k-couture Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Hey guys so i recently went to Seoul for several consultations and am mostly leaning towards Dream cosmetic surgery for Revision Rhino and acculift. Im just wondering if any of you have has procedures done there and could tell me about your results/experience? And if so which surgeons performed your procedure? Any info would be much appreciated. xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paxsky Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Hi everyone, After months of reading other people's experiences in Seoul, I'm on the other side now and hope my consultation experience can help someone else. First I should state that, after going back and forth, I have decided not to do any plastic surgery at this time. This has not so much to do with the consultations, but my own doubts about what i want. Having read on this forum people's experiences of regret (iann- w/ two jaw surgery and others), I have decided to wait until I'm more firm about what I want. Anyway, I still went to my consultations, but dropped Golden Ratio- what i thought would be my 1st choice- because even though I really respect the doctor and his public prices etc., i didn't feel comfortable w/the fact that it's a "one man" show. if an emergency were to happen, not sure how well they are equipped to deal w/it, no matter how skillful the surgeon, it all falls on one person. So, I swapped them out for DA, a clinic that was not on my list but because of all the popularity on this forum, i wanted to check it out and give a review to help any one out here... I should also mention that I was lucky enough to have my cousin, who speaks Korean come with me... Still jetlagged from the night before, 10am in the morning, our first stop was Everm. Everm is located inside a building w/other businesses and there's a subway stop: Shinsa exit 2 or 3 almost right in front of it. Anyway, my experience was very similiar to others who consulted there: the decor/ ambiance is modern, clean, medical and looks legit. The staff is friendly and professional. They also attractive and look natural- if they had work done, it doesn't show... Even though it was early, there were two people in the waiting area. didn't want to stare and make people uncomfortable so took some quick peeks and they looked to be new patients. My wait time wasn't long and they had us fill out a simple form. They highlight the things on the form that they want you to fill out, so you don't have to fill all of it. After this we met w/ the consultant. She was friendly and seemed honest in that she wasn't trying to "sell" me anything. In fact, I was surprised when she said my face looked fine and that my cheekbones didnt look too prominent from the front. She said the scan would reveal more and that the doctor would be able to make suggestion. After some more conversation about how long i'll be staying, what i want done, etc. it was time for xrays, but I walked away thinking: wow, i was expecting some "soft sell" or something, but nothing- I was feeling good about the place! The only thing that bothered me was that she wouldn't budge from the $150 fee for copies of the 3dscan. we tried to get it to $100, but she wouldn't budge- only saying that they'll discount us this from the price of surgery if I decide to do it here. Anyway, after this, I went into a small room for the 3Dscan, dental x-rays, and photos. This took less than 10 minutes, but it seemed pretty comprehensive. They were obviously trying to get me from all angles. Then it was time for the consultation, which was on a different floor. They led me to the doctor's office, where I waited for about 5 minutes. When the doctor came in, I liked his demeanor right away. He seemed friendly yet confident. He first asked me what I wanted and really listened. I knew he was listening because he repeated back to me what I said. Then we looked at the scan and Dr. Yoon showed us the scan of the jaw area and small circles on each side of the jaw area where the nerves are - indicating how much they would be able to contour safely- which I appreciated greatly! Then we looked at the photos and the 3d scan of my cheekbones. He said my 45 degree angle was somewhat prominent and that if i wanted to do surgery on it- that would be the area of focus. then we looked at my x-rays of my teeth and he said my bite was fine, but my mouth was slightly protruding and that my face was slightly asymmetrical- he showed me the scan that had a line going from the top middle of my forehead to the bottom of my chin. at this point i was expecting him to say: 2-jaw surgery, but he said the exact opposite! he said the only way to fix the slightly protruding lips and asymmetry was to do 2-jaw surgery, but he is ruling out 2-jaw for me because it's "big surgery" and my case wasn't extreme enough! at this point i was thinking between him and his consultant, are they trying to make money here or not? lol but i think it's because from the looks of it, they have enough patients and they don't need to "push" anyone... so, in the end, he suggested that if I still want the jawline done it would be very mininal jawline shaving - he even mentioned that it would produce very subtle difference in looks, which i appreciate his honesty. he said for cheekbones, he would suggest 45 degree reduction, which he demonstrated on the demo skull on his desk. I then asked about dissolvable screws and sagging. We asked him whether the dissolvable screws can be used on a thin bone like the cheekbones and he said he's been using them on the cheekbones for awhile with no negative effects. as for sagging, he mentioned that he used a method where he incorporates slight lifting when he performs the surgery. apparently after he makes the bone cut, screws the bones, he will lift the muscle slightly before securing everything. but then he added that even w/this sagging is possible and that