---
type: Place
title: Seoul
description: A day of grooming in the city's wealthiest district — scalp treatment, shave, Korean medicine, skin fade and facial — with every price attached and the verdict that it costs less than its reputation.
tags: [south-korea, seoul, gangnam, grooming, skincare, korean-medicine, barbers, transport]
coordinates: {lat: 37.5667, lng: 126.9783}
timestamp: 2026-08-05T16:00:00Z
---

# Seoul

The capital of [South Korea](/countries/south-korea.md). Harry's day here is
spent almost entirely indoors, in the **wealthiest district of the country**,
testing what the city is best known for.

*Obs: per the bundle's rule on commercial content, the salon, the barber shop and
the clinic are not named. The video links all three; the prices and procedures are
what is recorded here.*

## The treatments, in order and with prices

- **Scalp treatment — 100,000 won**, a little over $100. A camera diagnosis on an
  iPad (dry, sensitive, red spots), ten minutes of steam, a device to sterilise
  the scalp, a high-pressure water massage, then essence and a stem-cell root
  treatment. The chair massages his back and legs the whole time. Around 40
  minutes, and free shampoo on the way out.
- **Shave — 33,000 won**, which he rates as reasonable for the city. Hot towels to
  open the pores, something cold enough to take his breath away, a hydrating step
  that works better on a bare face, the back of the neck and head done as a matter
  of course, a beard-area massage, and then his hair styled.
- **Korean medicine, for posture.** A doctor's check-up, cold therapy, electrical
  stimulation, cupping, acupuncture with the needles subsequently electrified, and
  manual therapy last — which is the most painful thing in the video and the part
  he credits. 5/5.
- **Haircut — a skin fade**, from a barber he'd seen on YouTube before arriving.
  Scalp tonic and seaweed oils included, plus a tonic as a parting gift.
- **Facial.** Consultation, suction, blackhead extraction, numbing cream, then the
  painful part — 6 or 7 out of 10, and 8 or 9 on the nose — and machines at the end
  he describes as a gym session for the face.

**What he concludes about the money**: less than advertised. He'd been told the
facial cost as much as a business-class flight home; the clinic he used is cheaper
because clients do part of the cleaning themselves.

## Getting around

- **Google Maps doesn't work properly.** A domestic mapping app exists; he manages
  on Google Maps for public transport only.
- **Take the metro.** Taxis are expensive, and the traffic is bad enough that he
  says public transport isn't really optional.
- **Street terminals** with transport, lodging, sights, food and entertainment
  information, which he finds genuinely useful.

## Harry's tips

- **Book the shave, not just the haircut.** At 33,000 won it includes several
  things he didn't ask for and rates highly.
- **Expect not to be upsold.** Both places told him what he didn't need and gave
  him a product for free.
- **Ask which clinic makes you do part of it yourself** — that is where the price
  difference is.
- **Don't rush, and don't expect to be rushed.** His explanation for why the
  quality is reliable.

## Source

- [I Tested 5 Star Korean Treatments in Seoul 🇰🇷](/videos/QIi8IIkYyN0.md) —
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIi8IIkYyN0