alorsondanse

Trying to decide if I should go to Myeong-dong too? Anyone been? Better or "about the same" as Garogusil - anyone know?

Oooohhh, and thanks thelittlebean and amandamoo23 for checking up on my journey, really appreciate it!

 

Post-Op Day 3

When I woke up this morning, my swollen eyelid has gone down almost half the size! Thank goodness, so now I'm not so worried that I'll have uneven lids for choosing to only get the one eye done instead of both. Whew. Time will tell I guess - can't wait to report after a few more days then I think I'll get an even clearer sense of the final results.

Also, on a personal note: again, spent the whole day shopping on Garosugil in Sina-dong - amazing hot spot for food and fashion! Google Maps says 30 min. walk to from Banobagi guesthouse, but I took a taxi and it was only ~10min. drive. Had a big dinner there and almost had motivation to walk back, but the colder evening temp. made me feel lazy again so I taxi'd.

 

Post-Op Day 2:

I am definetely swollen still and that's probably why my lid looks double the size I want it to (I desperately hope that's the case anyway)! However, the "sore" feeling has completely disappeared. There is still sensation there, though it's hard to describe - nothing that is painful, but it's as if I can feel the fold there (if that makes any sense). I'm super anxious to see what the final results will be... ARGH. However, my swollen lid didn't deter me from spending the whole day outside shopping and eating. Really glad I chose to stay at the guesthouse because I've just discovered it's only an approx. 10min. walk from the underground Gangnam shopping mall and ArtBox! Plan on going to Garusogil St. in Sinsa-dong tomorrow or the day after. My eyelid didn't seem to be much of a big deal to anyone. I mean, walking around town today I saw so many girls (and guys) who's work is so obvious because they barely even look Asian anymore so that kind of made me feel better about my non-discreet eyelid surgery. Even managed to get a foot/leg massage at JW Spa down the street.

 

It's been done guys! Double eyelid on just my left eye! At this point, there's really not much I can reveal since I still have the bandaid over my eyelid. The lid is sore but not painful at all. I was instructed I'd be able to take the bandaid off tomorrow and then we'll be able to get a better look at what's going on under there. Here's a recap of what went on just a few hours earlier:

I actually had two Banobagi reps helping me out today: Hebe and her co-worker Grace. They were both fluent in English and assisted me throughout the whole process, from consultation, through surgery, to the aftercare. They were polite and made me felt taken care of the entire time. Banobagi has their own multi-level building (it seemed like each floor had its own specialized operation, for eyes, jaws, etc.), and walking in it was a pretty busy place and the girls were dressed up very professionally and actually looked quite chic. Inside, the place was clean and bright though not as extravagant as some of the other clinics I've seen on the internet. Of course, to me that wasn't really important in relation to the quality of the doctors and staff...

The consultation process was fairly simple, both Hebe and Dr. Lee understood what I wanted - to have a small, subtle double eyelid made on my left eye to match my right. Nothing dramatic, goal was symmetrical eyelids. I went with the double-embedding method. There's still some lingering worries over if ever the sutures would become undone, but Hebe assured me that it's only with the regulur suturing process that there's a 20%/30% chance the suture would undo, but she said that with double embedding 90% of the time the work is permanent. I only talked with Dr. Lee shortly as my procedure would be quite a basic one, anyway and plus I already communicated with Hebe my plan through email (in our email convos, she said she also showed Dr. Lee my photos and explained to him what I'd wanted, then reported to me what he recommended as part of our online consultation). I already ready knew what to expect of the procedure after doing research online thus most of the chat felt like formalities - Dr. Lee explained to me (mostly in Korean, Hebe translated) what would happen, then Hebe went over it again in English for me. Dr. Lee seemed like a pretty busy guy, but he knew some English and physically demonstrated the kind of eyelid fold he'd make for me in the office. Examined my photos. Standard stuff. Then the surgery.

