Some advice before booking an appointment in a Seoul derm clinic !
(Please note that this is not a review, just some general thoughts I had after my experience)
I got back from Seoul where I had booked an appointment at a doctor's clinic (definitely presented more like personnalized than factory style). Nevertheless, I was surprised to see that the initial consultation I had already paid for was conducted by a medical assistant and not directly by the doctor.
She asked me what my main concerns were, I explained to her and she immediately recommanded a protocol that sounded quite logical (Rejuran, botox and lasers basically). But I also told her that I didn't quite like my marionnette lines that are just starting to appear (they are very light, but I thought "hey since I'm here, why don't I try to get rid of them now" ?)
She said that they could inject fillers but immediately added "We recommend that you also inject fillers in your smile lines when you do the marionnette lines". The thing is I have absolutely ZERO smile lines, like literally nothing when I'm not heavily smiling !
So I told her that I didn't need it and asked her why she thought it was necessary and the only thing that she could say was "we usually recommend that you do both together. It is our recommandation". It made absolutely no sense to me.
In the end, I didn't do the fillers in my marionnette lines because I couldn't understand why I would also need to fill some unexistent smile lines and I was also a bit scared that it would create an asymmetry somehow if I only did the marionnettes.
So here comes the advice :
- if you want to book a 1:1 clinic with a doctor, make SURE when you do your research that the consultation will be conducted by a doctor and no one else. Ask confirmation from people who've been there before and written confirmation from the clinic itself !
- before you go to the clinic, really prioritize your needs and don't just go thinking "I'll do whatever they suggest". She suggested some very good treatments but also some absurd ones and I might have fallen for it had I not done my research properly before that. Ask for some explanations and how the treatment / product work. If they can't explain, I would advise you not to do it.
- Also, if you're a foreigner, ask on forums if the english level of the staff is sufficient for the explanations you need to make a right choice. You're not just buying a sandwich, it's your face we're talking about (and the price is not the same !). The clinic had assured me that the consultation would be conducted by the doctor (who speaks great english) but sadly it was not the case and the medical assistant was unfortunately speaking a rather poor english.