ladybugz

I keep getting messages asking for before/afters, so I thought I'd do a public post. I gave my "after" to the clinic to use as well. (I did the same thing with Wonjin years ago; I don't mind if clinics publish my photos as long as they're not posting fake reviews under my pics.). I've been posting for over half a decade (and have been completely upfront about the good and bad of my previous surgeries, such as the autoimmune problem I now have thanks to the silicone implant in my nose).

A bit of a background: I first started pondering facial liposuction after taking a hideous professional photo. I am only in my early 30s, but had the face of an obese 45 year old. I started looking into facial liposuction in the U.S. (which you would think would be easy, since I actually work at a hospital myself), but it was next to impossible. U.S. physicians insisted that buccal fat removal was the way to go, even after I specifically pointed to areas that did not involve any buccal fat. Ultimately, they just weren't comfortable with facial liposuction; many told me it "couldn't be done safely." I later read that this procedure is performed safely and commonly in Korea all the time. After googling "facial liposuction Korea," I found UVOM.

As I wrote about in prior posts, the customer service at UVOM is just simply amazing. I was shocked to find out that the person in charge of their FB marketing and translation had only been there for TWO WEEKS. They were like, a MBA class case study on how to run a business. She helped me in countless ways. The consultant was also amazing -- so gracious, kind, and patient. The doctor was definitely skilled and the nurses and phlebotomists were top-notch.

Recovery was rough. I was more swollen than the average patient and required (what I assume are steroid) injections into my face. I swelled worse than people who had zygoma reduction! I flew home a day early because I needed to get back to work; unfortunately, the swelling persisted for 1-2 days even after I was back at work, so I definitely received some weird looks.

I've attached the hideous professional photo that inspired me to get facial lipo, along with my "after." For the record, I asked the doctor NOT to perform aggressive liposuction and aim for a more natural approach. I work with other physicians all day and they would know in an instant if I'd had any sort of "dramatic" work done, so I wanted to be discreet. In addition, because I am already in my 30s, there was worry that my skin would not tolerate the loss of too much fat well. Still, I'm pretty satisfied with my results. They did what I wanted -- reduced fat without looking unnatural or having sagging.

 

I recovered the day after I came home, thank God. I still looked kind of weird going into work (six days after surgery), but I was nearly 100% better the 7th. Today is the 8th and I pretty much look normal again other than very minor yellow bruising.

The verdict: Uvom apparently did a really, really good job (I will wait another week or two to post pictures), but it's not miraculous. My face is definitely not skinny, but that's because I had a lot of muscle from teeth grinding (I already Botox) and have a big head to begin with. I don't think my face could be genuinely skinny without facial contouring or more invasive surgeries. I definitely appreciate not having *HANGING* fat/jowls anymore (though again, I want to see whether this will remain the case after swelling fully disappears before I vouch for this).

The best thing they did, though, was liposuction of the nasolabial fold area. I thought the whole "fat repositioning" thing was a gimmick, but no, they REALLY fixed that to make that area smooth and not fat. They took like 10 years off my face!

 

Agreed. They $5500 USD for just liposuction on my lower cheeks. That was literally twice the cost of what I got from Banobaji, Uvom, and Wonjin.

 

No, I'm still stuck in Korea and have no idea where I would even buy Arnica (I'm not Korean and don't speak the language and have already gotten very lost the other day). I'm pretty frustrated and am just praying I recover like, TODAY so that I can go back to my work in a few days without looking like a freak. I work in the medical field so my colleagues will know right away that I've had work done if I don't recover soon. I am quite upset, to be honest.

I will post my final results, but for now I just look like a big swollen basketball.

 

Yes, I'm from the U.S.

No, I don't think they used acculift -- I think they just used regular lipo. They used sedation (sleep) anesthesia.

Great customer service and very efficient (way more so than the large hospitals). I just don't know if I was prepared for such an extensive recovery... I would have just done my eyes if I had known I'd be like this three days out. (This isn't an issue if you have time to recover, but I have to be back at work and at school in a few days! :-/).

