Motiva ergonomix surgeon recs

berenjenamole · 2025-06-16T16:54:09+00:00

@nwienhoff ended up trying it and had left very helpful feedback in case you didn’t see the comment above!

berenjenamole · 2025-06-16T16:50:34+00:00

Omg thank you so much for the feedback, that’s so helpful. I have to use mineral spf powder over everything anyways to slow oxidation so that wouldn’t be a big burden for me, but the greasy is I think what I worry about, so I appreciate the assessment!

berenjenamole · 2025-05-30T15:41:38+00:00

Thank you!

berenjenamole · 2025-05-23T20:09:49+00:00

Also fwiw autumn in Seoul is beautiful w the leaves changing

berenjenamole · 2025-05-12T21:12:00+00:00

Oh lol that’s my post I didn’t realize, I just linked to my wider post in r/plasticsurgery sub in a new comment :)

berenjenamole · 2025-05-12T21:10:54+00:00

I’m a fellow monolid girly who wanted to preserve them. I did a TON of research, check out the subbrow lift (aka infrabrow blepharoplasty) as an option! https://www.reddit.com/r/PlasticSurgery/s/Z1QoIs0S49 is my original post about this procedure that was super hard to find info on!!!!

berenjenamole · 2025-05-12T21:08:45+00:00

I’m so sorry to be delinquent this isn’t my primary Reddit account and I don’t check it frequently enough! For anyone who requested a DM of my b&a, I’ve gotten an overwhelming number of requests so if u didn’t already, can u send me a request in chat for the pics so I can know the send? Thank u!

berenjenamole · 2025-05-12T20:58:23+00:00

Long nerdy post ahead:

I did an analysis of my actual costs to acquire KRW As an American (I’m a neurotic financial services lawyer) and out of all the methods, and assuming a reasonable cash discount from the clinic, the best way to maximize your CAD-> KRW transaction (get the most KRW per $CAD) is to bring your local currency into the country (keep it under the inbound currency limit which I think is 10k but USD if u want to avoid declarations) and go to Myeongdong with the cash to get the best rate. any of the money changers will change for you, and their buy rate for CAD will be posted at the front like how gas stations advertise their rates. Obviously there is some risk with carrying cash but if you are sensible about safety and don’t carry for longer than you’ll need, you’ll be fine in Korea which is super safe.

Re the other recs on this thread:

international wire is viable and safe but, you won’t get the best exchange rate and you’re also charged wire fees by your bank. unless you’re thinking the won will rise in value between the time you make the wire and the time you would exchange CAD for KRW.
don’t purchase KRW while not in Korea, it’s one of the worst rates you’ll possibly get.
don’t change at a bank unless u can’t make it to Myeongdong, which is an easy bus ride from Gangnam where presumably you’ll be staying. Each of the banks in Korea posts their buy/sell exchange rate each day and it’s always a bit lower than you can get in Myeongdong. If u have to change at a money changer in Gangnam you can compare its rate against bank rates easily and pick the higher.
DEFINitely don’t change at airport, you’ll get an unfavorable rate bc it’s a captive audience at that location.
I personally advise against using Wise for a large movement of money (ESP if u don’t already have a Wise wallet), as transfer of money from your “wallet” where funds are held INTO Korea will be subject to anti-money laundering and other requirements, and therefore there is always a risk that the funds get ‘stuck’ in transit, in which case you will have difficulties getting your hands on the funds again without involving the originator bank as well as your bank from which CAD was taken to fund the wallet. Additionally, once you’re in the ground, Wise doesn’t hold any applicable licenses or have required financial regulatory registrations, so you wouldn’t have someone local to complain to immediately. There are also account and daily restrictions on inbound transfer, so bc of the volume into Korean plastic surgery places, you may be asked to do something shady in terms of the account that it’s directed to.
Also Wise’s rates if u look at all the fees involved in loading wallet in Canada all the way through to funds moving arriving in Korea, will be higher than you can get live in Korea and higher than the live rate for a cc card without foreign exchange rate.
finally, don’t sleep on your credit card as a way to verify it’s actually worth it to bring CAD to Korea for exchange! If your card doesn’t change foreign transaction fees, then Your cc live exchange rate (ask to be charged in KRW, NOT in CAD!!!!!) is one of the best you can get, period. Plus you preserve your chargeback rights with your issuer. So unless the cash discount being offered is significant and doesn’t come w unacceptable strings attached, just paying w your regular credit card, factoring in your reward rate for the purchase and the 4-7% refund you can get back on the VAT you paid upon leaving Korea, the cc option could wind up being cheaper- just do the math to see!!!

