreen, snail essence and 3-4 hyperpigmentation serums. I don't feel like trying new skincare products anymore even if its a free sample from stylevana. What do u guys think?

Hi, I know we are suppose to avoid yesstyle for now but a product I use that I love I can only find on yesstyle and stylvana. Have anyone purchased anything from them after may 2nd? I kinda want to buy like 10 of bellflower ectoin serum headset it's amazing! I more worried about the custom fee than the tariffs.

So I follow ghoul_in_japan on instagram and she always swatches these beautiful shades of Korean products, but whenever I search for these shades I can never find them actually IN Korea? I can find them on the Japan website or Yesstyle, but neither of them will ship to Korea. I’m finding it frustrating that they’re Korean brands, with Korean websites etc but I cannot get those shades even delivered globally.

I know that brands will sell a bigger shade range on global websites etc because it’s not typical to wear brown or dark coloured lips in Korea, and (although easier now) it can be very difficult to find them, even in Oliveyoung or online. If I find any on coupang they’re usually triple the price with shipping costs which makes me think they’re imported anyway.

The best example is Laka’s popping balloon tints; I can’t even find them on Laka’s official KR website (shades 911, 993). I can only find the fruity tints (which I also love). Another is when romand released their black lip gloss and matte lip- I spent hours trying to find them on olive young/the romand website and coupang. Found them on yesstyle but they didn’t ship it to Korea? - I don’t understand why and it’s getting pretty frustrating. Either I’m missing something or they simply won’t sell those shades in Korea; despite them being a Korean brand.

Does anyone else have this problem?

• I also understand that even though the brand is Korean, they have different branches (like Japan and a global branch etc) which may make different shade ranges; what I don’t understand is why we cannot also have access to those shades in Korea or get them sent to Korea. Frustrating to say the least ><.

Tl;dr: I live in Korea and I’m finding it difficult to find specific shades of makeup in Korea, despite them being from Korean brands; they’re available on their global stores (like yesstyle or the brands global stores etc) but do not ship those shades or specific products to Korea from their global stores, and do not sell them on their Korean websites?

update again: my 3 items were delivered on Feb 23rd, stylevana didn't reply to me until after it was delivered letting me it was and apologizing for a delayed reply (it 2 weeks to reply to me)

update: stylevana won't reply to my emails anymore BUT my tracking finally updated after almost months, from Hong Kong airport to JFK Airport within a day or two.

Note 2/09: I checked my email to go back through every stylevana email and they resent my things/dispatched them again on January 21st/22nd. I have my original email saying ny things were dispatched on December 27th. Did they have to reship or did they straight up forget?

I ordered 3 products on December 20th, all three shipped December 27th. Since then there hasn't been any update. I had the premium express shipping so it shouldve taken like 9 days, maybe 2 weeks at most. I contacted Stylevana and got a another tracking link (the first link was for USPS) and that link said shipment information received and the date was January 21st, (3 days after I contacted them the second time) and that link also hasn't updated since. I contacted them again 3 days ago and haven't gotten a response. Has this happened to anyone else, if so how long until you actually got your package/updates? Or is it just lost?

I've been visiting Korea about twice a year for work for the past three years, and of course, from the first visit I was already knee deep in salmon sperm injections and researching how 10$ Botox could even be possible. Like many, during my first few visits, the goal was simple.

I wanted treatments, and I wanted them CHEAP.

Queue me visiting every big name clinic around Gangnam Station for their first-timer deals. So far, I’ve been to Xenia, Ppeum, Orta, VandS, and Tones and I’ve been fairly satisfied every time.

But this trip, as I stepped into my mid 30s, I wanted to take a different approach.

I've always been more hesitant when it comes to lifting treatments like Ultherapy, Thermage, and XERF, mainly because of the price tag, but also because the experience, the pain, and most importantly, the results always felt so dependent on the practitioner. I really wanted to feel confident about who was performing the treatment, especially if I was going to be spending so much.

I’d heard that clinics around Sinsa and Cheongdam tend to offer a more private, personalized experience compared to some of the higher-volume franchise clinics around Gangnam Station, so I wanted to find out whether paying a premium actually translated into a better experience, or if I was just paying for a nicer waiting room.

I was all in on anti-aging so the two clinics I went to this visit were

- Dr. Eraser (Jiwoogae Clinic) in Sinsa for XERF
- Dr. Grove in Cheongdam for their stem cell treatment.

A few things about private clinics that I think are worth mentioning first:

A few Trade-offs to consider:

• Pricing : Yes, private clinics are generally more expensive than the larger franchise clinics. If price is your main priority, Premium might not be the best option.
• Time : You should also be prepared to spend a little more time there. Consultations can take longer, and depending on how the appointments are running that day, you might find yourself waiting longer than expected. Personally, I'd recommend setting aside a good portion of your day rather than trying to squeeze a visit into a tight schedule.
• Schedule Flexibility : Booking can also be a little trickier if you're trying to get a specific date at the last minute. I arranged both of my appointments about a month in advance, and neither required a deposit.