it's not a 100% guarantee against sagging and that some form of a lifting procedure at another clinic after all the swelling is gone may have to be done. at this point, i actually thanked the doctor for his honesty. we talked a little more, and at no time did i feel rushed or the doctor getting annoyed w/all my questions. in fact, he was relaxed and friendly the whole time- i think that he would sat there and kept the consultation going as long as I needed. After this, it was time to meet w/the consultant again. This time she looked at the form about the procedures that were suggested. I ruled out the jawline shaving so asked just about the cheekbones. And just as others have mentioned, she took out a laminated price list with all the prices, which at my quick glance looked pretty reasonable, but even before we asked, she brought down the cheekbone reduction surgery from about 4500 that was listed the form to 4200. (DA gave me similiar price 4400 or 4700, so I'm thinking no one should be paying more than that! More on DA later...) We thanked the consultant and said we would be in touch if I decided to do it there. My overall impression of the Everm is very positive. If I were to rate them: Wait time: A Decor: Modern, Clean, Professional: A- Staff: A Consultant: A Consultation Time w/Doctor: A+ Overall: A Then we were off to DA... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helloanisaurus Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Thank you for your detail journal on your visit. I've recently been thinking about getting cheekbone reduction and v-line and been lurking on the forum for advice and which clinic to go to in Korea. Please keep up the good work bc it will help a lot of us who's also deciding to take the plunge. We appreciate you and all your info!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phreakcodex Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Thanks for your review :3 It is very useful for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paxsky Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Consultation at DA: Right after Everm, we were off to DA. We took a taxi and it took less than 10 minutes even with traffic. (Kcouture and others are right about the taxi fare- very cheap- it was only about 4000 won.) Anyway, we went up to the clinic and found 4 people already waiting in the waiting room. It was around noon. I guess having had such a good experience at Everm, I was kind of expecting the same at DA, even though i kind of knew from having read others' experiences at DA that that would not be the case. Firstly, the staff looked as they acted, that is somewhat fake and cold. Compared to the warm, kind of "down home" feeling from Everm, DA was the opposite. The staff looked slick and attractive in their beige uniform from afar ( I liked their fitted feminine short skirt , but not sure how professional that looked- this is being extremely picky- but noticed these thing...). Their faces though looked similar (small oval- no cheekbone to be seen and v-line, large and long eyes accenuated with eyeliner in cat style, medium to high nose bridge, smallish lips that was only filled in kind of in the middle. They kind of exemplified the look that many koreans girls seem to be going for. As I was waiting with like four other people, two got "processed" and another 3 came in. It's as what others said about this place being too busy- that's the sense I got. I think about 3 patients were Chinese and the others local. the only staff that looked different- natural and and not as "slick" came out and spoke Chinese- I think Mandarin- and led them away. There was another lady who came with what looked like her husband or SO to get breast implants. I knew this because as thy led her away they asked her to go and put change into a robe for her examination. Even though it was only noon, during this time, two doctors came out to the waiting area to go into another room adjacent to the waiting room for something. They looked like they were coming out of surgery with more to go. After 1/2 hour, I was led into an office with the consultant. Having read Peterpan's negative experience w/the consultant(s) here, I tried to put away any bias and stay objective, but it difficult not to compare Everm's friendly and seemingly honest consultant with DA's. For one, whereas the Everm's consultant looked natural, attractive and kind, DA's one gave a calculating, standoffish air. She also looked as though she had 2-jaw surgery recently because her face extremely small, but with some swelling around her lower cheeks- kind of like chipmunk cheeks and she had braces on and her ability to open her mouth all the way was probably limited because she talked with moving her mouth in a limited way. anyway, none of this should matter, but it kind of did for me because it seems they had a very specific idea of beauty, which all of the staff, except for the Chinese translator, was exemplifying. I want to make it clear that the consultant was never rude, just kind of standoffish- business-like, as though trying to "process" me so that she can move onto the next person. Can't really blame her because there were people waiting in the waiting room... Anyway, the meeting w/the consultant was brief; I expressed that I was interested in facial contouring and brought along a 3d scan on a disk from another clinic (thanks to all who suggesting this! it was $150 from Everm, but worth it with time saved and for the sake of health. ) To my surprise, she really didn't push any procedure at me, and I think i know why. When you fill out the form in the waiting room, it's kind of long. it's like 3-4 pages front and back. along with the usual personal/ medical info, there are two pages worth of filling out what you want.in fact there's page and a half of just lines for you to write kind of an "essay" - a detailed explaination of what you want. There are multiple choices