The Clinic in Gangnam
I've always shied away from needles when it comes to beauty treatments like botox or microneedling, but on a recent trip to Korea, I found myself lying down on one of many beauty beds with numbing cream all over my face questioning my life choices. Let's rewind to how we got here. As most people are aware, Korea is like the beauty capital of the world with many traveling to the country specifically for laser and cosmetic treatments as they are much more affordable than in the US. My friends and I wanted to have facials in Korea, but were undecided on any additional treatments.
When we arrived to the clinic, we first had a consultation with a doctor and a translator. For myself and one friend, the doctor recommended a microneedling treatment to target pore size, boost collagen, and improve elasticity. Being adverse to needles, I asked the translator twice to see if there was a similar laser treatment I could receive instead. Twice, they stuck with the microneedling as they said the treatment would be more effective. On the one hand, I was scared, but on the other I was curious and didn't want to regret not having a beauty treatment done in Korea. My tipping point was when my friend said she would do it, if I would do it. Just so you know, if she jumped off a bridge, I would stop her!
Okay, so now we are back on the beauty bed with numbing cream and plastic wrap on the face feeling nervous and a little claustrophobic. There's a rush of movement and they sit me up and put the grounding pad on my back and as I lay back down, the doctor tells me, "this is going to be painful, but you can do it." The first pass was not bad, but the subsequent passes over my face were very painful and I almost told her to stop, but thankfully she was finished before I could tap out. My face felt as if it were on fire, but the translator assured me everything went fine and looked normal. They followed up the treatment with a light massage and cooling mask.
My friends and I received varying levels of after-treatment information and were all in sort of a stunned state as the translator watched over us making sure we wrote a google review before we could leave. The google review was in exchange for an add-on to our treatments. In hindsight, make sure you know they are trying to upsell you during the consultation and to ask all your questions before you leave. If you're the type that needs handholding, I suggest you find another clinic. I don't regret having the treatment done, but now that I know how painful it was, I doubt I will have it done again - no matter the results.
We stuck around to have a complimentary drink.
