Make Up Products in Japan’s Drugstores (Part 3B)

There’s a vast collection of beauty products, including make up products in Japan’s drugstores. With so many choices, and I being a noob, I needed to research and find the gems that everyone’s grabbing. I also armed myself with local prices to compare when in Japan, just in case it’s cheaper locally. You never know!

Read on to get an idea what you can get at the drugstores in Japan. Also, find out if the beauty products I’ve bought are really good and as raved. Before you read on, you might want to know that www.cosme.net is Japan’s largest and highly influential beauty community site. The website has many reviews and holds a grand ranking annually. And if beauty products are ranked #1 on Cosme, the products will usually state it on their packaging to show how recommended they are.

*Prices stated in this post are the prices (including tax) at the time I bought from the respective drugstore in Japan. The prices might have changed since then, or varies from drugstore to drugstore. 


Make Up and Remover


make up products in Japan's Drugstores

Blusher

I am not into make-up because a dermatologist once told me that my breakout was due to layers of sunblock and make-up blocking my pores. So, I try not to put on make up (except eyeliner and eye concealer). Why am I telling you this? Because I’m not a fan of make up and prefer breathable mineral make up, but I totally fell in love with Canmake Cream Cheek! I was still contemplating whether to get it. Turns out there’s a good reason it’s highly raved, in Cosme’s top ranks for a few years and paraben-free. Most importantly, it’s affordable (¥580, S$7.30).

I didn’t know how to use it for the first time. It’s a cake in gel form. I tried using a brush but it didn’t work. So I swiped some of the gel and dabbed it on my cheek. I was shocked by the chunk of red. I hurriedly used my finger to rub and spread the redness around my cheek. Then there it was, a beautiful glow! The gel became silky-soft and powdery when I applied to my cheeks. It was like magic! I love it because it’s really compact to bring out in my carry-on. Also when I’m outside, I can do a quick touch up without the hassle of a brush. It’s like whipping out a lipstick, swipe and be out of the toilet in no time.

Correct Technique: Simply dot and press the color onto your cheeks a few times, and subsequently stroke the color to blend it, as though joining up the dots.

www.canmake.com/en/item/detail/69

Eyelash Curler

I find it troublesome to use an eyelash curler and hence it was definitely not under my shopping radar. However, I came across this Shiseido Eyelash Curler as one of Japan Must-Buys. It has good reviews everywhere I looked online. Its purported to achieve long lasting results and is a great fit to curl every single strand of lashes perfectly. Most importantly, you can get it for ¥580 (S$7.30) in a Japan’s drugstore as compared to S$16-18 in Singapore. With such a good deal, I decided I must buy and give it to my mum! :)

Concealer

If you use concealer, you might want to consider Shiseido Spotscover Foundation. I bought it for my mother after a 30% discount at ¥840 (S$10.55). It’s a highly raved concealer but might be too thick for undereye. I usually only put concealer for undereye, so I didn’t get this for myself.

Make Up Remover

For make up remover, I bought Softymo Super Point Make Up Remover and Bifesta BRIGHTUP Cleansing Lotion. I started using Softymo first because prior to this, I was using an oil-based make up remover and didn’t really like the texture. Hence I decided to switch to a more milky, gel base product (Softymo) before using the oil type (Bifesta).

Softymo Super Point Make Up Remover is an eye and lip makeup remover that claims not to irritate or dry delicate skin and is moisturising and gentle to the eye area. Since I only use eye and lip make up on a regular basis, this is good enough for me. Also, it removes my eyeliner, eye concealer and lipstick relatively well. However, I read reviews that it has trouble removing make up with waterproof mascara, eyeliner and eye shadow.

I bought this at ¥495 (S$6.20) and Qoo10 is selling it at S$14. Unlike Bifesta, this is not commonly seen in Watsons and Guardian. I guess it’s not as popular. I tried to research on every product I bought from the drugstore at www.ratzillacosme.com to ensure the ingredient list doesn’t contain paraben. Sadly, I missed out on this product– it contains paraben. :(

Bifesta BRIGHTUP Cleansing Lotion is a Japanese micellar cleanser that’s water based but with the cleansing power of an oil. This paraben-free product is popular and purported to be a must buy at Japan’s drugstores. I bought it at ¥695 (S$8.80) and Watsons is selling it at S$19.

Simply soak the cotton pad with about 3 pumps and wipe the makeup away. You wouldn’t need to rinse off after that. I haven’t used it yet, but it claims to remove heavy make-up easily and also dead skin cells and blackheads at the same time. But if you have heavy eye make up, you may want to consider their eye make up remover instead. There are four types:

  • Red Bottle – Enrich for dry skin (Co-enzyme Q10 for rich moist),
  • Green Bottle – Sebum for oily skin (green tea extract to reduce pore size),
  • Blue Bottle – Brightup for combination skin (removes dead skin cells and dirt from pores),
  • White bottle – Moist for dry and sensitive skin (with double moisturising ingredients to provide high moisture effect)

For more information about Japan’s drugstores and other products, click on these posts:

What other make up products in Japan’s Drugstore would you recommend? :) Tell us below or on our Facebook Page or Instagram. Moreover, bookmark this page > Overview Itinerary: Hokkaido and Tokyo (Winter/Spring 2016).



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