Fat grafting restores volume to areas of the face that have hollowed - the under-eye, temples, cheeks or lips - using your own fat, harvested from the abdomen or thigh, refined into micro-fat and placed in small amounts. At Garnet it is planned and performed by one board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. In-Soo Baek, from consultation through every follow-up.
Garnet is well known for neck-wrinkle and lifting surgery. The facility is excellent and I’m thoroughly satisfied with the friendly consultation and the surgeon’s skill.
Director Baek In-soo, thank you so much. Thanks to you I keep getting told I look younger — it feels like I’ve gone back to my younger days.
I had upper and lower eyelid surgery and I’m really satisfied. The director and the manager were both so kind and clear.
I started with under-eye fat repositioning — the director and the manager are genuinely kind and good at what they do. I’ll be back.
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I kept reading the reviews and came trusting the many mentions of skill and kindness. The clinic was busy with patients and spotless.
Fat grafting (autologous fat transfer) is a procedure that restores lost facial volume by harvesting a patient's own fat - usually from the abdomen or thigh - processing it into fine micro-fat, and re-injecting it through a blunt cannula into hollow areas of the face. Because the graft is the patient's own living tissue, the fat that survives integrates and becomes a lasting part of the area.
Much of facial ageing is loss, not just descent: the deep and superficial fat pads of the face deflate, so the under-eye hollows, the temples flatten, the cheeks lose their soft fullness and the face can look tired or gaunt even when the skin is still firm. Lifting addresses sagging, but it does not replace volume that is simply gone.
Fat grafting puts volume back using the patient's own tissue. Fat is harvested gently from the abdomen or thigh, refined into micro-fat - small parcels that pass through a fine cannula and place evenly - and grafted in thin layers so each parcel sits close to a blood supply and has the greatest chance of taking. At Garnet, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) prepared from the patient's own blood is added; supplementing fat grafts has been studied as a way to support volume retention, though results vary (Aesthetic Surg J 2022; DOI 10.1093/asj/sjac122).
At Garnet this is a single-surgeon operation. Dr. Baek plans the case from the consultation - which areas, how much, and whether grafting alone or grafting plus lifting suits you - performs it himself, and reviews healing at set intervals; the clinic caps the day at two surgeries so each case has unhurried time. The aim is natural, balanced restoration of the areas you came concerned about.
From gentle harvest to micro-fat refinement, PRP and layered placement - every step by Dr. Baek.
A single surgeon, start to finish. Dr. Baek plans the case, performs the operation himself and reviews every follow-up. The clinic caps the day at two surgeries, so each operation has unhurried time.
Facial fat grafting at Garnet typically runs about 1-2 hours and is performed under local anaesthesia with sedation as appropriate, decided with you after your medical history is reviewed; larger or combined cases may use general anaesthesia. The steps below outline how the procedure is carried out.
Dr. Baek assesses which areas have lost volume - under-eye, temple, cheek or lip - decides how much fat is needed and from where to harvest, and agrees whether grafting alone or grafting with lifting suits your face.
Fat is harvested gently through small cannula access points in the abdomen or thigh, the areas with reliable donor fat, using a technique that aims to keep the fat cells intact for grafting.
The harvested fat is refined into micro-fat - small, clean parcels that pass through a fine cannula - and PRP prepared from your own blood is combined with it before grafting.
The micro-fat is grafted through a blunt cannula in thin layers and small amounts, so each parcel sits near a blood supply, which gives the graft a strong chance of surviving and avoids lumpiness.
Where the consultation shows it, grafting is combined with a thread lift, a brow lift or eyelid surgery, since volume loss and sagging often coexist.
Access points are tiny and need little or no suturing. Because Garnet is single-surgeon, Dr. Baek reviews you himself before you settle in and at each follow-up as the volume settles.
A fat graft is living tissue moved without its own blood supply, so in the first days it survives by diffusion from the surrounding bed until new vessels grow in. This is why how the fat is handled matters: gentle harvest, careful processing into small parcels, and placement in thin layers rather than large pockets all give each graft parcel access to a blood supply. Fat placed too thickly in one spot is more likely to resorb or form a lump.
Because not all grafted fat survives, a proportion resorbs over the first few months and the volume that remains after that is durable. Reported facial volume-retention rates vary widely across studies and depend on technique and the area treated (Aesthetic Plast Surg 2021; DOI 10.1007/s00266-020-01612-6), which is why Dr. Baek plans conservatively, sometimes graduating the volume, and reviews the settled result. Where the concern is sagging rather than lost volume, lifting such as a thread lift or surgical lift is discussed instead of or alongside grafting.
| Fat grafting | Hyaluronic-acid filler | Combined / staged | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material | Your own fat | Gel injected | Both, by area |
| Procedure | Harvest + graft | In-clinic injection | Surgery + injectable |
| Longevity | Surviving fat is lasting | Months to a year-plus | Mixed by area |
| Volume capacity | Larger areas at once | Smaller, precise touch-ups | Tailored |
| Reversibility | Not reversible | Often dissolvable | Depends |
Reported facial fat-graft volume retention varies widely between studies (Aesthetic Plast Surg 2021; DOI 10.1007/s00266-020-01612-6). Fat grafting and fillers suit different goals; the right choice - or a staged combination - is individual and Dr. Baek advises at consultation.
