Every Kardashian alive would’ve been jealous of my recent K-beauty itinerary, an expert-curated tour through Seoul’s most exclusive aesthetic clinics. Think VIP access to the city’s best clinicians, a front-row seat to the newest technologies, and enough glowing skin to make your favorite influencer retire their ring light. I was there primarily to test the XERF, a Korean energy device that treats skin laxity, so the brand scheduled appointments with the city’s top experts so I could experience it for myself. The trip primed me to integrate this cutting-edge technology into my own clinic in Los Angeles (and I’ll most certainly share that knowledge with you here), but I also brought home a bigger lesson—and it’s the key to achieving beautiful skin at any age.
A Culture of Consistency
In the West, we celebrate transformations. We love a dramatic before-and-after. But when we put so much focus on the big changes we can get from a treatment or surgery, we miss out on the daily effort that happens behind the scenes. What I learned in all those treatment rooms in Seoul is that real, natural-looking beauty isn’t built on extremes, but rather on micro-improvements over time. That means starting a daily skin care regimen early (in Korea, even teen boys apply sunscreen religiously; they start before kindergarten, and to them, it’s as natural as brushing their teeth) and sticking to it.
Instead of the intense retinoid prescriptions, grainy scrubs, and high-strength acids some of us proudly “tolerate,” Koreans gravitate to gentle, hydrating ingredients, like growth factors and peptides, and use prescription-strength formulas sparingly. Koreans call this nourishing approach “glazing,” and rather than blasting skin quickly, the method creates an environment that encourages the skin to regenerate over time.
Next Come the Treatments
With the skin’s barrier supported and intact, you can add on truly next-level technologies. That’s what XERF is. It uses radio frequency energy to encourage cells to rebuild collagen, making it ideal for patients whose skin feels thin and loose, especially in the lower face, jawline, and neck. What sets it apart is that it works at a depth in the skin most radio frequency devices don’t reach. While many devices focus on surface tightening or mid-dermal stimulation, XERF is designed to deliver energy deep into the skin’s structural layers, targeting the framework that supports firmness over time.
Nurse Jamie
Nurse Jamie with the XERF device.
More specifically, it treats three distinct levels of the skin, reaching all the way down to the SMAS (superficial musculoaponeurotic system), the network of tissues, muscles, and fat that plastic surgeons pull and tighten for a facelift. Being able to target the SMAS without depleting your own fat is why the XERF is often described as the mother of all radio frequency treatments. It can offer long-term support through collagen banking, or the idea that we should be building up our collagen reserves as much as we can. It also creates meaningful collagen remodeling, especially in patients who need more than a temporary tightening effect but aren’t ready for surgery. This concern has become much more common in the era of GLP-1 weight-loss medications, where rapid volume loss can leave skin looking less supported, even if it’s otherwise healthy. In my practice, XERF makes it possible to treat those patients. When skin laxity is structural, not superficial, nothing else I use substitutes for it. I recommend one to three treatments, starting at $2,000 each.
In true Korean skin care fashion, we don’t expect XERF (or any other single device) to do everything, however. I often pair it with the Ultra Laser (which tackles tone, texture, and clarity on the surface of the skin) or the Potenza, a radio frequency device that targets the skin layers closer to the surface. By layering treatments that work at different depths, I’m able to create results that look more natural and balanced.
Nurse Jamie
A XERF treatment is part of this patient’s skin transformation and, together with a daily, consistent routine, will support collagen production
Add in a consistent skin care ritual and at-home tools, and we’re able to make those results last longer, too. When you think of it that way, you understand that a routine isn’t a chore; it’s self-preservation. That’s Seoul’s secret: Don’t fight aging; build a relationship with it.
