Before<Before surgery>After<After surgery>Before double eyelid surgery, my nickname? was either elementary schooler or kiddo haha. My face looked extremely young, beyond just looking baby-faced. When I went to a PC cafe or a bar late at night with friends, I was the only one who got ID checked, and wherever we went, the owners would say to my friends, “You’re such nice older sisters, playing well with your younger sibling~” haha. Sounds like a lie, right...? I wish it were a lie too lol Other people would tell me looking young is a good thing, or that I had a typical East Asian face, and I couldn’t tell whether it was a compliment or an insult. Every time, it just stressed me out a lot.. haha
And people with monolids will relate, but the thing I disliked most was that I didn’t photograph well... I definitely don’t think I look like that when I see myself in the mirror, but every time I saw photos someone else took of me, even though it was my own face, it felt unfamiliar like I was seeing myself for the first time lolol. I heard that for monolids, eyelashes make a more dramatic effect than drawing eyeliner, so I tried a lash perm too, but my eyelids pressed them down, so they often came undone in 2-3 weeks. Even when I worked hard with an eyelash curler, they became bent lashes.. You know what I mean, right? lol
Anyway, during Lunar New Year this time, the whole family gathered, and my older cousin had gotten her eyes and nose done. The adults in my family are very old-fashioned and conservative, but even they said she got so pretty after plastic surgery... Since we’re family, I’d also heard a lot that my cousin and I looked alike, so when her image changed so much and became refined, I thought, should I try plastic surgery too?
I live outside Seoul, and all my friends around me had their double eyelid surgery at the plastic surgery clinic most famous for double eyelids in our area, so there weren’t many people around me who could give me clinic information. (When we graduated middle and high school, all the girls in my area had surgery at this clinic, so everyone’s eyes look the same lolol.) So I thought, since I’m getting surgery anyway, I should do it in Seoul. I narrowed it down to the plastic surgery clinic where my cousin had her eyes and nose done, plus two clinics whose app reviews I liked, then set aside a day and went for consultations.
Since it was my first plastic surgery, I had no know-how, so at the first two clinics I went to for consultations, I stumbled around and left without even asking the important questions... After leaving and thinking back, nothing really stayed in my memory, so I thought I’d messed up. Then at the last consultation, the consultation with the director at the clinic where my cousin had surgery really clicked with me..? Honestly, objectively speaking it’s a really famous clinic and it was hard to even get an appointment, so I didn’t expect much from the consultation, but unexpectedly, I think this clinic’s consultation was the most memorable.
Before the consultation, they pulled up the photos they had taken and drew on them with the mouse cursor, and also explained by drawing with a pencil on the consultation paper... Other clinics also took photos before the consultation, but this was the only clinic where, inside the consultation room, they put a headband on me and examined me in more detail right there, which left an impression. (Even the photos with my forehead exposed using a headband were really embarrassing, but having to push all my hair back with a headband in front of the director was so embarrassing.)
Anyway, the director pulled my chair closer and tried so many lines on me. He said that because my eyelids are on the thin side, buried suture surgery would be enough. But then the director pressed my eyebrows firmly with his hand so they wouldn’t lift and had me open my eyes wide, and strangely, it was hard to open my eyes really~ wide. I hadn’t known, but I had been opening my eyes using my eyebrow strength.. haha. Maybe I’m just dull, but I’d lived without even knowing I opened my eyes with my eyebrow strength, so I was shocked lolol. Other clinics had also mentioned ptosis correction, but it was just vague, like “your pupil light reflection is slightly covered, so it would be good to do ptosis correction too~” so I almost just got surgery without properly knowing why I needed ptosis correction. Plus, when I asked them to recommend any canthoplasty suitable for me, other clinics brought up all sorts of procedures, from epicanthoplasty to lowering the outer eye corners, but at this clinic the director said my eyes are already horizontally long and the lacrimal caruncle is slightly visible even now, so there’s no need to get canthoplasty. From that point, I think my mind strongly leaned toward wanting surgery at this clinic!
Honestly, with the director’s schedule and my schedule, it was hard to get surgery on the date I wanted, so I first booked the earliest available date, which was about a month later. But the kind consultant said she would fit me in if an earlier cancellation opened up, so I was able to get surgery sooner.
For surgery, I decided to only get buried suture double eyelid surgery with ptosis correction, without any canthoplasty. I thought that if the line was set too high, it would stray too far from my original image, so after discussing it with the director, I asked for a natural in-line to in-out line. The consultant said a first morning slot had just opened and quickly put me in.
Before surgery, I had to fast because of anesthesia, and she told me to come in right after waking up in the morning, get surgery, and then enjoy a good meal.. lolol. Thanks to that, after surgery I ate a hamburger deliciously as my double-eyelid-surgery food... haha. My mom, who came with me, clicked her tongue and said I was tough after seeing me ordering a hamburger at the hotel with my eyes swollen huge.... lolol
Maybe because it was buried suture surgery, the swelling wasn’t severe even right after surgery. Because of the ptosis correction, I practiced opening my eyes diligently, and the day to remove the stitches came quickly. After the stitches were removed, it only stung slightly when I opened my eyes strongly? Other than that, I don’t think there was much pain. From week 2 after surgery, most of the major swelling had gone down, so I slowly started wearing makeup, and by one month, they had settled completely like my own eyes lol. When I told my cousin, “I got double eyelid surgery at the clinic where you had surgery~” she said, “Now we have the same father,” lololol...^^
It doesn’t look obvious, but I’m definitely much prettier than before, so I’ve thought five hundred times that I’m glad I got double eyelid surgery ㅎㅅㅎ I hope everyone gets surgery they’re satisfied with