Hi everyone,
I recently had DES, lower cantho, and lower fat repositioning done at Wink. I just wanted to share my experience in Seoul as it was very difficult to research and parse through all the clinics initially.
This forum and this blog post helped a lot with my shortlist of clinics: https://ahnestkitchen.com/thoughts/des
My shortlist of clinics included: Wink, Marble, Zestar, Thank You. My bias going into the consults were for Zestar and Wink
I went to Wink and Thank You with Jude, a popular translator I found on this forum and he had some helpful insider tips. However, the doctors at Wink and Thank You speak great english so it was only necessary to have a translator to discuss with the consultant, who would negotiate prices with you.
I think I would have had great results at all of the clinics I consulted, but here are some impressions:
1. Wink: Dr. Choi was great and obviously I ultimately ended up going with him. He only does eye surgeries. I really trusted his recommendations and he seemed to have my best interests in mind. He did not overpromise and his staff were friendly. I'm still post op and they are very quick to answer questions through Kakao even though I'm no longer in the country. His quotes actually ended up being the cheapest even without negotiation. I was quoted 3.1 mil for everything or 2.8mil for just DES and fat repositioning.
2. Thank You: busy clinic. I probably waited the longest here (it wasn't egregious, but just something I noticed). The doctor is an MD PhD who seems very confident in his skills. I was quoted around 5.3 mil for everything plus lateral cantho, which Jude said is still on the higher end of what his clients usually get quoted.
3. Zestar: was by far the most expensive (initially quoting me 5.8mil for lateral cantho, lower cantho, DES, fat repositioning and went down to 5.3mil after negotiation), but I have heard it is very popular in Korea and one of my Korean friends has had multiple family members get surgery there. She herself had surgery there many years back and looks great. The doctor did not speak any english but was gregarious and patient. His in house translator, however, was not great so it was more difficult to understand and get my own ideas across. I was very close to putting down a deposit for Zestar because I liked his before and after photos and he promised he could do a lateral canthoplasty, which the doctor at Wink had denied due to my facial anatomy not leading to desired outcomes after surgery. However, I had too many questions left unanswered due to the difficulty with translation so after some thought I decided to go with the doctor I trusted more. They would not budge on the price, but Jude told me this was a rip off price for foreigners.
4. Marble: I saw Dr. Suh (they also have a new Dr. Park who joined recently) who is an eye specialist and only does eye surgeries. Their in house translator was great and responded to questions on Kakao very fast. Dr. Suh did not speak english but also inspired quite a bit of trust and his recommendations matched Wink's. He was calm and patient with my questions and gave his own opinions about the procedures he thought I could benefit from and the ones he thought were unnecessary. This was 2nd best pricing, 3.3mil for everything.
Ultimately, I would have done surgery with Wink, Marble, Zestar, Thank You, in that order. My surgery at Wink itself was pretty unremarkable and went quite smoothly. I'm still very swollen and bruised so I can't comment on the final results yet, but so far so good. I may have revisited Zestar to clarify some questions, but I was only staying in Seoul for 6 days and had a lot of other stuff packed into the schedule so I had a deadline to fulfill.
I recently had DES, lower cantho, and lower fat repositioning done at Wink. I just wanted to share my experience in Seoul as it was very difficult to research and parse through all the clinics initially.
This forum and this blog post helped a lot with my shortlist of clinics: https://ahnestkitchen.com/thoughts/des
My shortlist of clinics included: Wink, Marble, Zestar, Thank You. My bias going into the consults were for Zestar and Wink
I went to Wink and Thank You with Jude, a popular translator I found on this forum and he had some helpful insider tips. However, the doctors at Wink and Thank You speak great english so it was only necessary to have a translator to discuss with the consultant, who would negotiate prices with you.
I think I would have had great results at all of the clinics I consulted, but here are some impressions:
1. Wink: Dr. Choi was great and obviously I ultimately ended up going with him. He only does eye surgeries. I really trusted his recommendations and he seemed to have my best interests in mind. He did not overpromise and his staff were friendly. I'm still post op and they are very quick to answer questions through Kakao even though I'm no longer in the country. His quotes actually ended up being the cheapest even without negotiation. I was quoted 3.1 mil for everything or 2.8mil for just DES and fat repositioning.
2. Thank You: busy clinic. I probably waited the longest here (it wasn't egregious, but just something I noticed). The doctor is an MD PhD who seems very confident in his skills. I was quoted around 5.3 mil for everything plus lateral cantho, which Jude said is still on the higher end of what his clients usually get quoted.
3. Zestar: was by far the most expensive (initially quoting me 5.8mil for lateral cantho, lower cantho, DES, fat repositioning and went down to 5.3mil after negotiation), but I have heard it is very popular in Korea and one of my Korean friends has had multiple family members get surgery there. She herself had surgery there many years back and looks great. The doctor did not speak any english but was gregarious and patient. His in house translator, however, was not great so it was more difficult to understand and get my own ideas across. I was very close to putting down a deposit for Zestar because I liked his before and after photos and he promised he could do a lateral canthoplasty, which the doctor at Wink had denied due to my facial anatomy not leading to desired outcomes after surgery. However, I had too many questions left unanswered due to the difficulty with translation so after some thought I decided to go with the doctor I trusted more. They would not budge on the price, but Jude told me this was a rip off price for foreigners.
4. Marble: I saw Dr. Suh (they also have a new Dr. Park who joined recently) who is an eye specialist and only does eye surgeries. Their in house translator was great and responded to questions on Kakao very fast. Dr. Suh did not speak english but also inspired quite a bit of trust and his recommendations matched Wink's. He was calm and patient with my questions and gave his own opinions about the procedures he thought I could benefit from and the ones he thought were unnecessary. This was 2nd best pricing, 3.3mil for everything.
Ultimately, I would have done surgery with Wink, Marble, Zestar, Thank You, in that order. My surgery at Wink itself was pretty unremarkable and went quite smoothly. I'm still very swollen and bruised so I can't comment on the final results yet, but so far so good. I may have revisited Zestar to clarify some questions, but I was only staying in Seoul for 6 days and had a lot of other stuff packed into the schedule so I had a deadline to fulfill.
