K beauty
Alright, I’m a bit of a skin product hoarder…I’ll admit it. But I DO use a lot of skin products - mostly on the more affordable side. Essentially once I find something I like, I stick to it…hence my 10 year obsession with Japanese skincare. However, I’m getting older and my skin has changed quite a bit over those years. So I did a number of the free evals - Olive Young (flagship in Seongsu), Mixsoon in Myeongdong, and just a photo at the Ready Young pharmacy. Later I saw that essentially every beauty desk in multiple malls has the same type of eval…so I’d probably go there.
Olive Young - get there early, about 9:15 or 9:30 latest. If the line wraps past about ¾ down the side of the building, you will likely not get a spot. Once they open the doors, go straight up to the area with the eval and stand in line again - this will take about an hour. You will then be given a time to come back and get your eval done. We were told to come back at 4pm and we did get in about 4:15. The actual exam was about 15 minutes - they have a more in depth one, but I couldn’t figure out how to sign up and the people there essentially said it was booked forever. You will get an overview and a lot of info and recommended products (some good and some not so good, but likely popular ones). They WILL walk around with you and find all the products - this store is massive and even at the smaller ones (which is where we did our shopping), I’d recommend asking for help.
Mixsoon or essentially any other skin product brand - you can essentially walk right in and get it done. Had I known, I would have done this instead. While they will recommend products based on their line, they may not have much for you specifically. BUT you can take that information to a Korean pharmacy - the regular ones or the beauty focused ones and ask for help identifying products. I did both.
Ready Young - I saw the testing machine, but didn’t use it - it was busy in the store and there was no screen or space to move. BUT I did get a lot of product here - some with recommendations and some based on the product suggestions from Olive Young. The only downside of Ready Young is no instant tax rebate.
This was done at Mixoon
This was done at Olive Young
K beauty spas
There are a million out there (or so it seems) — I wouldn’t probably go to the one I used again. Mostly because there were zero after care instructions. While I largely knew…if you have never done botox or laser treatments before, then you don’t know how to care for your skin after. I won’t name names (as they have weird laws in Korea) and it wasn’t BAD, but a bit more like a factory line than a luxury experience. People were very nice, but not much explaining and very little english outside the front desk. It IS one that a ton of influencers are paid/given reduced prices to review and post videos and is in Gangnom. I did get a lovely massage and facial at a tiny spot in Myeongdong - overlooking a cat cafe. It is not private rooms, but they do have curtains. Massage was great and strong, so I’d recommend. Myeongdong Beauty (7th floor) 32, Myeongdong 8ga-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul. You can whatsapp them to book (for a discount) compared to a Klook booking.
Teeth whitening - I went to 365 Dental in Seokchon-dong (near the olympic park) and I was very pleased with the results. So would also recommend. I’ve never done professional whitening before and this was well worth the $120, as I got a cleaning also. I booked this on Creatrip also, but can book direct and I probably would next time, as the confirmation was long for Creatrip ( a few days).
Pop-ups
These seem to also be all over the city (mostly Songsu) and while I wouldn’t recommend going on day 1 and standing in a long line, I did a number of them (just by walking past) and you do get a number of free products and/or bonus products with purchases.
Color analysis and scalp analysis
I did both of these at the Olive Young in Gwangjang Market - it was my favorite Olive Young as it was set in an old textile space. These were diy and honestly, they weren’t great. I got a better read at Mixoon saying I was spring (not winter or summer - which I got from Olive Young). I went back one more time to Olive young and got Muted Spring, so went with that. I think the issue is that there is no screen behind you for this, so people walking by may influence the color analysis.
You can pay to get this done, but it was about $100 at most places I saw and really, I wasn’t that interested.
Overall, I’ve been very happy with my purchases and my skin has really never looked better. I will definitely come back and do facial treatments here, but next time I think I’ll look for non-influencer reviews!
