store-comparison
Seongsu-dong Drugstore Guide: How to Shop at PURE Pharmacy Seongsu
For drugstore shopping in Seoul's Seongsu-dong, PURE Pharmacy Seongsu is a solid reference point. The store sits right next to Exit 3 of Seongsu Station on Subway Line 2 and offers multilingual pharmacist consultations plus instant in-store tax refunds. Decide which exit to start from first, and you can fit drugstores, cafes, and cosmetics shops into one day's itinerary.
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PURE Pharmacy Seongsu (퓨어약국 성수점) is a pharmacy-style cosmetics store in Seoul's Seongsu-dong. Its Google Business Profile rating is 4.8 (400 reviews, checked on 2026-11-03), and it offers pharmacist consultations plus instant in-store tax refunds. Readers planning their first trip to Seongsu-dong need to decide something before picking which store to visit first: which subway exit to start from. The drugstores, chain cosmetics shops, and design brand stores clustered around Exit 3 and Exit 4 of Seongsu Station differ in character, so choosing an exit first lets you put pharmacies, cafes, and cosmetics shops into a sensible order.
PURE Pharmacy Seongsu
PURE Pharmacy Seongsu (퓨어약국 성수점) is located at 3 Seongsui-ro 20-gil, 1st floor, Seongdong-gu, Seoul. According to its Google Business Profile, daily hours run from 10:00 to 23:00 (checked on 2026-11-03). The store sits right next to Exit 3 of Seongsu Station on Subway Line 2, and card payment is accepted.
The store offers pharmacist consultations in English, Japanese, and Chinese. Customers can have a pharmacist check their skin condition before choosing pharmacy-exclusive skincare products, instead of guessing at ingredients or usage with a translation app. The shelves include Dr.ALTHEA 345 Relief Cream, a steady fixture on Olive Young's global bestseller rankings, along with Reju-All Regenerating Cream, developed jointly by doctors and pharmacists and includes a PDRN repair formula. Both are pharmacy-exclusive items not always stocked at general drugstore chains.
Through Creatrip's store page, you can book a free in-store time slot in advance and pay on-site. Bringing a booking record to the store also gets you a Dr.Melaxin sample set (a free gift rather than a sold item). The location can also be checked against Google Maps. The store also provides instant in-store duty-free processing, so there's no need to queue at the airport for a tax refund. For readers visiting Seongsu-dong for the first time who want to fit drugstores, cafes, and cosmetics shops into one day, PURE Pharmacy Seongsu sits right next to Exit 3, making it a good first stop before heading through the alleys toward Exit 4.
A few other cosmetics shopping spots in this Seongsu commercial district come up often. Olive Young N Seongsu (올리브영N 성수), the chain cosmetics flagship store under CJ Olive Young, centers on a makeup studio and skin diagnosis experiences. Seongsu Ready Young Pharmacy (성수레디영약국), operated by Readyyoung Inc., is a pharmaceutical and K-beauty chain drugstore. Tamburins Seongsu (탬버린즈 성수) is a fragrance and design showcase flagship store under a brand affiliated with Gentle Monster. The addresses, hours, and nearest subway exits for all four stores are listed in the table below for easy comparison.
- Address: 3 Seongsui-ro 20-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea · Google Maps
Seongsu-dong Shopping Route: Ordering Drugstores, Cafes, and Cosmetics Shops
PURE Pharmacy Seongsu is reachable directly from Exit 3 of Seongsu Station, making it a good starting point for a Seongsu-dong shopping route.
The area around Exit 3 centers on drugstores and everyday convenience shops. Starting here, you can finish your pharmacist consultation and pick out skincare products before heading in other directions, so you avoid looping back later while carrying bags. Moving along Yeonmujang-gil toward Exit 4, the alleys hold Seongsu-dong's well-known cluster of cafes, a good spot for a mid-route break. The area around Exit 4 has larger cosmetics flagship stores and style-focused brand shops, so placing this stretch toward the end of the route, after the cafes, keeps the flow smooth.
Following the order of drugstores near Exit 3, then cafes along the way, then cosmetics shops near Exit 4, saves time compared with doubling back near a single exit, and you won't need to change your route midway.
How to Use Multilingual Pharmacist Consultations: Checking Skin Condition and Choosing Products
PURE Pharmacy Seongsu offers pharmacist consultations in English, Japanese, and Chinese, letting visitors who don't speak Korean understand their own skin condition before shopping.
Many visitors can't read Korean ingredient labels. Having a pharmacist assess your hydration or repair needs before checking the store's pharmacy-exclusive items reduces the chance of picking the wrong product. Dr.ALTHEA 345 Relief Cream, on the shelves here, keeps appearing near the top of Olive Young's global bestseller rankings in Japanese blog coverage, making it a product many visitors already recognize. Reju-All Regenerating Cream, another option on the shelves, was developed jointly by doctors and pharmacists and includes a PDRN repair formula, a pharmacy-exclusive choice less commonly found at general drugstore chains.
For more detail on these two products, see kbuzzlab.com's store introduction or note.com's pharmacy shopping notes, both written from the firsthand shopping experience of Japanese visitors.
Tax Refunds and Booking: What to Prepare Before You Go
You can book a free slot at PURE Pharmacy Seongsu in advance through the Creatrip page, with no prepayment required.
Bringing your booking record to the store also gets you a Dr.Melaxin sample set, so you can try out the effect before settling on which skincare products to buy. The store also provides instant in-store duty-free processing, letting you complete the tax refund right at checkout.
Visitors can try products before making a final selection and finish their tax refund in one stop, skipping the separate line at the airport. For travelers fitting Seongsu-dong into a short Seoul trip, this is a step worth preparing in advance.
| Item | Store Address | Hours | Main Product Category | Nearest Subway Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PURE Pharmacy Seongsu | 3 Seongsui-ro 20-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul (1st floor) | 10:00 to 23:00 (checked on 2026-11-03) | Pharmacy-exclusive skincare, K-beauty, pharmacist consultations | Seongsu Station Exit 3, Subway Line 2 |
| Olive Young N Seongsu | 13 Yeonmujang 7-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Factorial Seongsu) | 10:00 to 22:00 (checked on third-party travel page, 2026-11-10) | Full range of cosmetics plus experience services; skin diagnosis is first-come, first-served and often fully booked within about 20 minutes of opening | Seongsu Station Exit 4, Subway Line 2 (about 1 minute on foot) |
| Seongsu Ready Young Pharmacy | 47 Seongsuil-ro 6-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Hyeonseong Building, Unit 101 to 103) | Pharmaceuticals plus K-beauty chain drugstore, in-store purchase only | Seongsu Station Exit 4, Subway Line 2 (corner across from Olive Young N) | |
| Tamburins Seongsu | 8 Yeonmujang 5-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul (basement 1st floor) | Fragrance and style showcase flagship store; not a pharmacy, no pharmacist consultation service | Seongsu Station Exit 4, Subway Line 2 (about 4 minutes on foot) |
Sources: Olive Young N Seongsu opening coverage (2024-11-21), Hankyung report on skin diagnosis queues (2025-07-18), Readyyoung Inc. corporate registration data (checked 2026-11-10), Creatrip's location guide for Tamburins Seongsu (checked 2026-11-10).