I Tested 5 Star Korean Treatments in Seoul 🇰🇷

A price-and-process video: five treatments in the wealthiest district of Seoul, South Korea, with the cost of each and a verdict on whether it was worth it.

The finding that surprises him is that it is cheaper than advertised. The facial was described to him as costing the same as a business-class flight home; the shave costs 33,000 won and the scalp treatment a bit over $100.

Obs: per the bundle’s rule on commercial content, the salon, barber shop and clinic are not named here — the video links them and the processes and prices are the information. The video also carries a VPN sponsorship and affiliate links.

Key moments

• [00:00] The framing: the beauty capital of the world, the most expensive treatments he can find, in the country’s wealthiest neighbourhood.
• [00:33] The scalp treatment, 100,000 won. A salon with a coffee shop inside it, and the nicest barber’s he has ever set foot in.
• [01:05] A camera diagnosis of his scalp on an iPad: dry, sensitive, red spots.
• [01:36] Ten minutes of steam, then a device that he’s told relieves clumped muscle and sterilises the scalp. Mildly painful.
• [03:16] The chair massages his back and legs the entire time — three parts of him being worked on at once.
• [03:48] A high-pressure water massage of the scalp, which goes to turbo.
• [04:20] Essence and a stem-cell treatment for the roots.
• [04:52] What he actually rates: the attention. He compares it to a British haircut where the barber isn’t looking at what he’s doing.
• [05:24] The after picture — clean, moisturised, no red spots — and the honest upsell that isn’t one: asked how often he should come back, they tell him his scalp is fine now and to look after it at home.
• [05:59] A free gift of scalp shampoo on the way out. Just over $100 total.
• [06:20] The shave. Hot towels to open the pores, then something cold enough to take his breath away, then a hydrating treatment that works better on a bare face.
• [08:15] They shave the back of his neck and head as well, then massage the beard area, then style his hair — none of which he asked for.
• [09:05] 33,000 won, which he calls reasonable for the city.
• [09:42] The Korean medicine clinic. A doctor’s check-up first, which diagnoses bad posture worse than he thought.
• [10:19] Cold therapy, then electrical stimulation pads on the back.
• [10:49] Cupping, which he has had before on the street and calls much more professional here, and a bit painful.
• [10:49] Acupuncture for the first time in his life — an aching rather than sharp sensation.
• [11:25] Then the needles are electrified, producing a tapping feeling in the lower back.
• [11:58] Manual therapy last, and the most painful thing in the video — his neck cracks and he swears.
• [13:12] Verdict: 5/5, genuinely less pain afterwards.
• [13:42] A practical aside worth more than the treatments: Google Maps does not work properly in South Korea. There is a domestic mapping app; he gets by on Google Maps for public transport and recommends taking it, because taxis are expensive and the traffic is bad.
• [13:42] Public tourist-information terminals in the street covering transport, lodging, sights, food and entertainment.
• [14:12] The haircut, from a barber well known enough that he’d seen her work on YouTube first.
• [14:42] Why so many Korean barbers are women: Korean men mostly wear longer styles and prefer a hairdresser to a barber. His skin fade is the exception.
• [16:24] Facial hair is rare — partly can’t, largely don’t. He notes it was normal historically.
• [16:54] Style matters here more than anywhere he has been. Looking young and well turned out is the norm, and he rates Korean men the best-dressed of any nationality he has filmed.
• [17:28] Nobody rushes. The reason a Korean barber is reliably good, in his account, is that a five-minute in-and-out simply doesn’t happen.
• [18:03] On his receding hairline, unprompted: it’s called getting old, he isn’t especially insecure about it, and he’d take a hair transplant if someone offered a collaboration.
• [18:36] Scalp tonic and seaweed oils as part of a haircut.
• [20:29] No beard trims offered at all, for the reason above.
• [21:03] A parting gift of tonic — Korean hospitality, in his framing.
• [21:34] The facial, which he’d been told costs as much as a business-class flight home. A consultation first, then treatments spread across several floors.
• [22:07] Suction, then blackhead extraction.
• [23:14] Numbing cream, ten minutes, then a lounge to wait in.
• [23:50] Why this clinic is cheaper than the others: you do part of the work yourself — cleaning your own face — and see a consultant only for the parts that need one.
• [24:22] The painful part, with a numb face: 6 or 7 out of 10, and 8 or 9 on the nose. Less bad than he expected, and they check on him throughout.
• [25:56] Finishing machines he can’t identify — a gym session for your face — which tighten, lift and shrink pores.

Extracted pages

• Country: South Korea
• Place: Seoul