Review: This Korean Facial Massage Made Me More Photogenic

In this month’s edition of Beauty Diaries, our Beauty Editor Redzhanna gets snatched at the hands of KL’s first Korean facial sculpting studio.

Here’s the situation: I’ve got a wedding (mine) coming up in three months, and as it stands, I’m not certain I’m ready for it. Sure, the venue’s booked, my dress is made, and the groom is raring to go, but I just feel like I’ve got some personal bits to work on. What should I do with my hair and makeup? Updo and natural or down with full glam? How am I going to smile in photos? Full teeth or closed mouth? These are tough decisions! After all, these are the photos I’ll be looking back on for… the rest of my life. I should make it count, right? 

At the end of the day, I want to look my best, and I’ve been shopping around for ways to do just that. My Pinterest and Instagram algorithms are locked in, and the suggestions are flying at me at record speed. Most of them I’ve scrolled past, to be fair, but one thing caught my eye—a facial sculpting service from Hanseol Beauty. 

The ad was the perfect bait: Hanseol Beauty’s non-invasive “Small Face” and “Facial Asymmetry” services harness time-tested Korean facial sculpting traditions to deliver drastic results—all without knives or needles getting in the way. That’s a hook in and of itself, but the before and afters are what really put paid to it for me. In the same scroll, I promptly booked myself in for three sessions… just to see. Ahead, find my full account of the experience and my results:

My experience kicked off with a consultation with Hanseol Beauty’s founder, Joey Wong. She’s a chiropractor who is also well-versed in Korean facial sculpting techniques, having learned the trade in Korea itself. Our consultation began with a series of quick tests, during which Joey identified the imbalances and weaknesses in my face and body that contribute to my facial asymmetry. The verdict: my body is broken, and the treatment she tailored for me was designed to address every issue from top to toe.

After a quick body adjustment (and my first to date), I lay down for Hanseol’s Signature Korean Face Sculpting treatment. The facial starts like any other—with a cleanse. It’s what happens afterwards that is a little harder to put into words. Imagine going to the gym for the very first time in your life and working out parts of your body you didn’t even know existed. Then, imagine waking up the next morning feeling sore all over… your face. That’s kind of what it felt like getting this facial massage. 

The massage began with a little lymphatic drainage with some bamboo tools—all things considered, this part was pretty pleasant. It then moved on to manual deep muscle and fascia stimulation using the Golki bone reshaping technique. I can’t lie, this part of the facial was rough for me. You’d never be able to tell from the cute little videos we shot on the day, but I was in a non-insignificant amount of pain. It makes sense, given that this is the part of the facial that actually does the heavy lifting with contouring and balancing your face, but it is something you should keep in mind before you go for your session.

I will say that though it was definitely uncomfortable, the pain was bearable, and the structure of the facial meant that I had plenty of breathers to recuperate between the face gymnastics. That, and the cooling globes and face mask that followed the facial felt absolutely wonderful.

It’s one thing to see crazy results online, but it’s surreal to see it on yourself, in real life. I only ended up doing three sessions in total, but the difference in my face was insane. Not only was my jaw significantly sharper, but my entire face looked more lifted overall. Granted, there was a little swelling after sessions one and two (totally expected), but this subsided in a couple of days.

Joey mentioned that it takes a few more sessions to see lasting results—around five to ten sessions, apparently—so we still stand to see how far the treatment can go in resolving my facial asymmetry. That said, I’d actually already noticed a clear difference after session one, so by session three, I was blown away. My thinking is that if the results are already looking this drastic now, I can imagine that more sessions will only yield better results.

She also gave me a few tips for keeping up my results at home. Essentially, sleeping on my back instead of my side at night, using a gua sha to maintain the lift during my usual skincare routine, and stretching more before and after working out to release tension in my body. Whether or not I’ve been following her advice is a different story…

I will say that the men in my life have all said the same thing: “I feel like you look the same”. They lack vision. Fortunately, the girls in my life have been much more astute, having pointed out that I look significantly more snatched and lifted. 

Most importantly, I’ve noticed a distinct difference in how I photograph. Just the other day, I saw a photo of myself with no makeup on, and I was kind of shocked at how good I looked. Sure, a little mascara would have been cute, but my face generally looks smaller and more sculpted—or, at least it did in that photo. All in all, I think it’s safe to say that I will definitely be returning to finish my treatment course!

Hanseol Beauty is located at 2-3, Jalan Solaris 5, Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur. Make an appointment here.