My Frustrating Experience with Getting Consultations for Facial Contouring

I’ve been thinking about getting my face slimmed down for a while now. Not because someone told me to, but just… you know, the usual pressure from seeing people online and hearing comments. It’s gotten worse lately, people online saying stuff like “What happened to her face? Did she get plastic surgery?” It’s tiring. Even celebrities get those comments when they’re not even doing anything, just posting pictures.

I started looking into clinics, mostly around Apgujeong and Yeongdeungpo because that’s where everyone talks about. I wanted something subtle, like making my face look smaller, but not drastically different. I’ve heard of clinics that specialize in facial contouring, like making your jawline sharper or shaving down cheekbones. Apparently, there’s a place called Cellin Clinic that some people mention, and I also saw some names like Eunpyeong-gu or Yeonsinnae plastic surgery clinics come up, but honestly, I didn’t know much about them.

My first hurdle was just finding a place that felt right for a consultation. I remember seeing an ad for a place that promised “making your face smaller” and I thought, okay, let’s start there. The consultation itself was… well, it was a lot. They ask you all these questions about what you want, and then they show you these before-and-after pictures. It’s easy to get lost in it. They talked about different procedures, like v-line surgery or cheekbone reduction. I was trying to get a handle on the costs. I heard some places could be anywhere from a few million won to over ten million won, depending on what you get done. The one I went to initially seemed to be in the mid-range, maybe around 5-7 million won for what I was initially thinking of.

What really started to get on my nerves was how different the advice was from place to place. One doctor would say, “Oh yes, you need this exact procedure, it will fix everything.” Another would say, “That’s not really necessary, we can achieve that with fillers.” It felt like they were trying to sell me something, rather than genuinely help me figure out what was best. I remember one place pushing aggressively for a specific type of cheekbone surgery, and when I asked about the recovery time, they were a bit vague. They said maybe a few weeks, but with swelling and all that, I wasn’t convinced. It felt like a big commitment, especially with work.

I also tried looking into some less conventional ideas, like the “back of the head” surgery some people mention online, though that sounded a bit extreme and I don’t even know if it’s a real thing for slimming the face. It’s more about shaping the skull. I quickly dismissed that. The whole process made me feel a bit overwhelmed. It wasn’t just about the surgery itself, but the endless consultations and trying to sift through all the information, and worrying about whether I was being told the whole truth.

After a few of these consultations, I started to feel less excited and more anxious. The initial desire to “improve” my appearance felt bogged down by the practicalities and the slight untrustworthiness I sometimes felt. I remember one doctor mentioning that sometimes, focusing on subtle changes with injectables like fillers or botox could achieve a similar effect without the major surgery. That was a different perspective than the others who were all about cutting and shaving. It made me wonder if I was even going in the right direction.

I still haven’t decided anything concrete. The costs are a big factor, and the thought of the recovery is daunting. It’s not as simple as just walking into a clinic and getting a new face. There’s so much to consider, and honestly, sometimes I feel like maybe I should just stick with what I have. But then I see another picture or read another comment, and the thought creeps back in. It’s a cycle, I guess.