All the girls are doing it...

That's right. Laser Hair Removal...

My friend Jessie always seems to have the best ideas. Since we moved to Seoul back in August, she has gone outside of Seoul way more times than I have. She joined a hopkido class--a type of Korean martial arts. She's gotten mole's removed. She had her hair straightened-magically aka "magic straight." Out of all the things she's done, the one that I was most intrigued by was laser hair removal. One of her hopkido friends suggested the idea and so the chain reaction goes...

Jessie tells me to call SJ, her hopkido friend. SJ sets me up with Mira, another hopkido friend who actually performs the laser hair removal. Once I got to the clinic, Mira greets me outside because she has been waiting for me for 30 minutes. My lateness was kind of not my fault because Mira's office is in a children's clinic. Would you ever guess laser hair removal would be happening in a clinic with children screaming and running around? Mira was very sweet. She spoke hardly any English, but we got the point across that I wanted my lip line and under arm hair gone.

She took me to a room and told me to take off my shirt and jewelry. She laid me down and placed eye covers, the kind you get at tanning beds. She examined the length of my lip and armpit hair. She trimmed if necessary. I was instructed by SJ to have some hair and to not shave the day before. The length should be 1/3 of an inch. She placed a cold gel on my lips and rubbed it across the area with hair. Then, I started to hear a clicking. At first it was slow, then it sped up and she would count 1, 2, 3... Bzzz!

"Ok?"

"Yes."

"Is it pain?"

"No."

My pain threshold only held for 7 of 15 zaps. The zaps then started to feel like stings and I would clench my eyes forming tears.

"Ok?"

"Yyy..es."

"Are you pain?"

"Nnn..o."

Afterwards, she placed a cold pack on my lips making me hold it with one hand while my other hand was raised in the air for the next round. She again placed the cold gel and rubbed around. The process continued. I felt great until about the 7th or 8th zap. Then I start clenching my teeth and eyes. I have gone twice now and it's not that bad. Some gel, few zaps, and then a cooling pad. I already notice results (slower growth, thinner hair).

In total, it only took 15 minutes of my day. We proceed to her office to schedule to next laser day which should be monthly for 5 months to completely remove the hair. The best part of my visit is chatting with Mira. She is very good friends with Jessie and her SLP (another Hagwon) co-workers. We check out each other's Facebook pages. She tells me about her fiance. I tell her about my boyfriend. We even challenged each other to a Hangul/English test. She has to learn the months and I have to learn the body parts for the next laser day. We became so close that she gave me a wedding invitation. I'm so excited to gain another Korea friend. They come few and far between especially when most foreigners are intimidating and only hang out with each other.

My first inspiration to do this came from my college friend Teresa. She had done it before and told me it cost around $300 per session. Listed below are Mira's prices.

armpit : 50000\ for 1 session, 150000 for 5 session

lip line : 30000\ for 1 session 120000 for 5 session

bikini : 70000\ for 1 session, 200000 for 5 session.

So much cheaper! A little pain comes with beauty, but I'll never have to shave again!

In the true fashion of paying it forward, I emailed my branch about it and Mira's already had 4 of my co-workers come in for a treatment. A lot of the boys teased me about the mass email, but I'm sure deep down inside, they want to get their back hair removed.

Looking for the best shopping, the best highlights, the best galbi, the best bar...many things are known about in Korea by word of mouth. This experience is yet another example of how a foreigner can take advantage of the great opportunities in Korea.