Welcome to Dispatch From Korea, a series where you’ll get the inside scoop on the latest K-beauty news straight from our friends at Soko Glam’s Seoul office. Here, one of our supply chain managers shares her pre-wedding skin care regimen.
When my boyfriend proposed, of course I was very excited and happy. But at the same time, I instantly felt pressure to get my skin in shape for the big day. So far, every bride I’ve met was glowing and gorgeous on their wedding day—not just thanks to a full face of makeup and professional hairdo, but also because their skin was flawless.
Here’s what I did to prep my skin and body to be in the best condition possible for my wedding earlier this summer.
A 50-Day Sheet Mask Challenge
I’m a firm believer that including sheet masks in my skin care routine makes everything better – and it’s not just because I’m Korean! How much better could using them every day for 50 days make my skin? I wanted to find out.
For the first two weeks, I couldn’t see much of a difference from my usual skin condition, but by the third week of the challenge, my skin was moist and looked healthier without putting on handfuls of moisturizer. When I missed putting on a sheet mask at night, I added one to my morning routine. I personally loved this because it kept my skin glowing and hydrated much longer than if I hadn’t used one.
It was a very easy and exciting challenge, because I got to use so many different sheet masks – I became a sheet mask shopaholic! My personal favorites for the entire challenge were SUR.MEDIC+ Super Hyaluronic 100TM Aqua Mask and SKINRx Lab’s Madecera Express Mask, because they were perfect for my dry skin.
Non-Surgical Beauty Procedures
Despite the effort to keep my skin healthy with a steady skin care routine, stress haunted me and my skin a month before my wedding.
Thankfully Soko Glam co-founder Charlotte Cho introduced me to a famous beauty concierge service in Seoul called Eunogo.
After reading about Charlotte’s experience using the service last year, I requested Joy, the founder of Eunogo, to help me find the perfect specialists to improve my skin and body before the wedding.
The Treatment: Cell-Cut Injection
Before I selected my wedding dress, I didn’t have any problems with my body. But after I tried on the dress, I realized I wanted to touch up my arms. I met Dr. Choi Bo Yoon, who has a reputation as being a key doctor of many Korean celebrities and K-pop idols, at her clinic at Gangnam Station. She recommended cell-cut injection, a popular non-surgical fat melting treatment. A secret love of Korean celebrities and K-pop idols, this injection not only removes fat cells but also refines cellulite to achieve a slimmer line on the concerned area.
Most importantly, Dr. Choi has her own technique, so the injection is less painful while the medication is injected throughout the fat layers. The medication melts stubborn fat on broad areas.
First, Dr. Choi closely looked around my arms and drew a few lines to check where to put the needles. After she was done, she let me lie down on a bed and started injecting medication. It can be different for each person, but for me, the procedure wasn’t painful at all! I could feel the needle and liquid coming into my body but Dr. Choi was so skillful and finished the entire procedure in just two minutes!
After the procedure, the nurse gave me some water since the injection can cause dizziness (for those who are interested in the procedure, note that you shouldn’t to the clinic with an empty stomach).
I got this procedure twice in two consecutive weeks. Normally the clinic recommends to get the procedure four times for best results, but even with two procedures, it was effective. My arm circumference was decreased by 0.6 inches, and I got significant results from only two injections.
Please note that you need to get a cell-cut injection at least two weeks before your wedding day because your body can be bruised by injection for a week or two.
The Treatment: NCTF Filorga injection
This injection is one of the most popular procedures among Korean brides who are seeking a bright and healthy glow on their special day. Dr. Choi also recommended this injection for my stressed and dehydrated skin. She explained that the secret of this procedure is injecting a mixture of over 50 minerals, antioxidants, and nutrients such as amino acids with needles that are finer than a human hair.
First, the nurse put anesthetic cream on all over my face and let me lie down and rest for 30 minutes. Then the nurse gently wiped the cream off my face and guided me to the procedure room. Right before the procedure, Dr. Choi warned me it could be a little bit more painful than cell-cut injection. I was smiling on the outside and shaking on the inside.
With the nano-sized needle, Dr. Choi started to give shots to my forehead. The whole procedure was not as painful as I feared, though some of the shots made me wince a bit.
Dr. Choi told me that improvement could be recognizable about two weeks after the session, but personally I could see that my skin looked healthier and felt smoother after just 10 days. Three to five sessions of the injection is recommended, but you can see improvement with only a single session.
Bottom Line
I want to say that getting non-surgical procedures is not necessary for all brides. As I mentioned earlier, even with a simple but diligent skincare routine, I could see my skin getting better and better. But if you want professional help for those concerns that the 10 Step Routine cannot help, I would recommend using a service like Eunogo and explore what kind of options are available for you. If you’re lucky enough to be visiting Seoul, Eunogo has multilingual staff on standby, and they will accompany you to the clinic and help you with translations!
