Last updated: June 2026
Editorial Policy
Device Lab is a translation publication. We read Korean sources on at-home beauty devices — consumer reviews, dermatologist commentary, and regulatory records — and translate what matters into English. This page explains how we choose sources, how translation works, and how we attribute the original material.
What we translate
Korea's home beauty-device market is years ahead of the West, and almost none of its coverage exists in English. We draw on:
- Naver blog and community reviews — long-form Korean consumer reviews, often with weeks of documented use. We translate the consensus across many reviews, not single posts.
- Korean dermatologist commentary and protocols — usage frequency, wavelength guidance, and contraindications as Korean practitioners publish them.
- MFDS (Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) records — whether a device is approved as a medical device, a quasi-drug device, or sold as a general appliance.
- Manufacturer specifications — wavelengths, output, and clinical-study claims from Korean product pages, which often contain more detail than the English versions.
How sources are selected
- Documented, repeated use beats unboxing impressions. We weight reviews that track results over weeks.
- Manufacturer claims are reported as claims, and checked against MFDS approval status where possible.
- We do not translate sponsored reviews as if they were independent. When a Korean source marks content as an ad (광고/협찬), we either skip it or label it.
How translation works
We use AI translation tools (including large language models) to read and draft translations from Korean, with editorial review before publication. Specifically:
- AI does the heavy lifting: reading Korean source pages, drafting English translations, and summarizing review consensus across many posts.
- Editorial review covers the claims: device specs, prices, approval status, and protocol details are checked against the original source before publishing.
- Technical terms are standardized: Korean device categories and treatment terms are mapped to the English terminology dermatology readers will recognize.
Attribution
Every article that draws on a Korean source cites that source, with a link to the original Korean page where one exists. We treat the original reviewers, practitioners, and the MFDS as the authority — we are the translation layer, not the origin of the data.
Independence and affiliate disclosure
- No brand pays for coverage, placement, or scores. Ratings reflect the Korean source data, not commercial relationships.
- Some outbound links are affiliate links and may earn us a commission at no cost to you. This never changes what we cover or how we rank it. See our affiliate disclosure.
Not medical advice
We translate and summarize published reviews, protocols, and regulatory records. We do not provide medical advice. Consult a dermatologist before using at-home devices, especially with active skin conditions, medications that increase photosensitivity, or recent procedures.
Corrections
Device lineups, firmware, and pricing change fast in Korea. If you find an error — a mistranslation, an outdated spec, a discontinued model — email us and we will verify against the original source and correct the article, noting the update date.