Facial fat grafting is commonly performed under local anaesthesia with sedation as appropriate, decided with you and the team for comfort over the procedure; larger or combined cases may use general anaesthesia. Your medical history is reviewed beforehand.
Because Garnet caps the day at two surgeries, the procedure is unhurried and the same surgeon who planned the case carries it out and reviews recovery - there is no separate operating doctor and no rotation of care.
Garnet is registered with Korea's foreign-patient programme; pre-operative checks, scheduling and after-care are coordinated for international visitors in English.
If your concern is sagging rather than lost volume, or a filler would suit better, that is said at the consultation. Photos can be reviewed before you travel.
Fat grafting is carried out through cannula access points rather than open incisions: small entry points in the abdomen or thigh for harvest, and tiny entry points on the face for placement. These need little or no suturing and generally heal as small marks rather than a scar line, so there is usually no visible incision scar from the grafting itself.
The donor area may be bruised and a little tender for a couple of weeks, and the grafted areas swell while the fat settles. Healing varies by individual; Dr. Baek reviews the donor and recipient sites at the 1-, 3- and 6-month visits and advises on care as the graft matures.
Fat grafting before/after sets are reviewed privately at consultation, as faces are identifiable and results settle over months. Graft survival, final volume, recovery and suitability vary by individual and are not guaranteed.
Request before & after examples privatelyKeep the head elevated early, use cold compresses as advised, take medication as prescribed, eat and stay well-nourished to support graft survival, and keep your follow-up visits.
Pressure, massage or sleeping face-down on the grafted areas early on, strenuous exercise, alcohol and smoking, very hot showers/saunas, and aggressive facials until cleared.
Fat grafting has two phases: in the first few months a proportion of the grafted fat resorbs, and the fat that survives becomes a lasting, integrated part of the area - because it is the patient's own living tissue, not a temporary gel. Reported facial volume-retention rates vary widely across studies and depend on technique and the area treated (Aesthetic Plast Surg 2021; DOI 10.1007/s00266-020-01612-6).
Because some resorption is expected, Dr. Baek plans conservatively and reviews the settled result, and a second, smaller session is sometimes discussed if more volume is wanted. Adding PRP has been studied as a way to support retention, with mixed evidence (Aesthetic Surg J 2022; DOI 10.1093/asj/sjac122). The grafted fat can still change with significant weight gain or loss, and skin-surface ageing continues independently.
Volume loss and mild sagging often coexist; fat grafting and a thread lift can be planned together so fullness and a gentle lift are addressed in one sitting.
Grafting to a hollow temple complements a brow lift, restoring upper-face volume that lifting alone does not replace.
Fat grafting can soften a hollow under-eye, and is sometimes considered with eyelid surgery; whether grafting, repositioning or both suits you is decided at consultation.
Garnet also offers stem cell fat grafting as a related option; the appropriate approach for your tissue is discussed honestly, without efficacy guarantees.
Every procedure carries risk. For fat grafting the common, usually temporary effects are swelling and bruising at both the grafted areas and the donor site, and tenderness of the donor area, which settle over weeks. Because grafted fat resorbs partly, under- or over-correction can occur, and the final volume is judged only once swelling has resolved.
Less common risks include firm lumps or oil cysts in over-filled areas, contour irregularity, asymmetry, infection, and donor-site changes. A rare but serious risk specific to facial fat injection is inadvertent intravascular injection, which is minimised by using a blunt cannula, low-pressure layered placement and careful technique. Smoking reduces graft survival and raises healing risk. These are explained individually at consultation.
What reduces risk in practice: gentle harvest, refined micro-fat, layered placement near a blood supply, conservative volumes, and follow-up by the operating surgeon. Garnet's single-surgeon, low-volume model is built around exactly this kind of unhurried planning and personal after-care; Garnet makes no graft-survival or regenerative-superiority guarantee.
Most international patients plan roughly 7-14 days in Korea for facial fat grafting, so the surgeon can review the grafted and donor areas before travel and the early swelling has settled. The coordinator confirms the timing for your specific plan.
Before you travel, send clear photos (front, three-quarter and side, relaxed) and a note on the areas that concern you and your dates through WhatsApp, LINE or the form below. You'll get an honest pre-assessment - including whether grafting, a filler or lifting fits best - rather than a hard sell.
Garnet is registered with Korea's foreign-patient programme and coordinates consultations, scheduling and after-care in English. After you return home, Dr. Baek can continue to review your recovery and the settling volume by messenger.
| Fat grafting | Hyaluronic-acid filler | Combined / staged | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material | Your own fat | Gel injected | Both, by area |
| Procedure | Harvest + graft | In-clinic injection | Surgery + injectable |
| Longevity | Surviving fat is lasting | Months to a year-plus | Mixed by area |
| Volume capacity | Larger areas at once | Smaller, precise touch-ups | Tailored |
| Reversibility | Not reversible | Often dissolvable | Depends |
Citations are provided for general education. This page is informational and does not replace an in-person consultation; suitability, technique and recovery are individual.
Send photos and your question before you travel. An English-speaking coordinator reviews every enquiry and replies with honest guidance on whether surgery is appropriate, the likely plan and timing.
Prefer to chat now? Reach the coordinator directly: