Korean Botox in Seoul: Korean-Made vs Imported Toxins and Prices by Area

What Korean Botox Means

BOTOX began as a brand name, Allergan's, and has become the everyday word for botulinum toxin treatment. Korean Botox is the same kind of medicine produced by a Korean manufacturer.

On our menu, Botox is the name of the whole treatment group, whichever toxin goes into the syringe. A Korean-made Wrinkle Botox and an Allergan Wrinkle Botox treat the same lines in the same way. Only the product in the syringe differs, and the price follows it.

Purified botulinum toxin blocks the release of acetylcholine, the messenger that tells a muscle to contract. The muscle relaxes, the movement that folds the skin into a line eases, and the line softens. In the jaw, a muscle that is used less gradually becomes smaller, which is how Botox slims a square jawline.

Skin Botox and the Korean Botox facial

Search for Korean Botox from abroad and you will also find the Korean Botox facial sold at clinics in other countries. On our menu that technique is Skin Botox: a diluted toxin placed in many shallow points across the upper layers of the skin, closer together than in Wrinkle Botox. It works on fine lines, skin tone and elasticity while your expressions stay natural. Pore Botox concentrates even denser injections on the T-zone and the butterfly zone, the nose and the front of the cheeks.

Water Botox, despite the name, involves no needle. It is a PHA peel applied to the surface of the skin.

Four Toxin Options on Our Menu

Each main Botox treatment on our price list comes in four versions. Two use toxins made in Korea, and two use imported ones.

The doctor tells you which Korean product sits behind the Korean-made and Korean-made Premium options at consultation, along with what sets the tiers apart. One Korean toxin is named on the menu itself: Coretox, used for the mouth corners in our Rejuviel lip and mouth corner filler package.

Xeomin from Germany

Xeomin is made by Merz in Frankfurt. Its U.S. FDA label describes a production process that separates the active toxin from the other proteins of the toxin complex, leaving the 150 kDa neurotoxin on its own. On our price list it appears as Xeomin or German Premium, and it is the toxin in the full-face Skin Botox of our Ultherapy Prime and XERtox packages.

Allergan BOTOX, the US Premium option

BOTOX itself is Allergan's product, made in the USA by Allergan, an AbbVie company, under the ingredient name onabotulinumtoxinA. It is the highest-priced of our four options for every area, listed as Allergan or US Premium.

Korean-made or imported

The U.S. FDA label for BOTOX states that its units are specific to that product and cannot be compared with, or converted into, the units of any other botulinum toxin. Fifty units of one toxin and fifty units of another are simply not the same measure, so a price per unit says less than it seems to.

When I plan a treatment, the area, the size of your muscle and the way you use your face come first. The toxin tier then comes down to your budget and preference, and I go through each option with you before you decide.

Botox Areas and What Each One Treats

Wrinkle Botox for expression lines

Wrinkle Botox covers horizontal forehead lines, frown lines between the brows (the glabella), lines across the bridge of the nose, crow's feet, lines under the eyes and a dimpled, cobblestone chin. It is priced as one area or three. A line that stays visible even when you stretch the skin with your fingers usually needs more than Botox, and filler, thread lifting or radiofrequency can be added to the plan.

Special Area Botox treats smaller muscles, each priced as one area: the mouth corners, the nostrils, a gummy smile and the nasolabial folds.

Face contouring areas

• Temporal Botox. The temporalis muscle at the temples can grow from clenching or a habit of hard foods and make the upper face look wider.
• Cheekbone Botox. It softens the muscle over the outer cheekbones. If that muscle is small or the side of the cheek is already hollow, it is not the right choice.
• Salivary Gland Botox. The parotid glands below the ears and the submandibular glands under the jaw can enlarge and pass for fat or a square jaw.
• Jaw Botox. It relaxes the masseter, the chewing muscle at the angle of the jaw, and is priced at 50 or 100 units.

Underarms, palms and body

Hyperhidrosis Botox treats heavy sweating on the underarms, palms and soles. It is priced per 50 units, and one area typically takes 100 to 200 units. Body Botox slims the trapezius, calves, arms or thighs. It is priced per 100 units, with 200 to 300 units on average for an area.

Jaw Botox: 50 Units or 100 Units

Jaw Botox, also called masseter Botox, is the right fit when a square jaw comes from well-developed chewing muscles rather than from the bone. Our standard dose is 50 units, and the price list also offers 100 units. I set the dose after checking the muscle, because a dose that is too low for a large masseter can leave the jaw bulging on one or both sides, the look known as candy cheek.

The muscle starts to shrink from about 2 weeks, and the contour usually looks slimmer at 1 to 2 months. Left alone, the muscle returns to its original size over 6 to 8 months, so I suggest repeating every 4 to 5 months to keep the shape. Very hard or chewy food can shorten the effect, so go easy on rice cakes and dried squid for a while.

