lemmetellu Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 Hi everyone, I recently got a non-incisional double eyelid surgery with epicanthoplasty in Seoul. I researched A LOT on English and Korean sites to get an overview of what the situation is like. I just wanted to give back to PurseForum by giving my thoughts as I was a silent reader all throughout the process. One thing is for sure: The clinics that are recommended by foreigners and the clinics recommended by Koreans are WAY different. Anyway, I came up with a list of clinics to visit for consultation based on three things: 1. Recommendations from family and friends (I have doctors in the family who work in Korea) 2. Korean blogs/cafe/website recommendations (tons of Naver cafes, etc.) 3. English blogs/website recommendations (like here, Soompi, etc.) I know some people were recommending the two Korean apps for plastic surgery, but I would NOT recommend them. They are well known to be almost 90% ads and posts from clinics. I would probably only use them for the discounts/cheaper prices. Korean cafes are also rife with ads, but I mostly just searched re-confirmed my lists through some of the comments or whatever. I won't write down the list of all the clinics I had on my list at one point, but I made appointments to visit 5 clinics on one day (they were available on short notice- I literally called them the day before and they all squeezed me in, or so they say). 1. Shinseung- famous for revisional DES 2. MVP (solely because of PurseForum and I was curious how different the clinic would be compared to Korean recommend places) 3. Ive Plastic Surgery- recommended by my uncle, who is also a plastic surgeon. I didn't want to get the surgery from a family member. haha. Also, recommended on Korean cafes 4. Oscar- from Korean cafe recommendation 5. Gangnam June Clinic- from Korean cafe recommendation as really good at natural eyes I will start with the consultations and how I felt about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmetellu Posted February 17, 2018 Author Share Posted February 17, 2018 1. Shinseung This place was a recommendation by a friend who got her non-incisional DES done here. She found this clinic through her sister who got revisional DES and was satisfied. My friend only got hers done like five months ago, but it already looks really nice and natural. There is only one doctor. When I entered this clinic, I was a little shocked since the receptionist had like a facial injury or something so one of her eyes was like an inch lower than her other eye. Usually I don't judge, but since this is a plastic surgery clinic where I was going for my eyes, I couldn't help but judge. This already put me off a little. There was one other girl in the waiting area and she had a Hermes bag (so I was thinking she probably wouldn't go to any random clinic). Her face also looked like she got a lot of plastic surgery, if you know what I mean (in Korea, we call it 성괴). I was seen by the doctor within 10 minutes of arriving, which was great. The only time I saw the 실장 was after the doctor consultation to discuss prices. The doctor recommended I only get non-incisional DES. He said epi was my choice, but that there were benefits and disadvantages to it. He is famous for revisional epi on Korean celebs as well, so I thought he knew what he was talking about. The only thing I was put off my was that he seemed tired? IDK.. he was just not that detailed about my face during the consultation. He just looked at it from across the table and just showed me the line he wanted to draw, but he seemed a little distracted. Here, you get general anesthesia for 5 min to get local anesthesia. Then you are woken up to continue the surgery. The surgery is supposed to take 30 min. I got a good price due to my friend's recommendation. 2. MVP I went to this place only because of PurseForum. I was curious about how different the clinic would be if it was recommended by non-Koreans. First thing is that they use the entire building; it is a huge clinic with multiple doctors. The 실장 kept saying "we are not a factory like those OTHER clinics. Dr. Seo only does 4 surgeries a day." which all seemed kind of fishy, but who knows. I saw the 실장 first who discussed the surgery, then the doctor, then saw the 실장 again for prices. I was recommended only non-incisional DES. I was told it would be general (for 5 min) + local anesthesia, and the non-incisional DES would only take 10(!) minutes. How can it be so quick? Apparently, it's because he is just that great of a doctor. Incisional DES would take 30 min. I know the secretary told me this to assure me that he was skilled, but it actually put me off of the clinic. Even the best surgeon, in my opinion, should be taking some time to check and re-check the lines before making changes to someone's face instead of doing it quickly. Also, the 10 min made me real skeptical that he was only doing 4 surgeries a day. I didn't care if he did more, but it just seemed suspicious to me and put me on guard. Another annoying fact was that they kept us waiting for almost an hour to see the doc. We asked them what was taking so long and the secretary said "well patients normally wait 30-60 min to see the doctor." She said it like it was a given, so we just said we were going to leave. She then said the doctor was ready to see us in 5 min, so we just stayed. The doctor was nice enough tho. He seemed to really care about the best kind of eye shape for me. We had to pay 10,000 won consultation fee, and we got an okay price for the non-incisional DES. This was the cheapest out of all the places we saw. 3. Ive This place was recommended by a family member who is also a plastic surgeon. There is only one doctor here who is well known on Korean cafes for being very detailed. I saw the doctor first then saw the 실장 to discuss prices. When I met the doctor, he spent about 3 minutes not speaking, just examining my face. He even brought out a ruler to measure! Finally, he asked what kind of eyes I wanted and he eventually recommended non-incisional DES. He also said epi would add an additional spark, but it was my choice if I wanted it or not. Non-incisional DES (30 min) is only local anesthesia. Non-incision DES with epi (60 min) is general for 5 min + local anesthesia then awake the rest of the time. I really agreed with the Korean cafes that said he was 꼼꼼해. This doctor is also famous in Korea for eyes, and even Korean cafes said that he was double the price of other clinics, but worth it. They also said that he does not recommend unnecessary surgeries. However, for me, he was the only one that kind of recommended epi. He said it was my choice, but the fact that he recommended it in the first place made me all confused since the previous two places didn't mention it at all. I eventually just canceled the rest of my appointments and just decided to go with this clinic. I had to pay 10,000 won consultation fee originally, but since I just made the appointment right then, I didn't have to pay it. This place ended up being only slightly more expensive than Shinseung, but that's because I got a fantastic deal through my uncle's referral. I would have had difficulty choosing between Shinseung and MVP... I felt that both doctors were skilled, but missing that little spark/push I needed. When I consulted with Ive, I felt assured that he would spend his time with each cut and really give me the best shape. I will say Shinseung and Ive seemed like they only had Korean patients. MVP seemed like they only had Chinese and foreigner patients since I didn't hear Korean from a single patient. Who knows, though. The prices were MVP < Shinseung < Ive I don't want to give the exact prices, but all prices I was quoted at all clinics were between $600 and $1500 (depending on with or without epi). My biggest tip is to state a name for referral if you have one and if you know that person got a good deal. Don't name a referral if they paid more than you thought they should. The clinics will just try to match your price with the referral's price. Another tip is to haggle them down and then at the end ask them how much further they would be willing to go down if you paid in cash. Only mention the cash price at the very end so that the price goes down further. I ended up getting the surgery at Ive, so if anyone wants to know about the surgery itself and aftercare, I can do it. Hope this helped a little! I just wanted to give some of my thoughts so that you guys have more choices. You can ask me questions about anything in the comments. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wondermuffin Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 Hi, was this the clinic you went to? It mentions it used to be Dream PS? iveps.co.kr/eng/intro/intro02.php Great review! I enjoyed reading it. Did you end up getting epi as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaytea Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 Very thorough review! I really enjoyed reading it . I'm planning to go in March! Do you mind if I send you a DM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmetellu Posted February 18, 2018 Author Share Posted February 18, 2018 Yep! That is the one! I did end up going through with the epi and my family and friends told me it looks nice. My biggest worry was looking like my eyes were too close together so I am very pleased. This doctor used to work at Dream but he came out and started this one on his own. Sure! Send me a DM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroboy Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Thank you, for your review! Could you send me a link or links where I can find some more reviews or recommendations on IVE Plastic Surgery center. I googled them but I can't seem to find them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmetellu Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 Can you read Korean? This plastic surgery place does little to no ads it seems like... so the only things you can find are just reviews from people who actually got surgery or from people who are going in for consultations. You can go to naver and search for the clinic in Korean if you can read Korean. I’ve been at the clinic three times now (consultation, surgery, after-care/check-up) and I have only seen Korean patients, so I think they don’t promote to foreigners. By the way, I had a question in a PM but I will also answer it here. The doc checks progress one week after surgery, one month after surgery, 3 months after surgery, and 6 months after surgery. So basically he wants to check his work often to make sure the eyes heal fine, but if you are a foreigner I’m sure just the one week check up is fine. Also, Shinseung I think is really skilled as well since my friend and her sister had great results. I just didn’t go with them, but choosing the right doc is a very personal thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmetellu Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 This won’t let me write down the Korean word for the clinic for some reason (says it is spam) so you can try going to the website someone posted above to get the Korean name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroboy Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Thank you, I have sent them an e-mail as well. Hopefully they are able to speak some English. Will continue my research on them as they would be a nice addition to the list I am consulting with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmetellu Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 I hope they respond to you! Yea I’m not sure if they speak English either. Lol. I probably should have checked before posting on this forum but at least now you know I don’t work for them... just a very satisfied patient. Haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaytea Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 H Hi, I messaged them over Kakao and the person I'm talking to seems pretty fluent in English. They did ask if I could speak to them in Korean though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wondermuffin Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Hi dear, for ive, do they have an on-site English translator? I can’t speak Korean and require procedures like primary incisional DES with ptosis correction, lateral/lower canthoplasty. Do you mind sharing photos and the price you paid at Ive? My heart was initially set at MVP, but after digging through the forum posts, seeing a YouTube video on MVP (a vast difference in the reviewer’s eye size between her blog pictures and YouTube video), MVP is not ideal. Thanks for the review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmetellu Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 That's great they speak some English! I'm not comfortable sharing photos, but you can send me a DM regarding the price. Also, there are some reviews on Korean cafes, but for some reason this forum won't let me even link to places or write the Korean words so you can search it (keeps telling me my comment is too spammy :/). I'm not sure how much it would be exactly for your procedures since I only got non-incisional DES with epi. You should just go to consultations for multiple clinics to get a feel for the doctors. I kind of knew from the beginning I would get it done at Ive, but I went to several consultations since I wasn't sure (you know, the general fit with the doctors is a very personal thing! Can't just rely on hearsay and Internet comments). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmetellu Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 So many people asked for pics through DM, but I'm uncomfortable sharing my pics online, so I searched for some reviews. It's really hard, because Ive doesn't use brokers, I guess, so it took a while for me to find these pictures. Also, all these pictures are like less than 3 months, so you will see that they still have swelling (or uneven eyelid swelling in some cases since the pics are like.. 8 days from surgery). BTW, I could only find reviews in Korean.Review #1Review #2Review #3Review #4 and Part 2Review #5 and Part 2 As you can see, the results are really natural... it's not glamorous like some other places (like Cinderella PS, etc.). If you want glamorous, I don't think this place is for you. I myself was only looking for natural DES so that people won't be able to tell I got PS if they didn't know me. Also, there are different eye styles (in-out, in-line, out-line, etc) and you can see that there are a variety of them in the reviews. I personally got the in-line, and it looks great so far (less than 6 months since surgery, so I still have some swelling left). Most of my swelling was gone after like 8 or so days, so I could leave the house without sunglasses after that time. But as you know, it takes 6 months to a year for all your swelling to go away. Hope this helps! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yiseul Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Hey there lemmetellu! You can share the pic of only your eyes. No one could see your face so that you don’t need to feel uncomfortable. If you are still not willing to share eyes only photo, personally I would count you as a promoter. No offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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