sydthekyd Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Hi everyone!INTRO I'm pretty new here but thought I'd start a blog-like post documenting my journey through researching, choosing clinics, getting surgery as well as aftercare. It's early but I'm really excited so ignore this post until you need it! I'm still figuring things out (and will come back to edit if necessary) but as of now I'm just a regular-degular girl with no sponsorship or reason to fluff up my reviews. If anyone knows the repercussions of being honest, please let me know. Definitely want to respect the clinics but also want to contribute truth for those who will be getting surgeries. Flying to another country to do surgeries, I'd want to know every possible honest detail. *While this post is for everyone's benefit regardless of ethnicity, I wanted to add that I'm including "African", "African-American", and "black" so other black girls can easily search for this post. I've noticed there aren't very many examples of black girls going to Korea/Asia for PS (only YouTubers I can think of are Leslie twins, Megan Bowen, PinkSugar something and one Afro-British girl whose name escapes me) and it's a little scary not knowing for sure if Korean surgeries will work for us due to lack of successful examples/representation (yes, I am well aware that PS in Asia is going to cater to Asians; I'm just trying to help other people out here too).*ABOUT ME To be as vague as possible for privacy reasons: Not a YouTuber or any other type of social media person. My IG follow count is low AF. I was born and raised in America and I'm ethnically half black half Native American but for the sake of discussion, I'm black-passing. I'm early 20's with a well-paying job in tech (if anyone is curious about how people pay for this stuff). I have a button nose. I think it's fine but I want a few tweaks, not an entirely new nose. Like, I want a smaller version of what I have if that makes sense. I will upload a 'before' picture eventually when it's relevant to do so.LOGISTICS It is now June 27, 2018. I bought my *shockingly* cheap ($531 round trip) ticket to South Korea from America for 3 weeks in August- September. So I have ~2 months to get my **** together. I'm going with my boyfriend. Like I said, I have a well-paying job so I've been saving my own money for a few months now. If anyone wants tips on saving, I can go over that. Esp. if you're still in college and paying for yourself. I've been emailing and Kakao-ing clinics for the past couple weeks and have set up a few consultations so far. So basically as soon as I land, I will be doing face-to-face consultations. Then I gave myself a week to have fun, go clubbing, do tourist things and hopefully will have my surgery scheduled the 2nd week I'm there, then a week to heal + do low-key tourist things. Currently planning to get an Airbnb in Gangnam since it'll be close to whichever clinic I choose. Should also mention I have family in Korea on military base and a few girl-friends from university who either live or have boyfriends there. I'm planning to get around using Kakao-Taxi app, subway, and just good old-fashioned walking. Going to pay for surgery in cash. I can read Korean and know basic sentence-structure but am planning to rely on English tbh.CLINICS + PRICES Some clinics asked me to send pics and they gave me their recommendations. So I've managed to narrow down that I want hump removal, slight bridge augmentation (with a sloped bridge, not a huge straight one), tip plasty for bulbous nose, and maybe alar reduction. What I did was I read through Purse Forum and watched YouTube videos. I made a list of the clinics to absolutely not go to because I'm not trying to die. Then I made a list of every clinic I could think of that at least had an English website. My bf can speak Chinese but I didn't feel like going through the hassle of having him translate stuff for me to a completely non-English speaking staff ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . ALSO, I did contact a touring agency (not docfinder). What they do is you tell them what you want, send in pics, then they send your pics to clinics that they choose. I don't know how they choose the clinics but after a few days, you will get an email with clinic recommendations and price quotes. I had to ask the company to give me clinic names because those were hidden at first. Once they gave me the names, I emailed the clinics separately with different pics of myself and the prices were the same. Be sure to do research on what locals vs foreigners pay so you can figure out what's good for you. I decided not to go with the tourist agency since the clinics I contacted have English translators and I have my bf who can help me out for free. But if you are going alone, have the $$$ and are nervous about logistics, do a touring agency but seriously consider the pros and cons. ANYWAY I just copy and pasted my Google doc here. RED is no-go, BLUE is maybe, GREEN is hell yes consultation. These are my personal opinions based on my budget, vibe from consultant(pushing something I didn't ask for), etc..:VIP [emailed] -rhinoplasty (narrow bridge, tip definition) 100% Rib cartilage Rhinoplasty: US$11,000 Mid-face augmentation (rib cartilage): US$3,000 OR Combination Rhinoplasty: US$7,000 Mid-face augmentation (silicone): US$2,500 Great results but do not want rib cartilage