Overall, the whole process went by like a breeze - checked in at 1pm and left at around 3:30/4pm to return to the guesthouse. Was knocked out the whole time. Grace, told me that they'd be injecting at my eyelids which kind of scared me a bit since I'm not too fond of needles, especially when they're going near such thin skin. However, they gave me some anesthetic shot before and was knocked out the whole time so I didn't even feel the part that actually psyched me out the most. All I can remember of the surgery was Dr. Lee coming into the room and drawing some marks on my eyes. Now, I've also read on various forums that some people were actually awake the whole of the surgery and could feel the suturing happening though still numbed from it! Don't know if this difference should be a point of concern or not...? (Again, guess we'll have to wait and see eh?)

Finally, Grace & Hebe explained the aftercare and sent me off with a bag of gauze, eyemask, cotton swaps, Green Hydrogen Peroxide to clean the sutures. Hebe also made sure I could contact her any time I had a question by giving me her What's App number. I'm writing this right after a nap and now I'm not feeling woozy anymore. Some of the other girls in the guesthouse have their whole heads wrapped up in gauze and seeing myself with just that bandage over my left eyelid makes me feel like such a lucky bird. The real big moment of truth will probably be tomorrow when I remove the bandage!!! Nervous about the results! I'm confident because it was such a simple procedure under the hands of a reputable doctor, but I'm anxious too because these things never seem to be for certain and I'll still have to wait a couple more days to get a better gauge of the quality of work.

My next trip to the clinic will be on the 7th to see if my stitches are ready to be taken off by then (if not, then I'll have to wait out the whole week).

EDIT: Haha, just realized I wrote almost a whole essay without even saying all that much... Guess I'm trying to blab off the anxiety. :shame:

 

SO, my consultation and surgery is going to be in 2 hrs!!! Just chillin' in my room right now, counting down the minutes. I'm excited and nervous! So far, my experience alone in Seoul has been great - being from Vancouver, the difference isn't all that drastic. In fact, language is the only obstacle for me so far - that and the fact that Korea uses different plugs than North America so now I'm desperate to find an electronics store that sells iPhone chargers in Korean-style plugs before my phone dies on me and I'm left without the handy-dandy Google translator!!! Otherwise, I feel quite at home here - as close to it as a foreigner can be, anway.

If anyone is curious as to what Banobagi's guest house is like: clean, rooms are a good size, and supplied with your own personal TV, computer, lockable closet and mini fridge. Shared bathrooms, laundry, and kitchen. Space is very clean and private, plus they seem to have maids who come in to to tidy up the shared spaces. Impressed with how clean the showers are! I would say better than staying in a hotel - it's 50000 won per night (so roughly $50CDN/night). It's RIGHT next door to the clinic - barely a minute walk to get there! Location is super convenient - close to tons of coffee shops and restaurants, convenience/drug stores. Just spent the whole morning walking around the back streets and came across some super cute boutiques and eateries I'd like to check out later in the week! Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to eat or drink ANYTHING 4 hrs prior to the surgery so I can only look around right now.

Can't wait to meet my doctor (Dr. Lee, maybe?) and the staff - stay posted!

 

@thelittlebean Can you spare more details about their guesthouse? I'll be staying there my whole trip, that's why I'm a little bit more curious than usual. Do they have wi-fi? Any good eats nearby? Shopping? Clean, good privacy?
Also, which method did you go with? Non-incision or the double embedding? I don't want scarring from incision and I don't like to wait so long for it to heal. But at the same time, I'm also worried about the possibility of unravelling from non-incision method. How's the swelling now? And how was Dr. Lee?
Sorry if I'm overbearing - but I can't believe it's just 4 days until I'm off to Seoul! I appreciate any tips/advice I can get!!!

 

@amandamoo23 Wow! That's neat! Are you looking to get the same procedure as I am, I mean getting just the one single-lidded eye done or surgery for both eyelids?

