This article was automatically translated from Japanese using AI. The Japanese version is the authoritative version.
Getting beard hair removal in Japan is, I think, extremely expensive.
And the fact that you have to go back again and again is another pain point.
In Korea, a country famous for its beauty industry, hair removal is apparently much cheaper than in Japan. I had never had it done before, but on my first trip to Korea I decided to try hair removal for the first time!!
The Process and the Price
I had the treatment done at Personal Beauty GU Clinic in Gangnam-gu.
I made the reservation through the smartphone app Gangnam Unni.
I used Gangnam Unni to search for men’s beard hair removal in Seoul, but there were only one or two other places offering it, so choosing wasn’t hard at all.
At the time of booking, the price was 500,000 won for five full-face sessions (about 50,000 yen).
So cheap!!!
Two days before, I applied for an online consultation through the app to make my reservation.
The moment I tapped “online reservation,” a message came back in Japanese.
The app seems to translate the Korean automatically, so I felt no language barrier at all in booking. The message also said that if communication proved difficult they would use a translation device, which gave me the impression that they’d be accommodating to foreign patients.
So with that, I had my reservation, and on the day itself I headed to the clinic.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/FjLBboA6a7Dvu6TT8
When I got there, there were several other Japanese people around, which was a bit of a relief.
Worst case, if something happened, maybe someone would help me out… right? lol
I told the receptionist I had a reservation, was asked to wait, and sat down in a chair.
But even though I arrived at my reserved time, I was kept waiting for about two hours before finally being called and taken to some mysterious private room.
There, someone who seemed to be the doctor explained things to me using a translation device, and I paid.
After that, I waited about ten minutes and was then taken further inside.
A nurse told me she was going to apply anesthetic to my face, and she sprayed some liquid from what looked like an alcohol spray bottle onto my face.
(It had a slightly sweet smell, so it probably really was anesthetic, lol)
After a while my whole face felt a bit tight, and just as I was thinking the anesthetic must be kicking in, a fairly young male doctor called me into the treatment room.
And then came the laser.
Maybe because of the anesthetic, it barely hurt except where my beard is thick, and even there it only stung a little.
It was different from the reputation hair removal has in Japan, so maybe the use of anesthetic is what sets Korea apart.
That said, there was a strong burnt smell, and they kept blowing air on me the whole time.
Just as I was starting to muse about whether the lasers are stronger here than in Japan, I heard “All done!”
It honestly felt like about 30 seconds. I thought, wow, that was fast.
After that I washed my face, headed out, and enjoyed the rest of my trip to Korea.
The Results, Some Days Later
For about a week, almost nothing happened, but by the second week I started noticing spots where my beard looked thinner.
Actually, “not growing at all in places” is probably the more accurate description.
I was genuinely surprised!
The treatment really does seem to work!
I can go back to that clinic four more times, and they told me to come at intervals of about a month and a half to two months.
I figure I’ll just go whenever I can, tacking it onto future trips to Korea.
Overall Verdict
Apart from the absurdly long wait, I had no complaints at all. Communication was a bit halting, but with the ultimate weapon that is a translation device, every problem got sorted out.
When I mentioned the long wait in a review, the clinic replied with an apology and said that it doesn’t usually happen on weekdays, so I should come on a weekday next time!
Maybe I’ll go on a weekday from now on.
It was a pretty interesting experience overall, so definitely give Korean hair removal a try.