Skin Whitening Treatment

Medical Tourism: Hu's Hu Dermatology Clinic in Apgujeong, Seoul

Having lived in Seoul for more than 5 years, I can confirm that Koreans are usually quite obsessive about their appearance. In particular, most Korean women pay a lot of attention to their skin which has to be as white, fair, even, translucent and flawless as possible. This can explain the reason why Korean women are now a reference in East Asia where whitening treatments are obviously more popular than tanning showers.

When I was a kid, my grandmother used to call me her “China doll”. At that time, I have never been really fond of my turnip complexion and all I wanted was to be tanned all year long. Though my mother kept telling me to stay away from the sun if I did not want to look like a dry raisin at 20 years old, I did not follow her advice. Now, I just think that I should have been a little more obedient.

Anyway, I have never been a big fan of whitening products even when I started to get brown spots on my face. After doing some research on the Internet, I discovered there were actually many different ways to erase my big freckles but I just thought I was too young to use treatments for mature skins. Then I moved to Korea and I just got a shock when I realized that my skin was looking like the surface of the moon. It was probably an optic illusion since I was surrounded by flawless faces wherever I was: in the subway, in department stores, at work, in the street, etc. As if I was living in a Photoshop world.

So what is the skin secret of Korean women? The thing is that genetic heritage, weather conditions and diet cannot explain everything. After all, Asian skins are supposed to age faster than Caucasian ones and Korean climate is not particularly pleasant for any skin (super hot and wet in Summer and extremely dry and cold in Winter). As for nutrition, fermented food can be good for the skin yet spicy condiments can really distress it. Moreover, stress combined with lack of sleep and air pollution are some of the worse enemies for any skin types and Korean are not exempt from those plagues. Now what about jimjilbang (the Korean sauna) and dermatologic treatments? They might be the answer, together with a copious amount of cosmetics, including the famous BB (Blemish Balm) cream and foundation

When Seoul Tourism Medical Center invited me to try the skin whitening treatment offered by Hu’s Hu clinic, I told myself it could not hurt me. I was not expecting any miracle but I thought I could take that opportunity to find out more about the Korean skin secrets.

When I arrived at the reception desk, I just gave my name and got the impression that everybody was waiting for me. The reception area really makes you feel welcome: you can use computers in case you need to check your emails or just want to navigate on the Internet, eat fresh pastries, watch TV and find any kind of information in English you need about the services provided by Hu’s Hu.

Since it was my first visit, I was requested to fill in a form in order to provide any useful details about my  health conditions. Then I met a skin doctor (dermatologist) and explained the reason of my visit to her. I asked her some information about Botox injections and she told me Thermage treatment was much better especially for ageing skins like me (truth always hurts). She also mentioned it was super expensive yet everlasting. Anyway, I was there for a whitening treatment so it was time for me to follow my private attendant for a 1 hour pampering.

I entered a cozy and slightly kitsch room and was asked to put my possessions in the cabinet. Then I lied down on a heating mattress and just let myself treated. The attendant gently cleaned my skin and gave me some explanations so that I can understand what she was doing with my face. She then used a steaming machine to widen my pores for 10 mn. After having removed all impurities from my pores, she applied the whitening product with Vitamin C while I received some electricity from another hi-tech machine. It was slightly uncomfortable but no more than a very cold weather.

After that, she applied a soothing mask for a few minutes, removed it and told me it was finished. When I watched my face in the mirror, I did not notice any miraculous change (not that I was expecting it), except that some dark spots were slightly lighter. I guess I have should do it more often to see some tangible results but anyway, I felt that my skin was softer and brighter.

All in all, customer care at Hu’s Hu is flawless and I think many Korean companies could get some inspiration in order to improve their services to foreigners. Hu’s Hu Clinic is also offering dental services such as teeth whitening. I saw some illustrations in their book and well, it looks very efficient and professional.

Hu’s Hu clinic is very easy to find: take the exit 3 of Apgujeong station (orange line 3), make a U-turn, walk past Pascucci café then IBK Bank and reach the building entrance before the crossroads. Take the elevator and stop at the 3rd floor of the building.

You can also check the following links:

http://english.hus-hu.com/