Cheongdam skin care salon with a modeling pack course: Clermont Monde

Lately I've been running and swimming pretty consistently, but my face, neck, and trapezius area still felt puffy and stubborn no matter what. Now that I'm in my late twenties, I've really started to understand the importance of self-care haha. While looking around the Cheongdam and Gangnam area, I found Clermont Monde, famous for skin care and lymphatic massage!

I'll introduce Clermont Monde, a great place to visit before big events like wedding photos or the wedding itself!

Where is Clermont Monde and what are its hours?

• 43 Dosan-daero 92-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
• 7-minute walk from Cheongdam Station Exit 9
• Mon, Wed 11:00–19:30
• Tue, Thu, Fri 11:00–21:30
• Closed on Sundays
• Closed Sep 24–26 (Chuseok holiday), Oct 3 (National Foundation Day), Oct 9 (Hangeul Day)

How much does the facial cost, and what do members pay?

You can get all sorts of treatments here, from collagen and therapy to face and body programs. And if you use the member rate, it's a bit cheaper than the regular price!

These kinds of treatments work better if you get a membership and go regularly instead of just once. I thought that if I ever have a big event like a wedding coming up, I should get a membership beforehand and keep going consistently haha.

What happens in the consultation before treatment?

At Clermont Monde, the massage doesn't start the moment you arrive — they do a thorough consultation first. They had me fill out a chart covering whether I might be pregnant, my skin type, areas I'm usually concerned about, and which parts I wanted focused care on. Based on what I wrote, they went through and checked exactly what treatment would happen that day.

Instead of just running through a fixed program regardless of the person, they seemed to check my condition that day and what I personally wanted and tailored the treatment accordingly. Because of that, it didn't feel like a generic massage — it felt like more careful, personalized care based on my actual body condition!

Inside the converted house: exterior and treatment rooms

Clermont Monde looks like it was made by renovating a house. The vines on the wall made it look almost like a Disney building, and I was already excited just seeing it.

They said if you call ahead to ask, they'll even provide valet parking.

I think that at a massage shop, the treatment matters, but the atmosphere of the space really matters a lot too. Most of the time, people come to get a massage because they want to escape daily life for even a moment and rest, so the moment I walked in and saw this pretty courtyard and relaxed atmosphere, I already felt more at ease before the treatment even started.

It felt almost healing just to sit in the space for a bit, even without getting a massage haha. Thanks to this cozy, comfortable vibe, I felt like I could relax much more during the treatment too.

There's a license on display too, so you can feel reassured. There's also an InBody machine available.

After the consultation in the lobby, I came in to change into a gown. I changed into the prepared gown, put my things in a locker, and headed off for the massage!

The second floor is clean and tidy too.

The treatment room was dark and quiet, which I really liked. I can't focus well on massages if the room is too bright, so this kind of space suited me better.

The lifting massage: order of areas and how strong it feels

They started with cleansing right away. Just in case, I didn't wear makeup and only had on sunscreen, but I think people who have appointments beforehand could probably come without removing their makeup first.

Next, they softened up the sebum and then removed sebum and dead skin. My T-zone always has a lot of sebum, which has been a constant concern of mine, so starting with sebum care already got me excited.

The whole time, the bed was so warm that I felt drowsy. Of course, once the lymphatic massage started, all that sleepiness disappeared. Once it began, they worked meticulously from my shoulders, back, and abdomen all the way up to my face, so I couldn't take photos or videos during that part.

This was my first time ever getting a lymphatic massage, and it was way more intense — and honestly satisfying — than I expected!! They say that with this kind of massage, going harder isn't automatically better; it's important to adjust to the person's skin condition and how tense their muscles are. So at first I worried it might just hurt, but I could really tell the difference an experienced professional's hands make.

Apparently some people bruise easily depending on their skin type or condition, but because the therapist kept adjusting the pressure throughout, even though I was enduring some pretty intense pain(?), I didn't end up with a single bruise. She worked especially hard on my trapezius and face, determined to make them smaller somehow — and by the end, the tension that had built up in my upper body felt completely released.

At the very end, they finished with a modeling pack. After the pack, my skin felt deeply hydrated from within, and it felt amazing haha.

How the face and trapezius looked a few days later

This treatment went from consultation to cleansing, sebum care, a pack, lifting lymphatic massage, and finally a modeling pack — so I got both skin care and upper body/facial contouring all in one session, which was really satisfying. Since they checked my skin type and problem areas from the start and tailored everything accordingly, it also felt like a more careful, detailed treatment overall.

Apparently with lymphatic massage, the effects sometimes become more visible a few days later rather than right after the treatment. Surprisingly, people around me started saying my face looked noticeably smaller. Hearing that kind of direct feedback from people around me made me trust the results even more, and it felt really rewarding.

That said, I think treatments like this help more if you keep getting them regularly rather than just once, to maintain the effect — so if I get the chance, I'd like to get a membership and go periodically. If you're in the Cheongdam or Gangnam area and want skin care along with facial contouring and trapezius care all together, I'd definitely recommend booking a visit haha.