I went to Gangnam station for a consult and just ended up staring at the price list

The hallway smelled like expensive antiseptic

I walked into the clinic near exit 10 of Gangnam station around 2 PM on a Tuesday. The place was quiet, which was the only reason I didn’t turn around and leave immediately. I had spent the last three nights reading about Endotine and various lifting procedures until my eyes blurred. My forehead lines have been bothering me for a while now, and honestly, seeing photos of celebrities openly talking about skin boosters and fillers made me think it was just something everyone does. It felt like a standard maintenance task, like getting a car oil change. But standing at the reception desk, looking at the menu of procedures, the reality felt much heavier than those casual internet threads implied.

Trying to make sense of the menu

There were so many options it felt like I was picking a complicated meal at a restaurant where I didn’t recognize any of the ingredients. Ultherapy, various thread lifts, something called M-Face—it was overwhelming. The receptionist gave me a tablet to fill out my history, and I just clicked through, feeling slightly foolish. I knew my forehead was the main concern, but the consultants kept pushing for a full-face approach, mentioning how sagging in one area usually pulls down the rest. It’s hard to tell if they are just trying to hit a sales target or if they are genuinely looking at my face. I didn’t ask for a quote for everything, just the basic lifting, and the number they threw out—around 1.5 million won—made me pause. I sat there nodding like I understood the nuances between each machine, even though all I heard was a lot of technical jargon about heat and skin layers.

The gap between the machine and my mirror

I spent a good twenty minutes waiting in the lounge, sipping lukewarm tea and reading articles about FDA regulations for home beauty devices. It’s funny how we look for these high-end, heavy-duty machines in clinics, yet we simultaneously buy cheap microcurrent gadgets on the internet hoping for a miracle that clearly isn’t coming. I saw a brochure for BTL devices like Emface, and they made it look so simple. Just sit in a chair, get some energy pulses, and walk out looking ten years younger. But then I looked at the person next to me in the waiting room who looked a bit swollen, clearly post-procedure, and I wondered if the downtime would actually be manageable for my work schedule.

Why I walked out without a booking

When I finally spoke to the actual practitioner, they were calm and professional, which made me feel even more nervous. They pointed out the nasolabial folds—the ‘smile lines’—which I hadn’t even really noticed until they traced them with their finger. It felt like they were dismantling my face piece by piece. Suddenly, the urge to fix my forehead turned into a weird insecurity about my entire facial structure. I told them I needed to think about it. I probably won’t go back to that specific clinic. I didn’t feel ‘better’ after leaving; I just felt like I was holding a piece of paper with scribbled numbers and a lot of confusing medical terms. I’m back at home now, staring in the mirror, and honestly, I think I’m just going to keep wearing my bangs down for a few more months.