ririna Posted May 5, 2018 Share Posted May 5, 2018 Hi everyone, I'm writing this post in a bit of a shock after discovering that a large portion of the reviews that I had read previously on Purseforum and RealSelf for Regen had been sponsored. Just looking through Regen's Instagram, I was able to find a lot of "familiar faces"... This is really disappointing to me. I was first really drawn to going to another clinic (GNG) for my facial contouring because of the abundance of glowing reviews that I found. However, later on I found that a lot of the people reviewing their surgeries did not disclose that they were sponsored. Personally, I am trying my best to find honest reviews of patients who didn't receive a discount to review their surgeries and am looking for clinics that don't put such large effort into promoting their clinic. Here are some examples of what I found. First, I'll put the name of the procedures, then the review they made on PF or RS, and then the Regen Instagram post with the same pictures. (Please keep in mind, these aren't even all the ones I found. There are some whose pictures look similar to the ones I found on Instagram, but are not the exact same picture. I only included the ones that are the exact same.) zygomahttps://www.realself.com/review/gangnam-seoul-korea-cheek-augmentation-zygoma-reduction zygoma, rhinoplasty, double eyelid, fatgraft (page 4)# data-s9e-mediaembed="instagram" allowfullscreen="" onload="var a=Math.random();window.addEventListener('message',function(b){if(b.data.id==a)style.height=b.data.height+'px'});contentWindow.postMessage('s9e:'+a,'https://s9e.github.io')" scrolling="no" src="https://s9e.github.io/iframe/instagram.min.html#BZNE2YRAVk2" style="border:0;height:640px;max-width:640px;width:100%"> fat transferhttps://www.realself.com/review/seoul-kr-fat-transfer-face# anti-aging, mammoplasty, tummy tuck# data-s9e-mediaembed="instagram" allowfullscreen="" onload="var a=Math.random();window.addEventListener('message',function(b){if(b.data.id==a)style.height=b.data.height+'px'});contentWindow.postMessage('s9e:'+a,'https://s9e.github.io')" scrolling="no" src="https://s9e.github.io/iframe/instagram.min.html#BZnK15WAf3X" style="border:0;height:640px;max-width:640px;width:100%"> This woman (I can't find her post on here, but I'm sure some of you guys will recognize her like I did. She also made a post on her personal blog about her ps experience I believe. She got facial contouring and a fat injection done) Now, I want to make it clear that this is NOT intended as a "witchunt" thread. I have no ill will towards any of these people. I am just trying to let you guys all know what I've discovered. Personally, I wish the reviewers on here were more transparent with the fact that they received discounts/ sponsorships. I still believe that Dr. Oh is very much capable and knows what he's doing. But there's always the fear in the back of my head... "What if they perform better on patients whose results they know will be publicized rather than on the unknown/ average patient?". I know this probably won't be breaking news to some of you. But for the newer people, I would like to forewarn you guys. This forum has already given me a huge amount of help in researching, and I would like to thank you guys for that, and help out some of you who I know have become interested in Regen like me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missy_sana Posted May 5, 2018 Share Posted May 5, 2018 Thanks for sharing, Ririna! Keep up with the diligent research and from that, hopefully, the odds of successful surgery will work in your favour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahspeaks Posted May 5, 2018 Share Posted May 5, 2018 Wow Ririna you did some really good digging there. I too have read couple of realself reviews that you have mentioned in this post & if not for your post i would might have never known that these were sponsored reviews. Now, i'm again sceptical of Regen. So, if a clinic posts their patients pics/videos on their insta that means that person was sponsored, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ppp Posted May 5, 2018 Share Posted May 5, 2018 I think you just have to take everything with a grain of salt patients usually will get a certain percentage off or free skin treatments if they share their before and after photos. Doesn’t necessarily mean that it was a sponsored/free surgery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gats Posted May 5, 2018 Share Posted May 5, 2018 I recognize the Canadian patient from realself, she's actually pretty honest in her reviews and in her messages as well if you ask her questions. Basically many clinics offer you a small discount off surgery if you post a review of the surgery and allow them to use your pics, who doesn't want to save a few thousand right so don't assume just because you see their pic, they can't be trusted. The reviews I don't trust are the ones written by someone from the clinic rather than the actual patient, I'm grown pretty good at spotting those now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ririna Posted May 5, 2018 Author Share Posted May 5, 2018 @ElijahSpeaks Thanks Elijah. I knew that you were interested in Regen like me from talking to you a few days ago, so I'm glad you saw this. And yeah, any pictures or videos on any of a clinic's social media pages (Instagram, blogs, their website, etc.) are promotional. Either the clinic gave the person a discount to write a review/ film videos for the clinic's YouTube channel, or they flat out paid for the entire surgery (like in the case of those twin sisters Celia and Sonia that went to Cinderella and made vids on their personal channels). They will also sometimes offer some freebees like extra deswelling treatments & pumpkin juice for allowing their photos and videos to be in the clinic's possession, as was the case for Kitty who went to GNG. There are some newer ones that I am following, like this girl on YT named "Jade PinkSugar" who is getting v-line surgery in May (I believe she's actually in Korea right now). If you watch her ps video, you'll find out