 

I had my lower cheeks and nasolabial folds done, in addition to undereye fat repositioning. Honestly, my recovery's been really rough. I was in an insane amount of pain (I am still in significant pain). I'm swelling as badly as someone would if she had gotten FC/jaw surgery -- my face is unrecognizable. I am just wrecked physically and have decided to cancel my other procedures because I don't think my body could handle it.

I had lipo done under my chin in the United States two years ago and it was nothing like this. Recovery was a breeze and painless, and the swelling was minimal.

 

I still find that highly dishonest. They made it seem like a day to day experience. If she had allowed her pics to be used, that's fine -- I consented for my pics to be used at my prior surgeries as well (I went to Wonjin the first time around for now and eyes). However, I would be extremely appalled if I found fake reviews written by "me" on multiple sites. The point of reviews is for the person to share his/her honest opinions of the process, the results, etc. -- not for the clinic's marketing team to write for them.

I went to Uvom yesterday for facial lipo/fat repositioning. Results TBD -- it's only been a day.

 

I was considering going there but backed out after realizing they were writing fake reviews on Realself. Check out the white "American" girl whose entire review is written in broken English. Plus they charged literally 2-3x more than every clinic I inquired at.

 

I went to Uvom for facial liposuction yesterday. I've had it done under my chin in the past and it was painless and quick with less than a day of recovery. This time I feel like I've been run over by a truck (and look it -- even my nose is huge and swollen somehow). However, the price was right, they are professional and thorough, and I trusted the doctors and consultants. I don't remember the exact price for each section or how they count it, but it was a lot cheaper than Fresh.

I agree that having a super-thin face ages a person and I was very specific about not going overboard so that I don't sag. However, having a super-fat person ages a person as well. I am 130 lbs but had the face of a 200 pounder (huge jowls, etc.). The jowls made me look like 5 years older. I had lipo only at the jowl area and removed part of the nasolabial fold (which also makes makes you look older).

 

I will be there then; if any of you would like to meet up and go shopping/grab some food, PM me please! I will be going to Uvom on Saturday and Hanabi on Tuesday.

 

Can you show pics of the Acculift results?

I am going to Korea on January 10th and will be going to this clinic for eye fat repositioning to get rid of my eye bags. I am considering Acculift too but am not sure I will like th results.

I will say -- this clinic is excellent with their customer service. I have never had such a response from the other clinics I've communicated with other than Wonjin. These people are like, an MBA case study on what to do for customers!

 

I believe it. I was perfectly healthy until my silicone (nose) implant. My hair is now like 50% of what it was before and I had severe health problems such as joint pain, brain fog, and extreme tiredness (causing me to sleep 14+hours a night and losing two jobs as a result). I have to fly to Korea to get it replaced with rib in January for $6500 and I am definitely not happy.

 

I had a silicone implant in 2013 and it looked great. I used a silicone for my bridge and ear cartilage for my tip. It successfully raised and lengthened my nose. Unfortunately, five years later, it has become a living nightmare. Aesthetically it is still ok; the only thing is that the nose tip has receded a bit, so my nose is back to being short and somewhat blunt looking.

Healthwise, it has been awful. Google "breast implant illness" and you will know what I'm talking about. I have had the exact same symptoms, except instead of breast implants, I had a nose implant. Some people do not tolerate foreign objects in their bodies well and develop serious autoimmune problems. I am now ANA positive (not a high positive, but not a low one either -- there is definite autoimmune activity), lost nearly 70% of my hair last year, was crippled with joint pain, etc. I am hoping as a last ditch attempt this January that I can reverse these problems by taking the implant out and replacing with rib. According to a medical study in South America, a person who had a silicone implant in her chin did reverse her autoimmune illness after removing it, so I am hoping the same can be done for me.

 

When I go to Korea this January, I plan to get cheek and jowl liposuction. I am starting to develop eye bags and have fat cheeks, but need fat grafted to my chin and forehead.

I also have deep nasalabial folds -- what is the best procedure to get rid of this -- lipo?