in one question that asks how dramatic the change you want. my cousin pointed out tht it ranged from "total makeover looked" to very subtle, natural look where you don't look like you had surgery. I was going back and forth between the latter and the one before that that said "natural, but effective', but wasn't sure what that meant, so opted for the "subtle natural' choice. so because I checked this, I'm thinking they didn't wnt to waste time on me pushing more procedures- because how natural can you look if you do her whole face eyes nose etc. Anyway, after the brief time w/the consultant, i was led back to the waiting area again to wait for the doctor. during this time, another patient had been processed and another person walked in. I was thnking, wow- it's not even 1pm on a weekday and they have people coming in constantly. After some time, I was led to the doctor's office for the consultation. Even though I wasn't a fan of the ulzzng look they were famous for, I had great respect for the doctor's skills bc like many people I had been a fan of "Let Me In" where he did amazing "natural" looks on the patients, so my thnking was that he is capable of doing the natural look but doing the extreme form to please his clients. So, i walked in and I was kind of nervous- almost as though i was meeting a celebrity, and i guess my expectation level for the consultation was kind of high. Well, I should have known better. First, even though he had the CD- I didn't see it displayed on the computer. There's a chance that he could have viewed it before hand, not sure. There's also a good chance that havign done so many facial contouring, he didn't really need to explain himself etc, but i came away having similiar feeling as i got from the consultant although he was a tad more friendlier. In fact at some point during the consultation, which was very short- i would guess less than 10 minutes, I can feel him trying to muster the energy to be friendly. didn't want to compare again to Everm, but the difference is so glaring that I the differences were practically pointing themselves out. whereas Dr. Yoon took his time to explain the risks of the surgery constantly referring back to the 3dscan, x-rays and phots, Dr. Lee did not refer to the scans even once. He bascially asked me what I wanted, I told him that I was considering facial contouring and asked what he would recommend. I got the sense that he didn't like recommending anything. maybe he was sick of girls coming in crying and complaining after he did surgery based on his recommendation, but he seemed not annoyed but kind of turned the question back to what i wanted, which was good I guess. and that could account for the long from we were asked to fill out and the essay portion of the form... the overall impression is that he wanted to be clear about what I wanted, so that he can do it and move on. We did manage to eek out more than a sentence or two from him when we asked out his feelings on using dissolvable screws. He gave a pretty comprehensive answer. he said that those screws have been around for at least 10 years, then dropped from popularity, but were back from the people- company who created them to revive their use again. His overall feelings on them seem to be that they are no better than titanium. he also pointed out that there's a type of screws that are advertized as dissolvable when in fact they are not- they only look invisible on xrays, but they are still there. he said that true dissolvable screws should be used only for bone fusing, not for fixing bones when they are moved and fixed to change their shape. He asked me if I had any other questions, which I did- I wanted to ask about facial sagging after facial surgery, but it felt like he wanted to move on and that he was asking out of curtesy, so I said no, and thanked for his time and his explanation about the screws. For some reason, i walked away just feeling weird and uncomfortable as though I had said something wrong or imposed on someone. I would have gladly walked out of there, but it was time to meet w/the consultant again. The mtg was short. again, i was very surprised that she didnt suggest/ push any other procedures for me and quoted me 4400 or 4700, forgot which! ( this is why one of the poster had recommende going in with a notebook and pen to write stuff down!) which was slightly more than Everm, but no where close to 6,7 mil won that some were quoted in emails. we didnt even bother to see if we could bring the price down- i wish i had just to see how much lower they would go. maybe they didn't hike up the price as much because they knew i had consulted at another place because i brought along a cd of the scan. anyway, we rushed out there- we had 1/2 hour left until our consultation at Dream. Obviously I'm favoring Everm over DA based on my consultation experience. Of course I'm sure you can have a not the best consultation and have amazing surgical results and the demeanor/ level of friendiness of the doctor does not measure how competent skillful he/she is, in fact the less friendly doctor may in fact be more skillful but for me if i were to have surgery, i would want to feel comfortable and safe at the place where i'm haivng surgery and DA wasn't it. again this is just my experience. Judging by the popularity of the place, i'm sure there are many happy clients. but to me, i don't think anyone doctor could do his best if overworked... Here's how I would rate them based on my experience: Wait time: B+ Decor: B+ Consultant: B Consultation Time w/Doctor: B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsking Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 paxsky, Can't wait to see your next post! You are such a great writer you know I love to read all things you captured during the consultation. Good luck and hope you also get to enjoy the city while you are there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigervt2006 Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Thanks a lot my friend. I'm sure your information will help me when I am in Korea. Can you tell me about your hotel? Is it good and how much they charge you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasyface Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 thanks so much for the post!I am going to Seoul in August and probably will get a consultation and cd from Everm and I'll do the operations in December. Definitely not paying anything more than 12m for cheekbone, jaw reduction and full face fat graft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paxsky Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Thank you for the compliment! I have been seeing a bit of the city and am trying hard to enjoy it but feeling kind of disappointed ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paxsky Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Glad your finding it useful... obviously in the gang-nam area but i don't want to reveal where i'm staying right nownfr security reasons, but will do a full review of the place after checking out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paxsky Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Consultation at Dream: Sorry this took so long but to be honest, i've been depressed and didn't feel like writing or doing anything. i thought i was fine with my decision not to do plastic surgery after all my consultation, but it hit me a couple of days ago that i will not be going home looking any better than i came. i had been planning this trip for months, gathering resources, scraping together the money, running around buying this for my recovery not to mention the countless hours reseaching, doing photoshop on myself, and dreaming of my new look. and it has all come to nothing.... when i used to be depressed at work or leave the house not looking the way i wanted, i used to cheer myself up by thinking about my trip and throw myself into research or activities involved in planning and preparations. sometimes it used to be the highight of my day. the one friend and now my cousin are the only ones that i told about possible PS and both don't get it; they keep telling me that i look fine and don't need it. of course, most people don't "need" it unless it's reconstructive. it's for self improvement. i don't think anyone would have problems if people decided to improve any other part of their lives, but why is improving your looks through PS considered almost a shameful thing? we had no control over how what we were born with, so why is it bad to change aspects of something that we didn't choose and don't like? sorry for the rant but i think society is hypocrital because improving your looks through PS is seen as a negative and yet those who are deemed beautiful get treated better, have instant advantages and power over those arent', so i don't understand the stigma attached to pursuing through our own efforts and resources something that some people got at birth essentially for free... again, sorry for the rant. below is my review of consultation at Dream, finally! lol After bolting out of DA, we decided to take the subway to Dream, to experience/ get me used to using the subway. There is a subway right in front of DA, i think the line # is 9. anyway, while in the subway, bought and uploaded to money to T-money from one of the vending machines (has English options), and took Line #9 and transfered to #3 and got off at Apuejong and Dream clinic is only several feet away. Dream has several floors in the building and we got off the 5th floor, which was for surgery, i think, and had to go back down to floor 2, which is the consultation floor. of the three clinics tht i visited, i liked dreams decor/ ambiance the best. it's kind of similiar to Evermn- modern, clean, polished, but dream is more sophisticated and elegant. the staff kind of reflected this. their uniforms were navy and fitted- very polished and slick. there was a pretty young petite receptionist who checked my appointment. there seemed to be slight mix up w/my appointment and there were at least 7 people waiting. about half seemed to be Chinese, but I had expected this because it's a larger clinic with several doctors... i had wanted to see dr. kim, the chief facial contouring specialist, but he was busy and wasn't available for consulting. they wouldn't go into reasons. because there were several people ahead of me, they said i could try waiting or rebook the appointment, or see someone else. then we were asked to sit and fill out their form. they highlighed in pink all the mandatory sections. it wasn't long, but i should point out that there is a section lists the names of all the surgeons there for you to choose. so yo definitely have a choice at least that was on the korean form. if you don't have it on yours, you should definitely ask. with all the stories of big clinics doing doc swaps and randomly assigning doc to patients, i found the option to choose reasurring... after filling out the form, we sat in the waiting area . there's a free self serve beverage and cappaccino bar, which we took advantage of. wasnt' really happy with the mixup, but at this point, but it was my last consultation and for some reason i just didnt care. anyway, aside from the mixup, my overall impression of Dream was that it was elegant and professional. not as warm and casual as Everm or cold or impersonal like DA, but somehwere in the middle. we kept ourselves busy by watching one of the monitors at our waiting section that was showing, what else, a plastic surgery show. others were showing k-pop stuff- i dont think this was a coincidence because although there were several monitors at different sections of the waiting area, all were some type of plastic surgery shows or kpop set to mute, and music was playing through an excellent sound system that seem to come from the ceiling I think it was Chopin; for