because invasive and fear of warping. They REALLY pushed rib cartilage. The consultant didn't even give me the 2nd option after "OR" until I asked if there was possibly any other way. So research rib cartilage in this forum! Just seems too invasive to me. Banobagi [emailed] The average price for Overall Reduction Rhinoplasty costs 6,050,000 KRW~7,150,000 KRW. The average price for Alar reduction is 1,320,000 KRW if Rhinoplasty is done together. I like the style of noses, no horrible reviews although some questionable, and price is upper end of budget. Dream- nice but expensive $8,000 USD Open rhinoplasty with lower lateral cartilage reduction, lateral osteotomy, septal graft extension, and alarplasty JK- not impressed by noses on site. $6,750 USD *Rhinoplasty (procedures included: nasal bridge + tip + alar reduction): Wonjin skeptical. Apparently death here due to shadow doctors Grace- not super impressed by noses. $6,765 USD Nose bridge augmentation(silicone) + Tip plasty(ear cartilage) + Lateral osteotomy + Alar reduction Pitangui [Facebook messaged] $3,500 for alar reduction, tip, hump removal, bridge augmentation Not enough reviews, can barely find pics, can't find any good reviews ID price inquiry on Kakao, no response for days BK [Kakao] $3,200 alar reduction, tip, hump removal, bridge augmentation GNG [emailed] $6,000USD (hoping to negotiate) Consultant is nice online, no pressure Doctors are ENT specialists as well so functionality + aesthetics Complimentary IV nutritional drips (2) View [messaged online then they emailed me] They have a "model" promo going on right now on their English site. It's just using your photos. Eyebag fat repositioning 1.8 million KRW BEFORE discount Basic Rhinoplasty with bridge and tip 4.5-5.5 million KRW BEFORE discount Applied to be a model and was accepted. Would get a 30% discount (pretty sure you could just haggle this without having to be a model) but you have to put down $500 deposit before consultation red flag but that discount...Idk these prices are so good I'm torn MVP [emailed] Starts 4.5 for all included (consisted of Bulbous Nose Tip Correction (Septal Cartilage), Alarplasty (Reduction), Hump Reduction (Lateral-Osteotomy),Deviated Nose Correction (Lateral-Osteotomy) Great price for everything I want Consultant exceptionally nice, no pressure Also has laser treatments for bf's acne scarring so possible discount for doing several procedures together DAPRS [Kakao] Starts 4.5 mil won Absolutely love the noses Emailed JW no response Mega messaged no response Grand- brain damaged a patient I currently have consultations booked with the green clinics: DAPRS, MVP, and GNG. Will continue researching and will retroactively add stuff to this post. I would like to mention that most of the clinics explicitly told me that you get discounts for doing more treatments together but I'm happy with my face, I just want tweaks to my nose- so I'm not planning on doing that as of now. Also, I made sure I sent my pics to clinics so they could see that I'm obviously not Asian or Caucasian so no surprises lol. Probably seems silly but you just never know. Sorry if there are hella typos. I probably won't post anything significant until I actually get to Korea lol~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krod2017 Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pannana Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zz111 Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Excited to see if you pick daprs! I’m keen to them as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebebuffey Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Love hearing this! I have a Filipino nose (wide nostrils, bulbous tip) that shares a lot of similarities with *some* African American noses. I've always wanted to go to an AA specialist but I didn't find any I loved within the US so I'm researching Korea as well! Right now GNG is at the top of my list - I sent them an email and am waiting to hear back. Let me know who you end up going with! And how the in-person consults go. I'm trying to figure out how much time I need to take off from work to do consults + surgery + recovery. Any money saving tips would be great! I'm 25 and work fulltime... I think I'll have to quit my job to go because I don't think I'll be able to take 1-3 months off. (I want to allot 1 month to surgery and swell time, as I'm doing surgeries other than rhinoplasty) and then travel around Asia since I'm already there. Sooooo hit me with your $$ tips! I'm interviewing for a weekend job tomorrow, AH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebebuffey Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 By the way: where did you get your flight from? I'm waiting for a deal on Scotts Cheap Flights.