that she was offered a discount for blogging her experience at Regen. Even though she has only about 200 subscribers on YouTube, she has over 1,000 followers on Insta, which is why I believe they offered her a promotional discount (more exposure for them). In case you can't find it, the vid she made is called "BLACK GIRL GETS KOREAN PLASTIC SURGERY - V LINE FACIAL CONTOURING". It's super disappointing I know, I'm just trying to find people who weren't offered anything in return for their review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ririna Posted May 5, 2018 Author Share Posted May 5, 2018 @Gats Yeah, I know. I heard from one girl I talked to a few days ago that Regen offered her a discount if she wrote a review, but they said they wouldn't force her to write a positive review. That made me feel a little better. But still, I feel weary about clinics that have so many sponsored reviews. I just get these ID clinic vibes, you know what I mean? ID clinic puts a HUGE effort into glamorous promotional content, which initially draws in a lot of people, even though they are a bad clinic with a history of doctor-swapping. I just would feel more comfortable relying on reviewers that have not got any incentive to write positively (like feeling bad for getting a good discount on their surgery or whatnot). I don't think this means that every person whose pics are featured on a clinic's site automatically should not be trusted, however. But there are a lot of circumstances that come into play that make it more difficult to tell if they are reliable. Again, I wonder if I will be treated the same way as a person whose results have been publicized. Because unfortunately, I have heard of cases where that is not so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gats Posted May 5, 2018 Share Posted May 5, 2018 I think if you read the review itself, you should be able to tell whether the review is reliable. Like you responded to peri.winkle asking if that's her in the pic in another thread, but if you read through her review you can tell she's being real and isn't just acting like some PR person hired by the clinic. If they offer you a couple thousand off to use your pics and post a review, not forcing you to be positive, why not accept it? I don't think a doctor would base how well he/she performs a surgery on whether the pics can be used or not, as if they do a bad job the patient can make the results public on their own right? Which clinics have you heard treat you differently based on agreeing to review/pics or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ririna Posted May 5, 2018 Author Share Posted May 5, 2018 @Gats I don't know, I guess I'm just an overly cautious person? Haha. In the case of peri.winkle, I did think she was genuine, since I saw her writing helpful responses to other people's posts who were asking about Regen. A lot of people will just leave Purseforum forever after they're done with their surgeries. Like I said, the reason why I feel this way is because of how people can be treated differently depending on if the results will be publicized. MissOrange talked about how 2 girls she met in Korea went to GNG and got unsatisfactory v-line results and were not offered revisions. These girls did not have publicized surgeries. There are some other people that I read reviews on, but they were publicized surgeries that went well. Also, because of the slander laws in Korea, you can be threatened if you write a negative review on a clinic. I've heard of quite a few girls getting threatened to take down their reviews on here before. This is why I worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheonlylooks25 Posted May 6, 2018 Share Posted May 6, 2018 EXACTLY. Most people are reluctant to show their b&a so a bit of incentive is necessary. No way would i share my pics, I want people to think I was born like this way!!! Hehehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ririna Posted May 6, 2018 Author Share Posted May 6, 2018 Thanks @MissOrange. It really does feel like going through a minefield trying to find proper ethical surgeons and clinics. I'm also scared of something going wrong and the surgeon not taking responsibility. I really do wish the Korean slander laws weren't what they are. The only thread that I found here with posts of bad experiences so far is the "Negative Clinic Experiences" thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ririna Posted May 6, 2018 Author Share Posted May 6, 2018 @SheOnlyLooks25 Hahaha I feel like that too If it looks super natural then maybe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleboots824 Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 http://www.prskorea.co.kr/ this site is helpful! Although accreditation doesn't always mean skill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csolare Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 i agree with everything stated but to be honest, being sponsored and getting a promotional discount are different things. People who are unhappy with their surgery but obligated to write a review may work around it and choose their words carefully for the public forum at least. Likewise, those who are really happy with their results may come across as fake lol. For the most part, I've personally spoken to and seen photos from people who have gotten promotional discounts due to my skepticism and as much as there may be people unsatisfied, I've also met many people who have gotten promotion prices and are over the moon about their results. It really it up to the individual case and up to your own better judgement. The more detailed a review is, the better, but make your own educated decisions ^^ the best thing you can do is read a review and pm the OP for details because private messaging is more intimate and safe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijahspk Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 Hi Purseforum is weird, i was unable to reply up until now but i think now i can reply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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