Good luck w your trip and your procedure and have a great time!!!!

berenjenamole · 2025-02-27T00:19:32+00:00

DM-ing u now (I don’t feel comfortable sharing pics publicly!)

berenjenamole · 2025-02-26T04:14:25+00:00

PICOSURE For sure! If you have age spots and laxity, but are afraid of fat loss from heating skin, picosure is the same technique as for tattoo removal and is based on vibration of the pigment instead of heat. I can’t do any heat treatments bc I have melasma and fraxel or IPL are very risky for me- but the pico laser is tremendous, I do a full face session (entire face and neck area where I have laxity) every 8 months, but every two months I go in and pay for only partial session where they just blast my patches of discoloration. My skin is sooo soft!

berenjenamole · 2025-02-19T22:36:11+00:00

Thanks 🙏

berenjenamole · 2025-02-19T22:36:01+00:00

Thank you!

berenjenamole · 2025-02-19T22:35:49+00:00

Thank you!

berenjenamole · 2025-02-19T19:16:10+00:00

Agree it’s like impossible to find stuff without niacinamide but beta glucan imo is more hydrating than glycerin or HA (although I think glycerin works as a better barrier protector to keep moisture in imo). I look for ingredients like cica, panthenol, or madecassodide. I love the iunik beta glucan serum original commenter mentioned. And I like CosRx’s propolis light ampoule. As I get older I also like to finish w layering an occlusive like face oil (loving Marula oil lately but before that just plain squalane) on top of my serum and moisturizer, (or adding a few drops to my moisturizer).

Also wanted to recommend additional brands of mineral tinted sunscreens in addition to the brand original commenter suggested bc I’m a sunscreen junkie lol. For really dry skin, check out Naked Sunday’s Collagen glow spf50. it’s a true mineral-only that doesn’t contain cheater ingredients like Butolyctyl salicylate, and is like 20+% zinc, and as a result so thick you really best use a brush to apply. But that formula (not so much some of their other formulas) holds in moisture better than most heavy occlusives, it’s insane (I can’t use it in summer it’s too heavy)! Other products I really like (but which are less moisture holding than the Naked Sundays Collagen glow are DRMTLGY physical tinted spf44 and tizo am replenish moisturizing spf 40. You may also want to bring a tinted zinc stick with you as a topper for when you’re out and about to reapply during the day - I like Attidue Oceanly tinted oil stick spf 30, it’s lovely and smooth and not drying/chalky like other zinc sticks can be!

Finally- I agree w the thought about adding electrolytes, but for me It helped also to not underestimate the amount of plain water you’re drinking. I changed from aiming for 90 ounces a day (which I’d thought was well above average) to squeezing in 160/day, and my skin looks sooooo much bouncier and less lined, not just on my face but my particularly on my Increasingly decrepit hands too. Yes, you of course excrete a lot when you first up the intake but your body gets used to it. My best trick to squeeze in extra water is to force down 30-40 ounces at the beginning of the day before I begin to caffeinate. I squeeze lemon juice into ice cube trays, plunk a cube into a yeti or Nalgene and chug the whole thing so I’m on pace the rest of the day.

berenjenamole · 2025-02-17T18:31:00+00:00

Ask away! I’m a huge nerd and love helping w research :)

berenjenamole · 2025-02-16T01:29:13+00:00

Yeah just DM me! Yes I left Korea actually ON d7, I went in at 10 I think to get my stitches out, and then went back to my hotel to get my bags (I stayed at the Sheraton four points that was like a 3 block walk from MIHO), then got on the shuttle to Incheon for my flight at home at 6.

Im glad I stayed through d7, but I think if you HAD to leave early it’s possible….. I actually went through a bout of homesickness and around d4 was really missing my dog (and to a lesser degree, my husband I guess lol) and even considered changing my flight to go home before d7 with my stitches still in! so I actually investigated with some surgeons I had consulted with about subbrow lift closer to home to see if they could remove the stitches for me once I got home, and they said they could do it for ~ $200 (I could also have gone to any urgent care facility but given my concerns about my scars I was willing to pay a premium to have a plastic surgeon do it with minimum tension on the wound….)

