I Tried XERF, the New Korean Skin-Tightening Treatment All Over Your Feed

24.04.2026, 19:17 allure.com

“Are you turning me into a robot?” I ask David Kim, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City, as he places an oversized adhesive bandage connected to a cord on my lower back…and plugs it in. No, this isn’t The Jetsons, and no, I’m not in an AI lab.

It’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and instead of heading to the airport for a flight to see my family for the holiday, I’m at Dr. Kim’s office getting ready for my first XERF treatment. (Don’t worry, I totally went home for Christmas.)

XERF is a radio-frequency (RF) skin-tightening device by Cynosure Lutronic, which also makes the Genesis and PicoSure Pro brightening lasers, as well as Clarity II for hair removal. XERF made its debut in South Korea in 2024, but it wasn’t FDA-cleared for use in the US until last August. Unlike drugs, devices don’t need the FDA’s approval, which requires proof of both minimal risk and meaningful benefit; but they do need its clearance, which requires proof of only minimal risk or similarity to an existing device.

If you’ve ever engaged with (or even thought of) in-office aesthetics content, you’ve probably seen XERF on your feed since the device arrived in the US. It already has celebrity fans, such as Kim Kardashian. (Incidentally, she also helped push skin-tightening devices Morpheus and Sofwave to prominence with her social media thumbs-up, which some believe was not an entirely organic endorsement.)

All that said, as a 35-year-old beauty editor who has tried more than a few in-office skin treatments over the past decade in an effort to flatten fine lines and tighten my jawline, I had no concerns about trying this new option—with a board-certified dermatologist, of course. They had me at “Korean” and “no downtime.” Here’s everything you need to know about XERF, including its benefits, possible side effects, pricing, and more.

XERF, which is a shortened version of eXperience Exponential RF, is a monopolar radio-frequency device designed for non-invasive skin-tightening and rejuvenation. “In monopolar systems, energy travels from a single treatment tip into the deeper layers of the skin and exits through a grounding pad placed elsewhere on the body,” explains Jenna Queller, MD, a board-certified dermatologist based in Boca Raton, Florida. “This allows for deeper penetration of heat compared to other [systems].”

She continues, “What makes XERF unique and, honestly, quite interesting from a science standpoint, is that it uses dual frequencies—6.78 MHz and 2 MHz—to deliver energy at multiple depths of the skin simultaneously.” Most other tightening devices use one frequency and can thereby work on only one layer of skin at a time. Dr. Queller has not yet invested in XERF for her practice, but she has reviewed its clinical studies.

“It’s a refinement of existing radio-frequency technology in which they're delivering radio-frequency energy from the surface of the skin using two frequencies intended to heat multiple tissue depths simultaneously,” says Shereene Idriss, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City. In her opinion, though, “this is not exactly a brand-new scientific breakthrough. Radio-frequency energy has been used for many, many years, if not decades at this point.” Like Dr. Queller, she has not brought the machine into her office yet: “I always hesitate to treat my patients with a device that hasn’t been around long,” she says. “I generally wait at least six months to a year to make sure the results are consistent, and there are no unexpected risks.”

But let’s get back to XERF, specifically, in which the dual frequencies have two different jobs: tightening (targeting fine lines) and lifting (triggering collagen remodeling). As Dr. Kim explains it, “at 6.87 MHz, [the RF energy] goes very superficially, so it helps tighten the skin, but 2 MHz goes down deeper” to the subcutaneous layer where collagen is produced. The RF energy is delivered into the skin via an oversized flat tip that produces heat while also emitting cooling gas for comfort—so there’s no numbing, needles, or pain. That last part is particularly impressive because I’ve tried RF with microneedling in the past—like the Cutera Secret RF—and it left me in tears. XERF didn’t. (More on that later.)

After the energy enters the skin, it doesn’t stick around. Remember that human battery pack? As Dr. Kim explained, it’s needed to help release energy from the device.

“For monopolar devices, the handpiece releases the radio-frequency [energy], and it travels through your body and comes out through the grounding pad. You won’t feel it,” says Dr. Kim. He’s right: I didn’t feel it, but just knowing I was plugged in, so to speak, was…weird.

