Why I was disappointed by the Sulwhasoo Spa experience

After having an amazing facial at Shangpree in Seoul, I of course planned to top that during my next visit. A bit of research showed that there’s really one place to go for the ultimate luxurious spa indulgence – the Sulwhasoo flagship store spa. Well, what can I say? We got off on a rocky start.

What is it?

The Sulwhasoo Flagship houses not only their flagship store, a place where you can learn about their history (their own little museum, if you will), but also two spas. There’s the conventional spa, and then a place called Balance Spa, which is supposed to offer treatments to ‘recharge and balance’. I took it for a bit of a more casual experience, but what really perked my interest was that I could not find any reviews about it online.

The whole building is utterly stunning, the SAs are the nicest possible, and I can just advise you to go there and browse for a bit. The Spa though…

Spa experience

Booking an appointment

I tried to book online, and immediately ran into problems. The site wants your phone number, but demands a Korean one, which obviously, I don’t have. It took three emails to get a reply (on the second day), while on social media, it took one day on Facebook (their message was ‘please call them instead’, which wasn’t my favourite, because international long-distance calls? No thank you), and four on Instagram. If I hadn’t planned to write a review, I would have said ‘no thanks’ at that point. (Pro tip: Just put in your phone number without the country code. It *should* work then.)

I finally booked via email, which I found a bit dicey, because they want your credit card information (down to the Cxxx number, which they don’t need for a deposit anyway and which I ignored) for a deposit (50.000 Won).

Treatment

Mix & Match, Vitality treatment & shoulder/neck massage (150.000Won, ca. 122€, 70mins)

Preliminaries

I wandered around the store at first (I was early, because the email said all kinds of horrible things would happen if I were late), and was then asked to go to the 4^th floor, where the Balance Spa is. I got a nice tea, and a questionnaire to fill out. My facialist asked me a few additional questions and described the two treatments I could choose from, and I went with the Vitality, which seemed to include some anti-aging and brightening stuff. (I’m being vague on purpose here – we’ll get back to that later.)

I was then escorted to the light and airy treatment room, told to disrobe and get into a pair of panties and lie down on the table. We started with the massage and a hot towel for my feet.

The massage

It was a good massage. It was definitely not the best massage I ever had, but it was nice and relaxing. I liked that my therapist first massaged some pressure points on my earlobe with an essential oil that smelled vaguely herbal and pine-y. There weren’t any clocks, of course, but I guess it went on for about twenty to thirty minutes. What I found a bit strange was the feeling of the cold oil on my skin – it wasn’t warmed, and I found that nearly chilly at times. But, it delivered results – I’ve had a very tense jaw and neck for months, and finally, that strained feeling dissolved. But then, I didn’t went there just for a massage, did I?!

The facial

I’ve had high hopes for the facial. The Vitality treatment is described thusly: “4-Layering Mask, founded by Sulwhasoo’s own beauty care method with the touches for skin nutrition balance, delivers deep energy to dull-looking skin.“

I was really, really looking forward to the facial massage that is essential to any Korean facial. I was also really curious about trying some of Sulwhasoo’s really pricey products.

First part of the whole process was a very gentle makeup removal. Of course, it didn’t cut through my Heroine make waterproof mascara, and I walked out looking panda-ish, but ok. That happens. Then came a scrub, a toner, essence, and a sleeping pack (I was let alone for maybe 10mins when that was applied), sunscreen and lip balm. In fact, it was just showcasing products, with not much else besides.

And my wished-for facial massage? There were just the bare bones of that, mainly tapping product into my skin gently. I didn’t like the scrub either – their Snowise EX White Ginseng Exfoliating Gel (I had a sample before) is sticky, and difficult to remove without loads of water, which resulted in me feeling the remaining little particles on my skin during the application of the following products. A washcloth just doesn’t cut it. I didn’t like the Snowise Brightening Serum BB Broad Spectrum Sunscreen SPF 50 either – it burned when it got too close to my eye area.

Products used

I had told my facialist that the only products I had tried from Sulwhasoo before are from the Essential line – and I don’t know if she deducted from that that I wanted to try more of those, because basically, she used the whole line on me. And that line is doing diddly-squat for a nice glow or anti-aging. It’s basically your basic moisturizing line. I was baffled.

Effects on my face?

Before and after!

I went away from the Sulwhasoo Spa with a face absolutely drenched with products. My face was shiny. Not to be confused with a glow that comes from within – no, that was a build-up of products. My skin isn’t usually dehydrated, and that was just too much. (Also, I still had oil from the massage all over my neck – hmpf.) While they have a nice little makeup station to reapply after a facial, I didn’t get to play around there, as I was ushered out, given a drink and a cookie and the hint to purchase something downstairs. I had asked my facialist to list the products she had used on me, and she gave me a little run-down on everything.

In the evening I checked my face again, and the following morning as well – and mayyyyyyybe my skin looked a bit more uniform, even and calm than before. Seeing the awesome effect that Shangpree had on my face, Sulwhasoo absolutely cannot compare. In no way.

Tl, dr: Conclusion – is it for you?

Pros

Everybody is genuinely nice.

The ambience is really nice and relaxing, the building stunning.

The atmosphere is relaxing, and the little extras like tea and cookies appreciated.

My neck & shoulder massage had some good results.

Cons

The online reservation process is seriously lacking, answering time on SM atrocious.

There wasn’t a proper facial massage.

For my skin type, there were too many products piled on my face.

I had massage oil in my neck and hair, and found said oil too cold for comfort during the massage.

The effect on my face was miniscule.

I found it really strange what kind of product line they used for the Vitality treatment – I would have thought that there were more fitting products.

The whole treatment was incredibly pricey.