Nothing makes me more excited than the word "Japanese drugstore".

Japan has always been a holiday destination I would love to visit, not just for the beautiful sakura, mount fuji, or mouth watering ramen and sushi.. But mainly because it's the land that produces most of my favourite Asian drugstore beauty products.

I dream of the day I enter the drugstore and get overwhelmed by the thousands of brands available within the shop. In case you're not as enthusiastic about being drowned by all the different brands, here are 5 brands you should totally focus your attention on if you find yourself in a drugstore. Well, because you spare your remnant attention (if you still have any remaining!) to other brands, I mean :P

As a bonus, I also threw in several popular items that have good reviews, in case the brands offer too many products you simply don't know where to begin looking :P

1. CEZANNE

Probably the most affordable brand in Japan that I know of. Cezanne has quality products housed in simple no frills packaging. Meant to be an everyday makeup brand, their products are geared towards natural finish - sheer and healthy looking instead of being super pigmented. Their most popular product is the UV foundation EX plus. You can't beat that price, seriously.

UV FOUNDATION EX PLUS | 500 YEN

I've seen plenty of reviews saying how it's superb in absorbing sebum and staying put all day!

AIRY TOUCH EYESHADOW | 680 YEN

The name suggest to me it's a very sheer eyeshadow. What do you think? :P

POWDER EYEBROW | 450 YEN

A pretty no frill eyebrow powder! Canmake has something similar I think?

NATURAL CHEEK N | 360 YEN

"Natural" probably mean sheer. You hear it from me first ;) So don't expect crazy colour pay off!

2. CANMAKE

If you prefer cute packaging, spend a few hundred more yen and invest in Canmake. Canmake is very popular amongst Japanese students because of their extremely cute packaging and super affordable price. But don't let that price tag fool you into thinking it's low quality, because it's the direct opposite! Some of their products have topped the @cosme ranking for consecutive years.

CREAM CHEEK | 580 YEN

Affordable, awesome pigment, just get them! This is definitely a cult favourite, because of the amazing price to cost ratio.

QUICK LASH CURLER | 680 YEN

This apparently curls your lashes without having you to curl it before hand.

LIP TINT SYRUP | 650 YEN

Well, Korean brands do lip tints better and in a wider variety, but hey, you're supposedly in Japan now, and this is very popular!

MARSHMALLOW FINISH POWDER | 940 YEN

For those of you who like super matte face, this makes your face feel like a smooth marshmallow.

3. KATE

Targeted at girls who are rebels at heart (just look at their url, nomorerules.net!?), their simple and cool black packaging sets the brand apart from others. I'm a self professed fan of the brand and have amassed a huge collection of their eye shadows over the years, they're personally the best thing they make. But I only featured one eyeshadow here because they're more or less the same - similar thing thrown into different packaging so they can keep coming up with something "new". Oh! Their eyebrow products are also a hit among the Japanese ladies!

DESIGNING EYEBROW N | 1200 YEN

Personal favourite! It has a cult following, probably because it was the first brand to release such a product. Long lasting and multi functional. Nuff' said.

LASH MAXIMISER | 1200 YEN

Eyelash primer for longer lashes! Works well with waterproof mascara since this is a waterproof formula.

EYEBROW COLOR N | 850 YEN

Also among the first brands to release a brow mascara (which is so necessary in a nation where a huge percentage of ladies dye their hair brown), they have since been immortalized even though other brands released similar products.

BROWN SHADE EYES | 1600 YEN

I'd feature the colorcious diamond eyeshadow, but that is probably going to be discontinued soon. The brown shade eyes has an extremely buttery formula, a lot of people said its texture rival high end brands. Plus this comes with a matte brown shade for you to do nose contouring (or you can use it as a transition colour). Japanese palettes don't usually come with matte shades, so this is refreshing and very versatile!

