Toning or laser for melasma? Pico, Alex and Hollywood toning types and prices in Gangnam

Quick answer: Laser toning spreads low-powered laser over the face in several passes to break pigment up little by little, which is why it is used for melasma and uneven tone. Sharp-edged spots and freckles suit a spot laser instead. At Repic Clinic in Gangnam, Alex toning is KRW 120,000 and pico toning KRW 150,000 per session (September 2026, VAT excluded).

Is toning or laser better for melasma?

First, the question needs fixing. Toning is a laser. What differs is not the machine but how it is fired. Aim at one spot of pigment with a single strong pulse and it is a spot laser; spread low power over the whole face in several passes and it is toning. The same device often does both.

Melasma is pigment with blurred edges spread across both cheeks, a state in which the pigment cells overreact to stimulation. So what happens if you hit it with a strong spot laser? The stimulation itself can signal the skin to make more pigment, and it sometimes gets darker. That is why melasma is treated with repeated low-energy toning as the base, together with topical and oral medication and sun protection. Honestly, it is rare for laser alone to finish melasma. It often improves and then comes back with sun exposure or hormonal changes, so it is a condition that needs ongoing care.

Freckles and sun spots are the opposite. The pigment has clear edges, so clearing it in one go with a spot laser is faster than fading it slowly with toning; a few days of small scabs are the normal course. The catch is that many faces have melasma and spots together. So diagnosis starts by sorting which is which.

Alex toning vs pico toning vs Hollywood toning: what is the difference?

Different devices, and slightly different ways of breaking pigment. I will not say one is better. They differ in use, set-up and price.

Alex toning (Clarity II) uses the alexandrite wavelength, which melanin absorbs well, to refine shallow pigment and overall tone. Genesis on the same device gently warms the dermis to tidy redness, texture and pores, and doing both on the same day is dual toning.

Pico toning (Helios) uses a picosecond laser with a much shorter pulse. It shatters pigment into finer pieces by impact rather than heat, so it is used for heat-sensitive skin or for clearing leftover pigment. The price gap with Alex toning reflects the device generation, not a grade of result.

Hollywood toning (Hollywood Spectra) is Q-switched toning and forms the backbone of the One-Day melasma package. Gold toning on the same device uses a handpiece that reacts to red blood vessels rather than pigment, so it is used for redness and flushing, while Hollywood Genesis handles texture and redness.

People often ask whether gold toning is right for flushing. If redness is the main concern, yes. But when redness and melasma overlap on one face, you need an order for which to treat first, so diagnosis comes first.

How many toning sessions until you see results, and can too much toning turn skin white?

One session will not do it. Toning does not burn pigment off at once; it breaks it down bit by bit for the body to clear, so tone changes only show as sessions add up. Studies have often used around 5 to 10 sessions at 1-to-2-week intervals, but individual variation is large, so how many you need is discussed at diagnosis after looking at pigment depth and how your skin responds.

The whitening story has a basis. Repeating toning too often or too strongly on the same spot can exhaust the pigment cells, and the skin can lose colour in blotchy white patches (hypopigmentation). It is different from vitiligo, but it is just as hard to reverse. So toning is not a treatment where more is better. Keep to the interval and the power, and rest when the skin needs rest. That is the answer.

What I see in clinic is people who have had dozens of toning sessions elsewhere and whose faces have not become brighter but thinner and blotchy. That is a planning problem, not a numbers problem. At Repic, the next session's power is set after looking at how your skin responded to the last one.

When can you wash your face and wear makeup after toning, and how close to a wedding can you have it?

Toning does not wound the surface, so in most cases washing and makeup are fine afterwards. Some redness comes up briefly and settles. The one thing to keep is sun protection. Sun on skin whose pigment has just been broken up makes pigment again, so during a toning course sunscreen is half the treatment. Skip saunas, hot compresses and exfoliation for a few days. People whose dryness or redness lingers after toning sometimes have a skin booster in between.

With a wedding or photo shoot coming, the last toning session is 1 to 2 weeks before. Nothing new starts in the final week, so there is no room for redness to linger. The full countdown is in the pre-wedding treatment schedule.

What is in the One-Day melasma, freckle and tone-up packages, and what do they cost? (September 2026)

Prices are from Repic Gangnam's September 2026 price list and exclude 10% VAT, which is added at payment. The same prices apply to Korean and international patients; the tax-refund scheme for cosmetic procedures is no longer available in Korea. The final figure depends on the treatment, and an exact quote follows diagnosis.

A One-Day package layers several devices onto one concern in a single day, which is also the format that fits a short visit. For melasma, Hollywood toning is paired with Hollywood Genesis, and a melasma medication prescription is included; the Premium version adds gold toning. For freckles, Helios Zoom Pass and Genesis toning are the base, with pico toning added in Premium. Tone-up starts with Etosome PTT and pico toning, and Premium adds Genesis.

• One-Day melasma, Signature / Premium: KRW 250,000 / KRW 350,000
• One-Day freckles, Signature / Premium: KRW 300,000 / KRW 400,000
• One-Day tone-up, Signature / Premium: KRW 300,000 / KRW 450,000
• Melasma injection, 1 spot (option): KRW 20,000

There are also combination-pigment and all-in-one pigment packages for faces with melasma, spots and redness mixed together. Every price is on the price list, and the consultation fee is deducted in full if you are treated the same day.

How we do it at Repic

Pigment looks different to the eye and on a device. Mark-Vu photographs the skin in 2D and measures pigment and redness, Meta-Vu records facial contour in 3D, and with those images the doctor examines whether it is melasma or spots and whether toning or a spot laser fits. Then the device is chosen, the doctor sets the power and performs the treatment personally, and the sunscreen and brightening home care you will use are set out with you. I always tell patients at consultation that toning is half done in the clinic and half at home. Consultations can be held in English.

Related reading

• Skin treatments before a wedding: what to book, and when?
• Skin boosters in Korea explained
• How do you choose a skin clinic in Gangnam, Seoul?

Repic Clinic Gangnam: B1 & 2F, 318 Gangnam-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (Yeoksam-dong, TOWER837) · +82-2-6952-0312 · Book online

This is general information and does not replace a medical consultation. Results vary with individual condition.