Lifting
Korea Beautiful Total side effects reviews: what's true and who should wait
What the reviews get right about Total Lifting side effects, and what they leave out. The point to judge a result is week 12, not the week after.
Written and medically reviewed by Dr. Jang Dong-hoon · Founder & Medical Director
Published · 10 min read
Planning a Total Lifting session in Seoul and unsure whether the Korea Beautiful Total side effects reviews you've found tell you enough about what your face will go through, now that your skin is thinner than it was at forty?
For most faces the side effects are small and short: pinkness that fades the same day, tenderness along the jaw for a few days, and no wound to look after. The rare risks are a burn mark, a numb patch or fat loss in a face that is already thin, and they come from energy placed at the wrong depth for that face.
Hello, I'm Dr. Jang Dong-hoon, Founder & Medical Director of THE Beautiful Clinic in Seoul and a member of the Korean Society for Laser Medicine.
I consult, plan and treat, so the person who reads your skin is the one who decides how deep each device goes. The consultation begins with a 3D scan of your skin, not with a price list, and depth is decided from that scan. Clinic staff interpret in English at no extra charge, arranged for your appointment time.
If one worry is holding you back, send a daylight photo of your face from the front and the side on WhatsApp, list any filler or threads from the last six months, and ask the question you would ask me first. The clinic answers within 24 business hours.
What do most people feel in the days after Total Lifting?
Total Lifting is a plan built from several devices: radiofrequency for density in the dermis, HIFU (focused ultrasound) for the SMAS layer that holds the face up, and microwave energy when fat needs to come down along with the sag. Each leaves a slightly different feeling afterwards, so two reviews of Total Lifting may be describing two different plans. I've written separately about what the Total Lifting programme includes and who it suits; here the focus is what it does to you afterwards.
During treatment the sensation is mild to moderate, and whether you need numbing depends on which devices are in your plan. Afterwards, this is the usual picture:
| What you may notice | How long it lasts | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Pink or flushed skin | Fades the same day | Cool water, light makeup at most that evening |
| Tender spots along the jawline or cheekbone | A few days | Don't press or massage the area |
| Mild puffiness | A few days in many people | Sleep with your head a little higher |
| Tingling or a small numb patch | Uncommon; can take a few weeks to settle | Note where it is and mention it on WhatsApp |
That matches the pattern the American Academy of Dermatology describes for ultrasound tightening: some redness and swelling, little or no downtime, and modest lifting that appears over 2 to 6 months. Every platform we use for Total Lifting runs contact or gas cooling, which keeps the surface of the skin out of the treatment while the energy works deeper.
Which review claims are true, and which aren't?
Most Korea Beautiful Total side effects reviews, and lifting reviews from Seoul in general, repeat a handful of claims. None of what follows is about any one clinic's patients. It's how these devices behave.
- No downtime. Mostly true. Same-day flushing is the usual extent of it. What reviews leave out is the next three days: no sauna, hot yoga or long sun exposure after each energy session. If a jjimjilbang night is on your Seoul list, put it before the treatment.
- I could see it the next morning. Partly. Some tightness can be felt right away, but collagen builds slowly, and the point to judge the result is week twelve. You'll most likely be home by then, so take your own photos in the same window light before you leave.
- It hurt a lot. That comes down to the device and the depth. Deep ultrasound over the jawbone is the part people remember; radiofrequency over the cheeks feels more like spreading heat.
- It lasts for years. Not as a rule. The range I work with is 3 to 12 months, depending on which devices went into the plan.
- My face looked hollow afterwards. This one is real, and it's rare. It is the reason the next section exists.
The rare side effects worth asking about
Three uncommon problems account for most of the bad stories: a burn or blister, a patch of numbness or altered feeling along the jaw, and loss of fat in a face that didn't have much to spare. All three come back to one question. Was the energy placed at the right depth for this particular face?
Focused ultrasound delivers heat at a fixed depth. If the skin and fat over the bone are thinner than that depth assumes, the heat lands closer to the surface, or in fat you would rather keep. After fifty, many faces have thinner skin and smaller fat pads in the temples and mid-cheeks, so settings that suit a thirty-year-old can be wrong for you. I don't use one device for every face. Having eleven lifting devices means the answer to a thin face can be a different machine, a smaller plan, or occasionally nothing at all this month.
Say you're 61, your cheeks have hollowed a little, and filler went into them four months ago. I would keep focused ultrasound away from the hollow areas, plan the energy around the filler, and lean on radiofrequency for skin density. You'd leave with a smaller plan than you came for, and with less chance of deepening the hollow.
Pigment is the other quiet risk. Heat can darken melasma, and on darker skin any inflammation can leave brown marks for weeks, known as postinflammatory hyperpigmentation. Melasma and sun damage look alike in a mirror, which is one more reason the scan comes before the plan.
If a skin booster is added to your plan, its reactions are separate from the lifting devices. I've covered how long Rejuran bumps last and who should wait, what the evidence says about Rejuran and cancer, and which reactions are normal when Rejuran goes into acne marks.
If you've had filler, threads or another lifting device in the last six months, write down what it was and roughly when, then send that list on WhatsApp with a side photo taken near a window. Ask whether that history changes which devices make sense for your face.
Who should wait, or skip it this trip
What Korea Beautiful Total side effects reviews rarely mention is who shouldn't have it yet. As general medicine, these are reasons to wait or to change the plan:
- You're pregnant or breastfeeding.
- There is an active infection, a cold sore or inflamed acne in the area to be treated.