4. VISEE

After a brand face lift, visee went from cute to glamorous. Yes, this brand is glamorous. You like fancy lace embossed onto the black packaging? They seem to do a little something to me. Targeted at the young adults who appreciate the finer things in life (at an affordable price), visee might just be the brand for you.

GLOSSY RICH EYES | 1200 YEN

According to reviews, this palette is unbelievably pigmented. It's not usual among Japanese drugstore brands!

NUDY RICH EYES | 1400 YEN

For 200 yen more, you get and additional shade. But this palette is the opposite of the glossy rich eyes above, this is the sheer and natural looking palette. Perfect for office ladies who just need a little something for their eyes. Would totally get this palette for the brush that comes with it! Awesome for blending!

LIP AND CHEEK CREAM | 1000 YEN

This was such a hit when it was first released. A 2 in 1 product, house in a pretty case.

CC WATERY FOUNDATION | 1600 YEN

Probably the first drugstore brand to release a watery foundation since the go to effect for most Japanese lady is the powdered and matte finish. A foundation with a lighter finish is refreshing!

5. EXCEL

If you are sophisticated and likes gold, excel has stuff you'd like to check out. Describing their own style as "Tokyo rich casual", they focus on quality products and simple packaging. Their powder and pencil eyebrow EX won best cosmetics award a while back. Really gotta give it to them for coming up with a 3 in 1 product! I love the gold, but gold plastic just doesn't float my boat. Maybe it'll float yours?

SKINNY RICH SHADOW | 1500 YEN

A simple eyeshadow that's been colour coordinated to give you the perfect colour gradation on your eyes.

POWDER AND PENCIL EYEBROW EX | 1450 YEN

This is what I call good product design - you get an eyebrow pencil, eyebrow powder, AND spoolie in one pencil housing!!! How convenient is that!?

SHINY POWDER N | 1800 YEN

A finishing powder that has a slight shimmer because you secretly want to be a Cullen. Hahaha I'm just kidding. Can be used as a subtle highlighter, or all over if you want more dimension on your face. Makes me wonder if it's anything like MAC's mineralized skin finish!

EDITOR'S THOUGHT
These are just a few of the crowd pleaser from each brand. There are a ton more drugstore brands that I may not have heard of before. Apparently, Japanese are notorious for keeping the best stuff for themselves. Until I visit Japan, I will not be able to find the best products out there. But for now, accumulate online reviews will have to do!

image credits: @cosme

Dedicated to the wonderful women in our lives.

I've thought long and hard about what entry to pen this week,
before I know it's already Saturday.
That means it's Mother's day tomorrow.

Initially I wanted to scour the internet for actual gifts that one can buy for our mothers,
but then I asked myself: do these actually mean anything to her at all?

It's nice to splurge on the most important lady who have given us life,
especially a little something that she would have never gotten herself because she would rather spend that same amount of money on you.
Yes, that's what parents always do - they scrimp on themselves and splurge on their little ones.

But is it necessarily the gift that actually show your appreciation for her?
I've seen a dozen gift idea articles in different magazines, and NONE of them mean a thing to me,
because I know my mother doesn't need any of those.
It's not even what she wants!

Why would you get someone something he/she doesn't want?

So I said, "screw writing about gift ideas!".
I will share an idea that means more than a pretentious list of consumer goods.
I'm not paid to mention any products anyway hahaha!

If there is one thing I am rather certain of, it's the fact that your mother loves you.
The kind of unconditional love that allowed us to flourish.
But no matter how unconditional her love is, being appreciated for all she has done for us is always welcomed.

As a kid, I was a nasty little brat.
I say mean things without really considering the consequences,
I had no regard for others' feelings,
I just didn't care.

I've said too many hurtful stuff (unintentionally) to my mother,
but she loved me nonetheless.
She was there for me when I was at my lowest point of my life,
she trusted me, took care of me, and nurtured me back to health with her kindness, patience and love.
That's when I realized the value of suffering - it helped me see just how great she is.