 

I didn't have breast implants, but had a silicone implant in my nose and have been plagued with autoimmune illnesses that have, ironically, made me look worse even though my nose looks great (for example, I've gone nearly bald 3x now due to this illness). I would never recommend you put anything unnatural in your body, period. I regret getting the implant every single day. It's now going to cost me $6500+ to get it taken out and replaced with rib in January.

 

I have the same concern as majitha. I don't want to replace my silicone implant (it looks great), but health (autoimmune) problems are forcing me to swap with rib. Hanabi is pretty much the only clinic I can afford, but their results look very, very natural. I would hate for my nose to go back to its original look (flat, wide, shapeless, etc.). Does anyone have any experience with the clinic's ability to lengthen and narrow noses/raise the height significantly?

 

I think it depends what you want done... If you want Botox or body lipo, there is absolutely no reason to go to Korea for that vs. doing it in your own country (assuming you live in a 1st world country with licensed plastic surgeons). However, if you are Asian and you want your nose done or eyes done, I absolutely would NOT do it in the U.S. I wasted 2x as much money getting stuff done in my 20s with zero results (yet massive debt) in the U.S. While I ended up having issues w/ my surgeries in Korea (unrelated to plastic surgery -- turns out I can't have implants of any sort due to autoimmune issues), the aesthetic outcome was much, much different than what the U.S. and to offer. The price of, say, eye surgery (for example) was only marginally cheaper than the U.S. and, as you pointed out, easily eaten away by the cost of plane ticket and hotel. However, the aesthetic outcome was far more dramatic and I just don't think U.S. doctors are comfortable doing such a dramatic change. I had a huge, wide, flat nose beforehand (and remained so after surgery #1 with a US doctor) and while my nose isn't perfect now, it's 1000x better. I just don't think doctors in the U.S. understand that kind of aesthetic change (and the few that do wanted 8-20K; I paid $2500 in Korea).

 

I am so sorry this happened to you! My mother did the same thing to me (not with plastic surgery, but with my car). I haven't spoken to her in years as a result, so I get how upset and betrayed you are.

But I want you to know this: Artecoll IS NOT PERMANENT. Not even close, especially in places like the nose and chin. I find most fillers' longevity to be greatly exaggerated. Radiesse is supposed to last 18 months. It lasted for less than 4 in my chin and was completely gone by month 7 or 8. After that I used Artecoll. Half of it was gone by month 7 and (much to my chagrin) all of it was gone within 14 months. (Which is fine anyway; turns out I have an autoimmune issue and can't have artificial crap in my body.) It WILL go away.

Do NOT do something that IS permanent (like surgery) for a short-term problem. It will go away, I promise!

 

I've read pretty good reviews of VIP. I haven't actually found any negative ones myself.

 

I have emailed all the "main" clinics that target foreigners, but I've read on this forum that they are all overpriced. I was wondering if some of you could recommend more affordable options (and their location/contact info/cost, if you know)? Thanks!

 

OMG thank you so much twocupcakes! I will try to translate the website on Google translate. (I can speak passable Mandarin, but can't read at all haha).

 

I wanted a dramatic change, but NOT the "I obviously had plastic surgery look." For example, Blake Lively had a major nose job, but it doesn't look as if she's *obviously* had one. Same with Ivanka Trump. I work in a pretty public facing job, so there is no way I could look like some of those "after" Korean models without freaking my (white) coworkers out/potentially getting fired.

 

I have the exact same problem! Is your jaw more symmetrical now? I just had 52 units of Botox today. Where did you get electrocoagulation? I was in so much pain before from the tooth grinding but the Botox actually did relieve the muscle immediately (though obviously my appearance hasn't changed yet).

 

Yeah, I think I'm crossing VIP off the list. They don't seem to be any more impressive than Hanabi. I don't need a translator for china; I'm from the U.S., but know even Mandarin to communicate. However, I can't ever seem to get ahold of that doctor OR his staff, and emails have been unanswered.

 

I need to swap my silicone for rib due to health reasons. Which clinic would you all recommend? I would be curious. VIP is literally 2x more than Hanabi. I also like the work of Dr. Ting Wang, but I've emailed and called a billion times with no answer (I have no idea idea HOW people have gotten ahold of him).