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydthekyd Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 Hey! I will definitely message you about how I felt GNG is but you should still check them out for your own! I obviously haven't gone yet but it's my understanding that you can do consults in like 1-2 days, depending on how many places you visit, if you schedule far enough in advance so you shouldn't worry about that too much. Like right now I have 5 consultations scheduled in 1 day. Also, when you email/kakao/message the clinics, they should be able to tell you how long you would have to stay for stitch removal and all that aftercare stuff so you can totally plan that in advance. And yes, working full time can suck if you don't have a lot of vacation saved up . I basically did weekend vacations this year so far so I didn't use up any of my personal days. For my longer trips, I try to plan dates that include national holidays so I can use the holiday as a "free" vacation day lol. So, some saving strategies I am currently using include budgeting out your fixed costs like rent, food, bills or whatever that you know you absolutely have to pay each month. You really have to stick to it. Try to make a commitment, based on your timeline of when you want to get surgery, for how much you put aside each paycheck and do it. The clinics seem really flexible about scheduling, especially if you give them enough time like I said earlier so you shouldn't put too much pressure to have your funds ASAP. I just put my money in a savings account as soon as I'm paid so I don't touch any of it since I buy stuff I don't need all the time lol. Anyway, right before your next check, if you have any money left over, just put that into your savings account too. Remember the conversion rates too. Right now for USA, 1000 krw is only 89 cents. So a 6,000,000 krw surgery is $5,342 PLUS you get that 8-9% tax refund on your surgery bringing the price down to ~$4914. And this isn't even including the fact that you can usually bargain the price at your consultation. So those are just some basic tips for full-time jobs. I just try to limit how much I spend on stuff I don't need for a while. Also do not recommend European-luxury shopping in Asia because they hike up the prices. But since you're planning to be there for a while, you should check out those conversion rates like I said, since you'll have to save more! If you have any other question, hopefully I can help! Oh and I usually do google flights. Scott's Cheap Flights is a good bet too BUT I recommend downloading an app called 'Hopper'. It predicts how much flights will cost for the dates you choose and will tell you the best time to buy a ticket. I also have a credit card that gives discounts on flights when you use points. Just another option. Good luck at your interview! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebebuffey Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Let me know how your consults go! I've heard amazing things about MVP and Dr. Seo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krod2017 Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 I'm just so glad you didn't mention tlps. That's where I went for my primary and dr choi gave me this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlydzz Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Wow your writing is exceptional, thank you for the review and hope everything goes well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydthekyd Posted July 5, 2018 Author Share Posted July 5, 2018 Thanks for the tip! Do they usually offer free revisions? Not that I would go back to the same place... Haha thanks! I feel like I usually just write in stream of consciousness but hopefully this helps people out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlydzz Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Im interested in rhinoplasty but idk when i'm going to get it, it is pretty helpful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krod2017 Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 Yes they offered. But I would definitely not go back to a place that screwed me over the first time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milka_h Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 I've emailed GNG, JK, ID, Banobagi, JW, April31, Cinderella, View. Right now I have removed JW, Banobagi, Cinderella and View from my list based on my research. trying to schedule consultations with GNG, JK, ID, April31. But GNG and April31 are so slow in responding. I had found a cheap flight on the 24th of July and wanted to already fly out to Korea but since they were so slow responding I've lost that flight and didn't want to take the risk. ID told me that their peak season has started and the girl from DFK told me actually July and August are not so busy for the clinics. But in other thread I read actually July and August is busy due to school holiday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebebuffey Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Have you checked out Uvom, Opera, or MVP? MVP's Dr. Seo is well-regarded on PF for primary rhinoplasty. He did SmittenKitten's, if you've seen her post. I read about a bad rhino from April31 so decided not to Kakao them. GNG's reviews are hit or miss. I think it's always fairly busy in Korea, especially in the summer when people are out of school. Then again, winter gets busy as people are on holiday break then, too. The consultant from Uvom said if I set up my appointment to consult in advance, it won't be a problem. I've read on PF that they'll bump local people's surgeries in favor of foreigners sometimes, because they charge foreigners more. Not sure how true that is though! Definitely consult with more clinics if you don't feel you've found on you 'click' with. Also, sydthekyd was totally right - Hopper is WAY BETTER than Scotts Cheap Flights! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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