I was looking for a clinic in Gangnam during my trip to Korea, and since my travel schedule was tight and I only had Sunday available, my options were pretty limited. I found Girin Plastic Surgery Clinic and booked my appointment one day in advance. I had both the consultation and the procedure the next day. They offer English consultations and have a translator with you throughout the whole process, so the whole process was very smooth. After consultation, I decided to get Ultherapy, which is a very advanced lifting treatment. I wanted to address my jawline, which started sagging a bit with age (I am in my fourties). It was a little painful, but still tolerable. The doctor also designed a treatment plan based on my facial features beforehand and confirmed everything before the procedure. Now it’s been about a month, and I can see a subtle but noticeable difference, especially along my jawline. Things looks a bit tighter and more lifted, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

I would like to share my experience at Girin plastic surgery clinic in Korea doing stem cell fat grafting. It’s been about 2 months now since the surgery, and I am very satisfied with the results and the experience and hope this review can help others who are considering fat grafting vs fillers or looking into anti-aging treatments.

I’m a 34 year old foreign woman of Asian descent living in Korea and about 3 years ago started noticing some volume loss in my face, especially under my eyes and around my nasolabial folds (smile lines). My face is quite thin so I think it made it more noticeable. I had tried fillers before on my smile lines, but after 2 rounds, I felt like it looked a bit unnatural so I stopped. Important: you would have to dissolve any filler before doing the procedure I did. I was looking into other options including both surgery and treatments and started researching clinics on Korean clinic review websites (UNNI, Babitalk), Reddit, and and used AI tools (mostly Gemini). 2 things stood out to me: fat grafting and stem cell therapy. I was definitely curious about stem cell therapy before, seeing that it is quite a premium treatment that celebrities do. I researched more and more about it and decided to book a consultation with Girin plastic surgery clinic, YAAN dermatology clinic, and Lienjang plastic surgery clinic. I went through their websites, social media, reviews, and talked to them on Whatsapp. I also looked at Naver blogs with the kind help of my Korean Coworker.

Girin - this clinic was actually recommended by my Korean coworker. She got had shoulder filler and philtrum reduction done here. This clinic has a good balance between Korean and foreign patients.

YAAN - this clinic showed up frequently when I searched for stem cell therapy, but they only offer treatments and after all the research and consultations and talks with clinics, I thought surgery was a better option.

Lienjang - more foreigner targeted. Although I live in Korea I haven’t lived here for that long and I’m not good at Korean so I did look for clinics that have a decent amount of foreign patients and support in different languages. This clinic is also more on the affordable side.

I ended up booking the surgery with Girin clinic. Their results seem natural and it felt like their surgeons know what they’re doing when it comes to fat grafting.

Day of the consultation with Girin:

I had many questions and I wanted to make sure that this is the right path for me. After all, going through surgery is a big decision. I asked if there are any other options, and they explained to me about non-incisional under eye fat repositioning and their “Peanut Package” which is designed for something they call “peanut shaped faces” in Korea. After a long consultation, I decided I want to do the fat grafting and the surgeon said I was a good candidate for the fat grafting with stem cells. I was explained more about the benefits of combining stem cell therapy with fat grafting including a higher fat cell survival rate, improved skin quality and texture, and the anti-aging effects of it. The volume loss was my biggest concern, but I did have other aging related concerns such as wrinkles, which I was happy to address at this opportunity!

I decided to book the surgery and I did the pre-surgery tests. From the consultation to the tests, surgery day, and check ups after the surgery, there was always an English speaking interpreter with me. This made it so easy. I thought I would have to hire one.

Surgery and healing:

I had fat grafting with stem cells done to my under eyes and smile lines. I also decided to use the opportunity and get stem cell therapy injections into my skin, which should be better than the skin boosters popular now such as Rejuran. The price is definitey high, but the results should last longer as well. After the surgery, there was some swelling at first, especially under my eyes, but it improved week by week. Overall, the recovery was manageable.

Now that I’m a few months out, I can honestly say I love the results and I would definitely recommend fat grafting. I have been taking photos of my face every few days in the same bathroom lighting. My under eye area and smile lines look much softer, and overall my face looks brighter and less hollow. I look younger. Everything looks very natural, especially considering that I had filler done before. I am also glad I added the stem cell therapy. I noticed improvements in my skin, especially after the first month, such as smaller pores, glowier skin, and better skin elasticity. It feels like my skin is tighter like after a lifting laser.

I’m 45, and during my 3-week trip to Korea, I decided I wanted to do something special for myself. Korea is known for beauty treatments and anti-aging trends, and for the past few months before my trip I saw so many videos online about stem cell skin treatments. What stuck with me is that this treatment should be really good for anti aging. I’ve done skin treatments, but never anything this advanced before, but I really wanted to invest in myself this time and do something celebrities do.

I went to Girin Plastic Surgery Clinic after looking up online clinic who do this treatment. My friend visited there before for Rejuran and Onda and highly recommended the clinic to me since they have interpreters and a good variety of treatments.

The consultation was quite thorough and they explained the whole procedure and that it is recommended to be done under sedation and that they will use my own blood so it will be extracted first. I believe you can also do it awake but it involves many injections so I don’t think I would recommend that.

They drew quite a generous amount of blood, more than I expected. After that they needed to separate the stem cells from it, which takes a bit of time. After that they injected it in my face (under sedation). I was quite red and puffy after I woke up but it got much better the next day.

It took me a couple weeks to see the results. I felt like my skin texture got smoother and it looked healthier and glowy. It’s been about a month since I got it done and my skin looks pretty good, it has that healthy glow, and makeup sits better. I am genuinely happy I decided to do this and invest in myself. I even feel healthier overall. I will see how I feel in the next few months and I hope the results holds on long for me.