Skin botox before and after in Korea is easiest to judge with a simple photo diary kept at home, because the change is subtle: finer texture, a little less shine and makeup that holds longer, rather than a different face. For people living around Hongdae, the advantage is time. You can photograph your skin on set days in the same window light, add short notes on oil and feel, and compare entries at two, four and eight weeks. In a 2022 split-face trial by Shin and colleagues, texture gains on the treated cheek lasted about eight weeks. Results vary from person to person.
Guide
Setting up a phone photo diary in your own room
Pick one spot at home and use it for every entry. Facing a window at roughly the same hour gives soft, even light, while ceiling bulbs throw shadows that read as enlarged pores.
Switch off portrait mode, beauty filters and automatic smoothing. Use the rear camera if a flatmate can help, or the front camera at arm's length, and put a tape mark on the floor so the distance never changes. Take three frames: straight on, then each cheek at a three-quarter angle.
- Bare, cleansed skin, after towel redness settles
- Hair tied back, lips relaxed, the same expression each time
- No tinted moisturizer on diary days
Guide
Which days to log, matched to the research checkpoints
Trials of intradermal toxin used fixed visits, not daily checks, and borrowing their timing stops you judging too early. Shin and colleagues, in the Annals of Dermatology, assessed 18 volunteers at weeks 2, 4, 8 and 12. Sayed and colleagues, in the Journal of Dermatological Treatment, assessed 20 patients at one and four months.
| Diary entry | What to capture | What the studies checked around then |
|---|---|---|
| Day 0, before the session | Three photos, a shine note and a makeup note | Baseline in both trials |
| Day 1 | Photos of injection marks or any bruise | Not a result yet; marks are part of the procedure |
| Week 2 | Full entry | First texture and pore check in the Shin trial |
| Week 4 | Full entry | One-month sebum and pore scores in the Sayed trial |
| Week 8 | Full entry | Texture effect still present in the Shin trial |
| Week 12 to month 4 | Full entry | Texture near baseline in Shin; Sayed reported gains held at four months |
Guide
Notes a camera misses: shine, makeup and feel
Oil and texture are often the first things people notice, and both photograph poorly. For shine, press a fresh blotting sheet on the forehead and each cheek around midday and record what it lifted: nothing, a little or a lot. For makeup, note the hour your base starts to break up beside the nose.
A humid week, a new sunscreen or short nights can shift oil as much as the injection, so note any routine change. The trials also disagree: Sayed and colleagues reported lower sebum scores on the treated side, while Shin and colleagues found no significant sebum change on a meter.
Guide
Reading your skin botox before and after in Korea at week eight
Put day 0, week 4 and week 8 side by side at the same zoom. Start with the cheek frames, where most intradermal points sit. A fair verdict uses three signals together: photos, blotting notes and makeup times. If only one moves, the change is probably small.
Expect the effect to drift back. In the Shin trial texture gains were no longer clear by week 12, and smaller pore size was recorded only at week 2. Skin botox korea before and after galleries show sharper contrasts, but your own diary is what should guide any next round.
Guide
Diary entries that mean you should contact the clinic
A diary doubles as a safety record. Small bumps, pinpoint marks and the odd bruise are expected in the first days; log anything else with the date and show the clinic.
In the Shin trial one volunteer reported facial weakness after 30 units in one cheek, while 20 units caused no adverse events.
- A smile that pulls to one side, or a weak lip when drinking
- A bruise that grows after the third day
- Redness, warmth or swelling that keeps increasing
- A drooping eyelid or brow
- Any difficulty swallowing or breathing, which needs urgent care
Evidence
Research behind this page
- The efficacy of intradermal injections of botulinum toxin in the management of enlarged facial pores and seborrhea: a split face-controlled studyJournal of Dermatological Treatment · 2020 · doi:10.1080/09546634.2019.1708241
In 20 patients, the toxin-treated cheek showed greater reductions in sebum and pore scores than the saline side at one month, with improvement maintained at four months.
- A Double-Blind, Split-Face, Randomized Study on the Effects and Safety of Intradermal Injection of Botulinum Toxin A (Incobotulinum Toxin A) in the CheekAnnals of Dermatology · 2022 · doi:10.5021/ad.21.316
In 18 volunteers, intradermal incobotulinumtoxinA improved skin texture for 8 weeks and nasolabial fold wrinkles for 12 weeks, with no significant effect on sebum secretion.
FAQ
Questions about Botox in Hongdae
Should I take baseline photos the night before or on the morning of the session?
Take them on the morning of the session, in the same window light you will use for every later entry. Evening photos under room bulbs are hard to match weeks afterward, because color and shadows change. Skip makeup and heavy skincare that morning so the frames show bare skin, which also works if the session is booked later in the day.
Does a late night out in Hongdae change how my skin looks in a diary photo?
Yes, it can, so move that entry by a day rather than log a puffy morning. Alcohol, salty late food and short sleep often leave the face swollen and flushed, which hides texture and exaggerates redness. Write a note if you had to shift the date. Keeping diary days away from nights out is easier than trying to explain the difference later.
Can I show my photo diary to the doctor at the review visit?
Yes, and it often makes the review more useful. The doctor can compare your frames with where the points were placed and judge whether a change is uneven or simply small. Ask which product was used and roughly how many points went into each cheek, then add that to the day 0 entry so later rounds can be compared on equal terms.
Is a phone's front camera good enough for skin photos?
It is good enough if the settings and distance stay the same every time. Front cameras use a wider lens and stronger processing, so turn off beauty and portrait modes and hold the phone at eye level. The rear camera captures finer detail, so ask a flatmate to help when possible. Whichever you choose, never switch cameras within one diary.
What if a breakout or my period falls on a log day?
Log the entry anyway and add a short note, because skipping it leaves a gap in the timeline. Hormonal changes and new spots raise oil and redness for a few days, which can make a week look worse than the trend. When you read the diary later, give that entry less weight. If spots keep appearing on the treated area, mention it at the review visit.