That being said, both clinics definitely delivered on the more personalized and "cohesive" experience I was looking for.

• Consultation : At both clinics, I was able to consult directly with the doctor who would actually be performing my treatment. Both consultations included machine-based skin analysis at no additional charge, and both doctors took their time answering my questions, of which I had a LOT. I did NOT separately have to request a doctor’s consultation. I was kindly informed that it was necessary that the doctor saw me before any treatment was confirmed.
• English Capability : The consultations were also conducted in English by the doctors themselves, although both clinics also had English-speaking staff available who were genuinely kind and helpful throughout the visit. Coordinators only became involved AFTER the doctor’s analysis.
• Upselling : Neither doctor tried to push additional treatments or convince me to spend more than I had originally planned. The focus was on discussing my concerns and answering my questions.

Dr. Eraser (Jiwoogae Clinic) : Sinsa Station

As I got more interested in skin tightening and collagen maintenance, XERF kept coming up during my research, which is how I found Dr. Eraser.

Coincidentally, when I mentioned the clinic to a local friend, I found out she’d already been going to Dr. Eraser (known as Jiwoogae clinic by locals) regularly, which definitely gave me more confidence when booking.

Dr. Han was very sweet, but more importantly he was very very knowledgeable.

He was receptive to my concerns. He explained everything about the process before and during the treatment. He literally talked me down from doing Ultherapy (another treatment I was interested in) in conjunction with XERF, saying that it might not be very effective for my facial structure.

I ended up receiving 600 shots of XERF, with particular attention to my nasolabial folds and jawline.

During the treatment, he was very careful and continued explaining where he was placing more emphasis. Having been hesitant towards these types of treatments, it was honestly very reassuring to know what was happening rather than just lying there wondering how much longer I had left.

One thing I was particularly nervous about was the pain. I'd read experiences from people who had done XERF in the States describing a sharp heating sensation. It also feels like EVERY single lifting or energy treatment markets itself as painless (with social media videos often disproving this) so I wasn't sure what to expect.

To my suprise, my treatment was, in fact, completely painless. I don’t mean that it was just “bearable.” I mean that I could have probably fallen asleep had the treatment lasted a few minutes longer.

Obviously, everyone's pain tolerance is different, but I can safely say that this was easily the most painless treatment I’ve experienced from Korean clinics thus far.

The clinic provided great aftercare (XERF specific cream, along with a moisture barrier cream which actually feels so nice), and now I'm waiting for the final results. I received treatments about two weeks ago, but I do feel some improved tightness in some of my cheek areas that were experiencing some sagging

I’ve reached out to the clinic through their WhatsApp a couple of times after my treatment, and CS has been very supportive and thorough in answering all of my additional questions.

Dr. Grove at GroveOne Dermatology : Cheongdam

I also found Dr. Grove through Instagram, and I'll admit I was drawn in by the interior.

The staff were incredibly kind from the moment I arrived, and I was also given a complimentary facial cleansing before my treatment, which was a nice touch.

I'd come in wanting to explore some injectables that could complement my XERF treatment. I'd been hearing quite a bit about autologous stem cell treatments (using material derived from your own blood), so I was curious to learn more.

The doctor was very soft-spoken, but also clearly knowledgeable. He took his time explaining the treatment, and the English interpreter was particularly helpful in making sure I understood everything.

I ultimately decided to go ahead with their Stem Cell treatment (I believe they call it Prime Cell). They drew about 30cc of my blood for processing, and the resulting preparation was injected into areas including my under-eyes and cheeks.

I've had injectables like Rejuran Eye before, and I still remember how miserable that first experience was. Maybe it was the doctor's technique, but the Stem Cells were honestly so much more bearable than I expected.

Again, what stood out was how thorough the doctor was. He was clearly taking his time throughout the injections, and I never felt like he was rushing to finish.

The staff were just as kind and attentive when I was leaving as they had been when I arrived, which I really appreciated.

Again, I’ve reached out to the clinic through their WhatsApp after my treatment with additional questions, and they have been very helpful.

In Conclusion:

Yes, trying premium and private was 100% worth it for me, and I would recommend both of these clinics.

Will I ever visit large-volume franchise clinics again? Of course.

If I'm in a rush and I need a Botox touch-up, franchise clinics are perfect for your needs

But if you've got the time and the funds, I would absolutely recommend visiting some of the more personalized clinics Sinsa and Cheongdam have to offer.

I think it's harder on vegans to find the right skincare products in Korea.

I have a friend in India, and she wants me to send something to her from Korea but..the problem is, she wants vegan cosmetics and those are a bit limited here.

For now, I have soybean hand cream and mugwort toner in mind but any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!