me it was very pleasant and the waiting didn't seem so tedious. the only thing to pick on from a design/decor point of view were the chairs. they seem to be ivory leather but they seem to have seen better days because the cushion part where you sit looked literally like someone smeared mud and tried to rub it off. it was like this for all the chairs- "sectionals", so i'm thinking it's accumulated dirt. as we were waiting we looked around to see if anyone looked like they were coming in for post-op treatment. the only one that came in that kind of looked that way was a tall pretty girl who looked like she could have been a member of a kpop high school girl group because she still had her uniform on, but she had hike up her skirt to make it look like a miniskirt. she looked like an anime character but not in fake way, which is hard to explain. the only weird thing was her lips that seem to stick out like a duck beaks. it looked cute on her but not natural. we wondered if that was a side effect from one of her surgeries. Other who were waiting looked anywhere from 20-30s. THere was fancy-dressed Chinese mother and daughter pair who were smiling and seemed excited and I was thinking- wow, that would never be my mother; she would kill me if you knew what i was up to. anyway, after waiting about 40 minutes, my name was called by the tall attractive (not fake looking) consultant and she led me to her office that was next to the waiting room. the word that comes to mind about the consultant is "professional" and kind of hard to read. not cold, but she knew what she was doing. she asked me what i wanted and said facial contouring and explained the whole mixup w/doc and how i wanted to consult specifically with dr. kim. she kind of repeated what the other girl said about how he's may still be surgery and that there were people ahead of me, etc. she then did something none of the other consults, which was actually try to suggest procedures that i hadn't considered, but not in pushy way. she asked if i noticed some fat loss around my eye and nose/mouth lines. i said i did, but didn't think it that bad. she said if I can't see dr. kim today for facial contouring, would i like to see another doctor about fat graph? my cousin and i looked at each other and i said no only because it wasn't something i had not even considered and didnt know much about. my consultation experience at dream is anti-climatic because we got tired of waiting, and said we would rebook but i still havent'. not because anythign the clinic did but because of my own doubts about getting PS. even with the mixup, my consultation w/dream is favorable because it seem to be an experience clinic with doctors tht know that they are doing, and they give you the option right on the form to choose. it's not too big and not too small and it's hard to explain even though i didnt' even get to the consultation w/the doctor, but i just got a good "vibe" from the place even though i shouldn't have with the mix up and the consultant suggesting procedures. it's hard to explain. anyway, if i change my mind i would definite consider dream again... 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paxsky Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 you're welcome; i hope it's helpful. even though i paid $150 for the copy of 3d scan at Everm, looking back, i think it was worth the money because the consultation was so comprehensive and detailed and the doctor was able to provide me with knowledge about the limits of my possible surgery based on my bone structure. i'm glad i went to them first because you will walk out of there armed with some knowledge for the next consultation... good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-couture Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 thanks for your reviews it was an interesting read! Im curious tho what was it that made u doubt ure decision to get surgery this time around? Was it pressure from your family? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davincci Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Thanks for your post paxsky. Please don't feel depressed... as you've said, you weren't ready and you'd like to be firm on what you want first. I think that's the right attitude. It's a surgery you are going to go through and they will cut bones and some other unreversible procedures. It's best to think thoroughly and be sure. Think of it in a positive way, after you've done your surgery, you will live with your new pretty face for the rest of your life. So when you look back, this short wait to prepare yourself is nothing~ I 've actually told no one about my plan in having PS as well. I personally think there's nothing wrong with it but I do understand many people won't understand. What I see is, the world is changing due to all the technological innovation. I see all those laser facial, hair removal, teeth and face whitening procedures same as PS. The only difference is whether it's under knife or not. People pay huge sum of money on those procedures as well and many of those are not long-lasting. So I ask, why not PS? I've also done a pure 'scouting' trip just to learn more and get myself more prepared. Consulted with EverM, Banobagi and Item. I think it's really helpful and makes me know more on 'what to ask'. Btw your experience with EverM is very similar to mine... here's my post (# Anyways, I'm planning to go again in Sep, will consult with Regen, Dream and JW, and maybe Life this time. I think I'm more ready this time and hopefully I'll undergo the surgery this time. But again, it's right to wait if you are not sure. It's a lifetime decision afterall!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayond Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Wow~it is very specific and detailed!! Thanks for your sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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