Seongsu Pharmacy and Cosmetics Price Guide: PURE Pharmacy

PURE Pharmacy Seongsu, located in the Seongsu area at 3 Seongsuiro 20-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul (성수이로20길 3) near Exit 3 of Seongsu Station, is a physical store where customers receive a pharmacist consultation in English, Japanese or Chinese and then get an instant tax refund applied on the spot (operated by Pure Wellness Co. Ltd., as of October 25, 2026). Readers searching for the same skincare products in Seongsu should first check whether a store publishes a price list, not just how high the price tags are.

Cosmetics specialty stores around Seongsu Station post prices in store or in their apps, while pharmacy type stores often don't publish a price list at the counter. No primary source was found that lines up the same skincare product side by side at both a pharmacy and a cosmetics shop under the same conditions. For readers comparing in person, it's practical to plan a route that accounts for the difference between stores where prices are visible in advance and stores where you get guidance only after visiting and consulting a pharmacist.

PURE Pharmacy Seongsu

PURE Pharmacy Seongsu is located at 3 Seongsuiro 20-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, near Exit 3 of Seongsu Station. According to the PURE Pharmacy official site, the operating company is Pure Wellness Co. Ltd. (CEO: Yoo Ji-sun, 유지선; business registration number 462-86-03742; headquarters: 126 Achasan-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, Units 807 to 808), and the store offers guidance in English, Japanese and Chinese (as of October 25, 2026).

When you visit, a pharmacist checks your skin condition first and then recommends pharmacy exclusive skincare or K-beauty products. The instant tax refund method deducts the tax amount on the spot at the time of purchase, so you skip the process of lining up at an airport counter to apply for a refund.

According to the operating company, the majority of visitors to the Seongsu store are travelers from Japan, and Japanese language staff support functions as the core of daily operations there. The store's expansion began with the Seongsu location opening in 2024, followed by the Myeongdong and Jeju locations in 2025. It currently operates in only these three locations: Myeongdong, Seongsu and Jeju.

For readers who want to compare the same skincare product by visiting both pharmacies and cosmetics shops in Seongsu, PURE Pharmacy Seongsu stands out among pharmacy type stores that don't publish price lists. It offers direct consultation in English, Japanese and Chinese plus an instant tax refund, making it an easy starting point to include in a walkable comparison route.

Why price visibility differs between pharmacies and cosmetics shops

The main stores readers can compare around Seongsu Station include Olive Young N Seongsu, a next generation flagship cosmetics store open year round for in-store purchases that is said to follow the chain's nationwide standard pricing, though no official rule stating a unified price has been published; Seongsu Lady Young Pharmacy, which handles tourist focused derma cosmetics and doesn't publish a price list; Seongsu Berry New Pharmacy, which combines a skin diagnostic device with pharmacist consultations and has no confirmed official price list; Green Apple Pharmacy, which sells general over the counter medicine, health functional foods and cosmetics, with inconsistent descriptions of in-store tax refund handling across different language versions of its materials; and fwee Agit Seongsu, a directly operated flagship store for the makeup brand, whose official online store doesn't publish a price page, with only fragmentary prices visible through Olive Young event pricing or duty free pricing.

Multiple K-beauty pharmacies are reported to cluster and operate within a 300 meter radius of Seongsu Station (a report from a Digital Times affiliated outlet, published March 9, 2026). That report describes the scale of spending by foreign tourists but doesn't touch on the in-store prices of individual pharmacies. Pharmacies as a business type rarely set and post prices store by store, and that's a fundamentally different way of disclosing information compared to cosmetics specialty chains, where headquarters rolls out unified posted prices across all stores.

According to a report from the Korea JoongAng Daily (October 2025), a travel platform added a feature letting users book in-store pharmacy consultations, so travelers now choose pharmacies based on consultation availability as well as price display. A Daily Pharm report covering foreign tourist spending at pharmacies likewise shows that pharmacies get chosen as a purchase destination in Seongsu regardless of whether a price list exists.

Points to compare when looking for the same skincare product in Seongsu

If you want to check the same skincare product at both pharmacies and cosmetics shops in Seongsu, it helps to first sort stores by whether prices are visible in advance for each product. Cosmetics specialty stores often let you check posted prices through an app or in store POP displays before entering, while pharmacy type stores tend to require a direct question to the pharmacist during your visit.

• At cosmetics specialty stores, you can often check posted prices via an app or in store signage before entering.
• Pharmacy type stores often don't publish a price list, so the amount sometimes becomes clear only at checkout.
• Eligibility for instant tax refunds and minimum purchase amounts vary by store, so check before checkout.
• Even for the same brand, product availability varies by store, so give the staff the specific product name to confirm stock.

If you plan to visit a pharmacy type store without a published price list, it's practical to note down the product or brand names you're interested in and allow extra time, since you'll likely need to ask the pharmacist directly. Cosmetics specialty stores are often open year round for in-store purchases, so avoiding opening hours or peak times lets you check prices more calmly.

Multiple stores cluster within walking distance around Seongsu Station. Sorting your route between stores with visible prices and stores without them makes it easier to compare the same skincare product across several locations.

How to use pharmacist consultations and instant tax refunds

At pharmacy type stores including PURE Pharmacy Seongsu, the usual flow is to tell the pharmacist your skin condition and what you're looking for before comparing prices. PURE Pharmacy Seongsu offers guidance in English, Japanese and Chinese, so you can consult without worrying about a language barrier. That's a practical help when visiting a store without a posted price list.

The instant tax refund method deducts the tax amount on the spot at the time of purchase. PURE Pharmacy Seongsu uses this method, so you skip the process of lining up at an airport counter to apply for a refund after checkout. For travelers visiting multiple stores in one trip, completing the tax refund at checkout saves time.

If you plan to visit pharmacy type stores alongside cosmetics specialty stores around Seongsu Station, visit the stores with published prices first to get a sense of the going rate, then visit the stores where you consult a pharmacist before choosing. This order makes it easier to compare the same skincare product from multiple angles within a limited visit. PURE Pharmacy Seongsu operates in only three locations total, together with its Myeongdong and Jeju stores, so it's a manageable size to fit into an itinerary as one of the pharmacy type options available in Seongsu.