“XERF is for any skin type or skin tone,” says Dr. Kim, who has had the device in his office, Soho Dermatology, since November. Cynosure Lutronic’s clinical studies on XERF also found that it works on a wide range of complexions. (We've asked the manufacturer to share more details on the methodology of these studies and will update this story accordingly.) “Even people with melasma, theoretically, can do it because the [device] tip is so cool.” (People with melasma are often advised to steer clear of RF devices, as heat can be a trigger; I have melasma and didn’t experience any sort of discoloration or brown spots during or after my treatment.) I’ve been getting neuromodulators injected into the top half of my face since I was 27, and hyaluronic acid filler in the bottom half for the last two years. I’ve gotten many laser treatments and have experienced the discomfort of both microneedling and microneedling with RF. So I don’t have much skin laxity or jowling, but I’m also not a teenager anymore—and that makes me a perfect candidate for XERF. According to Dr. Kim and Dr. Queller, the ideal XERF patient is someone with a bit of skin laxity, mild jowling, or both.

XERF, and other RF treatments, may also be an effective means to treat loose skin as a result of weight loss, says Dr. Idriss, since they work by heating tissue and stimulating collagen remodeling. But “it really does depend heavily on the patient's skin quality and the degree of their weight loss, because GLP-1 users develop skin laxity due to rapid fat loss,” she explains. “That rapid change can also mean decreased collagen and elastin support, thinner and weaker skin quality, and loss of underlying facial pads.”

Furthermore, after those skin changes happen, non-invasive tightening treatments (whether XERF or other RF devices) probably won’t be effective enough to make a meaningful impact, says Dr. Queller. In these cases, the RF would help refine skin texture, but wouldn’t replace lost structure. It’s likely, she says, that these patients would benefit more from a combination approach using biostimulatory fillers (Sculptra or Radiesse) and/or hyaluronic acid fillers (Restylane or Juvéderm) alongside the RF.

“I would avoid it or use caution in patients with significant skin laxity, like visible skin draping or deeper folds, as they may ultimately benefit more from surgical intervention,” says Dr. Queller. “Patients with unrealistic expectations should be counseled carefully—this treatment is not a substitute for a facelift.”

If a patient doesn’t have enough tissue and their face is on the bonier side, XERF may not be for them either. Without a healthy amount of tissue (which Dr. Kim says I have plenty of, thanks to my Eastern European ancestors), a potential side effect could be too much heat that leads to skin burning.

Also: If you have an implanted electronic medical device of any kind, Cynosure and the experts I spoke with all agree that XERF—and all energy-emitting devices—should be avoided.

Unlike most other radio-frequency devices (with the exception of Thermage), XERF doesn’t require numbing. So when I arrived at my appointment, I wasn’t rushed into the exam room for a hefty slathering of numbing cream, then asked to wait 30 minutes before seeing the doctor. Rather, I was brought into the room, plugged in, and given a headband to hold my hair back. Dr. Kim then applied a thick coating of conductor gel (a.k.a. ultrasound jelly), lowered my chair, and… that’s it.

He turned on the machine (on the lowest setting because my laxity is mild) and briefly prepped me on what to expect. “You'll feel like you’re getting a warm stone massage, but you're not going to feel super hot,” he reassured me, adding that if I did feel uncomfortable, he’d adjust the settings or take a quick break in between pulses. All 600 of them.

“You want to do at least 600 pulses total for the face,” Dr. Kim says. “I typically do anywhere between 600 to 650, but if someone has heavier jowls and a lot of skin laxity, then I'll do a little more.” When he includes the neck in the treatment, it’s usually about 900 pulses total.

With 600 pulses in my immediate future, I took a deep breath, then gave Dr. Kim the go-ahead. Over the next hour or so (the treatment usually takes 45 minutes to an hour), we chit-chatted about anything and everything (the weather, my annual road trips to Florida, local politics) to keep me from fixating on the slight discomfort I was feeling from the heat.

If Dr. Kim wasn't such a great dermatologist, I’d suggest he take up a career in talk therapy, because he was very good at keeping me in conversation while he subtly amped up the intensity every so often (with my permission each time). It would get a little spicy, and then my skin would quickly get used to it. He upped the intensity a few times during the treatment, and on a pain scale of one to 10, I probably reached a three or four, max, and it quickly dissipated. It’s worth noting, though, that I am a very sensitive-skinned person and have a low tolerance for pain, so my three or four might be someone else’s one or two.

Once Dr. Kim reached his 600-ish pulse (250 to 275 on each side of the face, then 100 for the forehead), he wiped away the conductor gel to reveal my skin’s new-but-temporary pink tint and