- Filler or threads went in during the past six months. This changes the plan more often than it rules treatment out.
- You have a pacemaker or another implanted electronic device; radiofrequency is generally avoided in that case.
- You've taken isotretinoin in recent months, or had a laser or peel on the same area recently.
- You form keloid scars, or you have melasma that flares with heat and needs a pigment plan first.
- You expect a surgical result. The AAD describes non-invasive lifting as modest, and skin that hangs in folds at the neck is beyond what a device can tighten.
Your face won't respond exactly like anyone else's, and the final call on these points is made at the exam in Seoul, with your scan in front of me.
What should you do if a reaction shows up after you fly home?
Most reactions show within the first few days, so book your energy sessions in the first half of your stay. A session block takes 60 to 120 minutes in the chair, and devices can be spread across one or more visits, so early scheduling is realistic even on a short trip.
Once you're home, three rules cover most situations:
- Redness that is getting worse after the second day, a blister or a crust: photograph it in daylight, keep it clean, don't pick at it, stay out of the sun, and send the photo on WhatsApp.
- Spreading redness, heat, pus or a fever: see a doctor where you live that same day, and show them what was done.
- A numb or tingling patch that hasn't changed after a few weeks: note where it is and mention it when you message.
Before you leave Seoul, write down the device names and the areas treated so a doctor at home knows what was done; keeping records of care received abroad is also what the U.S. CDC advises for anyone travelling for treatment. The plan is reviewed at 3 and 6 months. If you'll be home by then, ask how that review will work for you before you book.
Planning your Seoul days around the sessions
The clinic is on the second floor of the Jinryeong Building in Seocho-gu, a two-minute walk from Exit 5 of Nonhyeon Station on the Sinbundang Line. There's no patient parking, so come by subway or taxi. Hours are Monday to Thursday 10:30 to 19:30, Friday 10:30 to 20:30 and Saturday 10:30 to 16:30, with a lunch break from 13:00 to 14:00 on weekdays. Sundays and public holidays are closed.
On a short trip, put the consultation and scan on your first or second day, let the energy sessions follow as early as the plan allows, and keep the last three days before you fly clear of saunas and long days in the sun. The Total Lifting treatment page lists the devices, numbing and aftercare in one place, and the clinic's English home page has the address, hours and the rest of the menu.
Send two things on WhatsApp: a daylight photo of your face from the front and the side, and your Seoul dates. Ask whether your face suits a full Total Lifting plan or a smaller one this trip; there is no deposit, and changing or cancelling is free. When you arrive, the first thing I'll check on your scan is how much tissue sits over the bone in your cheeks and temples, because that decides how deep any device should go. To pick dates, tick Total Lifting in the booking selector.
At a glance
The treatments in this article, side by side
- Works onDermis → SMASDowntimeNone to same-day flushingTypically lasts3–12 months by deviceFromPriced after the doctor sees your skin
- Works onEpidermal to dermal pigmentDowntimeNone to light flakingTypically lastsMaintained in coursesFromPriced after the doctor sees your skin
Which one fits is decided at the examination, not from this table. Prices are the lowest listed option, before 10% VAT. US dollar figures are approximate, at the exchange rate of 10 November 2026. The clinic charges in Korean won.
The short version
- Most Total Lifting side effects are same-day flushing and a few days of tenderness along the jaw.
- Burns, numbness and fat loss are rare and trace back to energy placed at the wrong depth for that face.
- Skip sauna, hot yoga and long sun exposure for three days after each energy session.
- Filler or threads from the last six months change the plan, so list them before you come.
- Judge the result at twelve weeks; the plan is reviewed at 3 and 6 months.
Questions patients ask
Can I fly home the day after Total Lifting?
There is no wound, and the flushing usually fades the same day, so flying itself is rarely the problem. The reason to leave a few days is to let any reaction show while you are still in Seoul, and to keep the three days of no sauna and no long sun exposure, which includes airport lounge saunas.
Will I need numbing for Total Lifting?
It depends on the devices in your plan. The sensation is described as mild to moderate overall; deep ultrasound over the jawbone tends to feel the strongest, while radiofrequency over the cheeks feels more like heat.
I had a facelift years ago. Can I still have Total Lifting?
Often yes, but scar tissue and changed anatomy shift where energy can safely go. Bring the year of the surgery and what was done, even a rough description, so the plan can account for it at the exam.
Can I combine Total Lifting with pigment treatment on the same trip?
Sometimes, with spacing. The pigmentation programme runs in courses every 2 to 4 weeks, and retinoids and acid exfoliants are paused for three days either side of each session. If melasma is involved, heat from lifting needs planning around it, so the order matters.
When can I judge whether Total Lifting worked?
At about twelve weeks, because collagen builds slowly. The AAD gives a window of 2 to 6 months for ultrasound tightening. Take your own photos in the same light before treatment so you have something fair to compare with.
Do I need to speak Korean at the clinic?
No. You can message in English on WhatsApp, and clinic staff interpret in English at no extra charge, arranged for your appointment time.
Results and recovery vary between individuals, and every treatment can have side effects. Prices are from the clinic's price list and are confirmed at consultation. This article is general information, not a diagnosis.
Sources
About the author
Dr. Jang Dong-hoon
Founder & Medical Director
Founder and medical director of THE Beautiful Clinic in Nonhyeon, Gangnam. He sees every patient's skin analysis before a plan is drawn, and reviews every article on this blog against what the clinic actually does.
Credentials in full