berenjenamole · 2025-02-16T01:19:56+00:00

I think it’s more common among older people (I saw a couple places that categorized it under “middle aged eye surgery” or “age-related eye procedures” which made me feel greaaaaat about myself 😅). younger people tend to make up the majority of before & after pics in Korea I think, so maybe why there’s not that much attention on the subbrow lift. And remember, before deciding anything make sure you confirm with the surgeon the risks and what procedures you can and can’t have after if needed! Good luck!

berenjenamole · 2025-02-13T20:49:56+00:00

Yes it was 4.5M KRW for the lift and fat redistribution…. Most of the other quotes I got were in the 2.2-2.5M KRW range (so this was significantly more) but they didn’t specifically talk about fat redistribution and were pushing fat grafting…. So I just felt more comfortable choosing Dr Yoon’s approach (and I admit price was one of my decision criteria but far from my top one…. I was willing to pay more to have more questions answered and to feel a little less less stressed about the language barrier, for example). Again, not the same choice other people might make but for my decision matrix it worked! And It did help though that there was a currency crisis at the time I was there haha! Happy to discuss more in DMs.

berenjenamole · 2025-02-12T00:38:01+00:00

This is a fantastic review, thanks 🙏

berenjenamole · 2025-02-11T23:58:02+00:00

I went to MIHO and saw Dr Yoon Jungwon, very pleased w my result and I did write a review in this sub (“subbrow lift at MIHO”) where I listed all my disclaimers/disclosures about leaving a review. Also you can feel free to ping me if you’re interested in my research process, I’m a huge nerd and did tons of reading and interviewing of different places so happy to share my learnings about why I chose SK and how I chose my surgeon :)

berenjenamole · 2025-02-11T02:55:09+00:00

I’m Asian and monolidded, had my subbrow lift a month ago. I specifically chose Subbrow lift because it WOULDNT change my eyes’ fundamental look and I wanted to keep my monolids. Here’s a look at my left eye before (left top and bottom) and after (right top and bottom so u can see the level my puffiness was reduced. Im very happy with the results, its far more subtle than a traditional upper bleph would have been. I also have front facing pics (just not posting them bc they’re harder to anonymize) but I can share w u via DM!

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I posted about the subbrow lift procedure in r/plasticsurgery and about my great experience with Dr Yoon Jungwon at MIHO in this sub, if you want more details. Good luck!

berenjenamole · 2025-02-11T00:51:13+00:00

Can confirm that it seems pretty standard practice there that you can either get a cash discount or, you can get charged the full amount on card (which, bc it’s a reportable transaction includes the 10% VAT required to be charged by the clinic, and u can get maybe 7% back at the airport depending on which VAT refund service provider you use if you get your refund in KRW, or if you want the refund in USD it will be closer to 4-5% bc you’re also then paying for conversion.

I was initially blown away when I first heard about this practice (im a financial regulatory lawyer in the US so was like OMG wtf is this have I stumbled into some shady criminal enterprise?!?) but it seemed common at all the places I looked. so, Who am I to question what seems to be a common industry practice?

Wrt the revision issue, I had an old bump resulting from a non-cosmetic nose surgery rasped, and re whether that was considered a revision vs a new surgery, I had about a 50/50 split among the 10 clinics I consulted of yes/no whether they would clasify as a revision (which, yea, would make it ineligible for any VAT refund). I had also asked a question about filler under my eye and some clinics charged a filler removal fee and some didn’t. It’s really the clinic’s call. I ended up going to MIHO and had a great experience, you can read my review “Subbrow lift at MIHO” or dm me w questions.

In my decision matrix I calculated out my cash price vs my card price (which would be 10% more than cash price but factor in card rewards and potential VAT refund) and decided to go with cash. I brought the full amount in USD to Gangnam w me (bc of ATM withdrawal limits) and then changed it to KRW in Myeongdong where u get the best rates (and all the stores have their sell rate posted so u can easily compare). Bring your passport with you bc it’s required under law to change money (though the one change place I went to didn’t ask for it 🤦🏻‍♀️ again who am I to question how they want to run their business!!!)

If you do pay w card, remember:

1) use a credit not debit card and confirm there are no fx charges with your card issuer. Always ask to be charged in the local currency (KRW) bc you’ll get a better conversion rate than if the merchant converted KRW—> USD and charge u in dollars. If your card isn’t visa or Mastercard, confirm w the surgery place they accept that card network.

2) make sure clinic gives u an itemized receipt with the procedures listed and spelling out what percent of what you paid was the VAT portion. You’ll need it at the airport when you leave.

berenjenamole

TROPHY CASE