When the fullness sits lower and further back, below the ears or under the jaw, enlarged salivary glands may be the cause rather than muscle. Jaw Botox will not reduce them. Salivary Gland Botox targets the glands themselves.

Korean Botox Prices at Our Myeongdong Clinic

Here are the main Botox options from our October 2026 price list, in Korean won and before VAT. The final price is confirmed at your visit.

For one area of Wrinkle Botox, the Allergan option costs nearly five times the Korean-made one. That gap is the choice you are making, since the area and the way it is treated stay the same. Our full price list shows every treatment with an approximate US dollar figure and is updated as prices change.

Your Botox Visit, Step by Step

1. Consultation. A doctor looks at the area with you and agrees the plan, including the toxin and the dose.
2. Numbing. Numbing cream goes on for wrinkle, skin and pore Botox, except on areas that do not need it. Before jaw, temple, cheekbone, salivary gland and body injections, a cooling spray is used instead.
3. Marking. The doctor marks each injection point.
4. Disinfection. The skin is cleaned with an antiseptic.
5. Treatment. The doctor injects small amounts of toxin into the marked points.

Small raised bumps at the injection points usually settle within 2 to 3 hours, sometimes after a day or two. Light bruising or swelling can appear and tends to fade quickly. After contouring Botox, the treated area may feel a little sore for a short time.

When Results Show and How Long They Last

How long a result holds depends on your expressions, your muscle mass and daily habits. On average, Wrinkle Botox holds for 2 to 3 months and Skin Botox for 1 to 2 months.

Rarely, forehead or glabella Botox spreads a little and makes the brows or eyelids feel heavy. It usually improves after a month and returns to normal within 2 to 3 months. If it bothers you, come back and see the doctor, who can help it recover faster.

Planning Botox Around a Trip to Seoul

Botox suits a short stay well. It takes one visit, and you can wash your face and put makeup back on 2 to 3 hours later.

For 3 to 7 days, skip heavy drinking, smoking, saunas, jjimjilbangs, hot baths and hard workouts so the area does not become inflamed. If a night at a bathhouse is on your list, put it before your appointment. For a month afterwards, avoid rubbing the area and leave deep facial massages for later.

Book early in your stay. Wrinkle Botox shows within days and settles over 1 to 2 weeks, so on a two-week trip you will see the result before you fly home. Contouring is slower: the jaw, temples and salivary glands change over 1 to 2 months, and that result arrives once you are back home.

A small bump or a light bruise is possible in the first day or two, so leave a little room before a wedding, a photo shoot or a dinner you have been looking forward to.

Combination Packages with Botox

• Ultherapy Prime. Its full-face package adds Skin Botox with Xeomin to 300 shots.
• XERF. XERtox puts 600 shots together with full-face Xeomin Skin Botox, and the neck wrinkle package pairs 200 shots with Korean-made neck Skin Botox.
• Wrinkle filler. Neck Skin Botox is available as an add-on to a wrinkle filler treatment.
• Pico Fractional. The Bumpy Acne and Pore Package adds butterfly zone Pore Botox with a Korean toxin in its second session.

Botox relaxes movement, and some concerns need a different tool. For pores, acne scars and texture, our Juvelook guide explains a collagen-building option, and for firmness across the whole face, our Rejuran guide covers Rejuran Healer, Rejuran HB and Eye Rejuran.

Visiting Our Clinic

Every Botox plan here starts with a doctor's consultation, with me or with our Medical Director, Dr. Kim Eun Su. Our team consults in English, Japanese and Chinese, so you can talk through the areas, the toxin and your travel dates in the language that suits you.

We are on the 16th floor of Semicolon Myeongdong, 90 Namdaemun-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, 50 m from Exit 6 of Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station on Line 2. We are open every day, 10:00 to 20:00 on weekdays and public holidays and 10:00 to 19:00 on weekends, and our directions page shows the walk from the station.

To book, use our online booking page or message us on WhatsApp or LINE. Tell us the areas you have in mind and your travel dates, and we will reply with the options and prices.

Results and how long they last vary by person. Treatment is decided after a consultation with a doctor.

Medical Team

Consultation and treatment by the medical director

Chief Medical Director, Beauty Z Clinic Myeongdong

Dr. Park Yein

• Former Chief Medical Director, Vands Clinic Guro
• Former Resident, National Medical Center of Korea
• Former Medical Director, Main Dermatology & Plastic Surgery Clinic
• Member, Korean Society of Filler
• Member, Korean Society of Aesthetic Plastic & Laser Surgery
• Member, Korean Society of Obesity Research Physicians
• Member, Korean Laser Dermatology & Hair Society