 

So excited hearing about all these surgery stories, sounds like everything's going well! I'll be heading off to Korea this coming Thursday on May 1st - should be picked up at airport by Banobagi rep and then taken to their guesthouse where I'll stay for the whole week. Surgery scheduled the day right after I arrive in Korea at 1pm, consultation & surgery same day. My case is... irregular. I'm dealing with asymmetrical eyelids where my left is single-lidded and my left had double lids and I'm hoping to only need surgery on my left in order to balance them out so both eyes are double-lidded. Most places I consulted w/ wanted me to get both eyes done and I think one of the reasons I was more inclined to pick Banobagi was b/c they were the only place that gave me either options - of course they still encouraged me to get both eyes done. However, I'm quite confident in how I look now and don't want to change too much in my eyes - I see it as getting an "enhancement." Anyway, if anyone wants updates feel free to ask! I'm a total health & exercise junkie so I hope I won't be bedridden, but it sounds like @thelittlebean is recovering quite quickly so I'm optimistic about that! Gonna bring my travel yoga mat along... we'll see how things go with that... Also, will be staying from May 2nd -10th!

 

Thanks for the reply thelittlebean. Anyway, things are all worked out now - extra 10% charge for paying on credit, but I'll feel safer that way at least. Excited and nervous. I believe Dr. Lee is going to be my surgeon and I'll also be staying at Banobagi's guesthouse the whole time so if anyone has any questions about the experience... I'd love to help out once I'm back!

 

I originally posted this on the main thread about Clinics/Plastic Surgery in Korea, but stumbled upon this thread and saw it'd be relevant too so here's my question:

Please help! My trip is scheduled for May 1st (departure) and I already got a confirmation email saying they've scheduled my surgery for May 3rd!!!

 

I need some advice for dealing with the payment part of getting plastic surgery! I've already sent a wire of my deposit to Banobagi for eyelid surgery however the girl that I'm communicating with says that they will only accept the rest of the payment in cash whereas I feel much better about paying in credit card since it's going to be my first time travelling ALONE to a country that I've NEVER been to and I just do not feel safe having that much cash on me! Any tips on how to deal with this situation?

Also, is it normal for them to ask for a scan of my passport?

 

Well, surgery booked. Will be heading to Banobagi and staying in their guest house. Trip will be from May 1-10 for double eyelid procedure!

 

Didn't really know where to post this and unfortunately I don't have the member privilege to start my own thread - but does anyone know of a good place to get cosmetic tattooing (for eyebrows) in Korea? I'm going in May for eyelid surgery and ideally it would be perfect to get my eyebrows done at the same time.

 

Heads up: My plan right now is to head to Korea in May (hopefully to depart within the first week if not on the 1st day) for double eyelid surgery for my Left eye - currently settled on Banobagi (mainly b/c of their guesthouse & in-house translator, but unless their comes a string of negative reviews about this place, this is most likely a firm decision) from Vancouver, Canada. Currently no plans on hiring translator. Will be staying for 7-8 days and am totally cool to meet up with anyone who'll be travelling during that time period!

 

Hi forumers,

Been lurking around this thread for a few weeks now and finally feel like I should be joining this discussion since I plan on getting eyelid surgery done in May '14. Here's my scenario: My right eyelid has is double-folded but my left eyelid is only single-folded, hence I want to get eyelid surgery to fix this asymmetry. I've sent out some emails with photos to various Korean clinics and most have recommended that I get actually get surgery on both eyes with the exception of REAL Cosmetic Clinic whose rep (Amy Seo) who recommended Non-Incision method for my left eye only. Opinions? Frankly, I'm perfectly happy with the look of my right eyelid so ideally, I'd be able to get surgery on my left to make it look as natural as possible AND match my right eyelid as best as possible. Anyone else in this situation, and if so what have your doctors/clinics suggested you do?
Also, these are the clinics I've shortlisted thus far: Banobagi, Regen, REAL, Teiumps. Top two is Banobagi and Regen. Currently counting on Banobagi the most even though I'm still waiting for them to reply back to my email with their quote. I'm mainly attracted to Banobagi's guest house for foreigners and they seem to have a pretty good track record (within the internet community anyway). The only thing that's holding me back a bit though is I haven't read any specific reviews about Banobagi's eyelid surgery services. I'm also drawn to Regen because they seem to get a plethora of outstanding reviews about service and the results they produce, not to mention their supposed celebrity clientele. HOWEVER, they were also the only place that told me I should get Ptosis correction. Regen has also quoted me the highest price thus far, between 2.2-3.5 million KRN ($2000-3300CDN)!
Any tips/advice/notes/experiences about Banobagi and eyelid surgery will be much appreciated!!!