Not everyone is awake to how much sacrifices our parents made for us,
so my gift idea to you, is to turn your attention to those sacrifices.
Only then can you really appreciate the true greatness of this woman in your life.

It pains me when I start counting all the things she did for me.
But her sacrifices only strengthened my love for her.

I hugged my mom, tears in my eyes,
telling her I'm sorry for all the hurtful things I've ever said,
and thanked her for all the things she have done for me.
And that I love her.

She started sniffing, and used her warm embrace to replace any word she has to say.
Maybe she don't know what to say,
but that's okay, because I know what she meant.

I love you too.

A Case Of The Very Necessary Neutral eyeshadow.

Ever since Urban Decay released their first ever Naked palette, its popularity rippled across the entire beauty industry and the effects can still be felt years later. Now, almost every brand has their own rendition of the perfect neutral eyeshadow palette, ranging from cool to warm tones.

The reason why the Naked palette is so successful can be attributed to the versatility and wearability of neutral eyeshadows. They give you that oomph you need to go from naturally beautiful to gorgeous, and is suitable for both work and play. What's not to love about it?

Here, I featured 5 eyeshadow palettes that are leaning on the warm and pink side that won't break your bank. You're welcome! I've already featured a tonne of Makeup Revolution eyeshadow palettes that're also very affordable in my previous post (part 1 and part 2), so I've left them out of this entry.

All of these brands are from USA, but Maybelline and Loreal are available in Singapore hence the prices are in SGD. I'm pretty sure if you are bent on getting the other 3 palettes, you can find them somewhere online.

5 affordable neutral eyeshadow palettes

e.l.f. | NEED IT NUDE EYESHADOW PALETTE | USD10

10 silky smooth warm neutral shades for your everyday look. Complete with matte and shimmery shades for definition and a little bit of glam.

Swatches via e.l.f. cosmetics pinterest

Swatches via e.l.f. cosmetics pinterest

BH COSMETICS | NUDE ROSE 12 COLOUR EYESHADOW PALETTE | USD14

A mixture of satin, matte and shimmery shades, formulated to be soft and blendable. Brownie points for the beautiful tin packaging!

Swatched via bh cosmetics instagram.

NYX | ULTIMATE SHADOW PALETTE (WARM NEUTRALS) | USD18

16 reddish brown shades in matte and shimmery finishes! They also have another palette aptly named "cool neutrals" featuring more purplish shades.

You can see swatches at kiddykatdoesmakeup.com and simplyswatches.com.


MAYBELLINE | THE NUDE EYESHADOW PALETTE | SGD26.90

12 matte and shimmery neutral eyeshadows. By neutral I mean it leans more on the yellowish brown side. It's said to be rather powdery and not very pigmented, but I believe a primer would solve that problem.



Swatches via beautzy.com.

LOREAL | LA PALETTE NUDE (BEIGE) | SGD29.90

10 golden beige eyeshadows (matte and shimmery) with a supposedly better formulation than the Maybelline nudge eyeshadow palette. This also comes in a rose gold variation named ROSE. Both looks beautiful to me!

See swatches at reallyree.com.

Ending note:
I know I probably missed out a lot of other affordable brands, but these are just the ones that I happen to know of. There are simple TOO MANY BRANDS out there! If you know of any other awesome and wallet friendly products, do let me know! I would love to learn about them!

Keep the new products coming!

Korean beauty has always been innovative, just as I thought Korean beauty brands have exhausted all possible ideas, Etude House came up with something really interesting. Now, two toned lip sticks aren't new, but this is the first time I've seen it being delivered in such a way. This asks for a deserving clap (which comes in the form of a dedicated blog entry)!

TWIN SHOT LIPS TINT | 14.4USD (9.36USD NOW!)

This product confused me when i first looked at it. how do you get two shades with just one wand?

Turns out, you get 5g of the mousse tint that is housed in a traditional lip gloss kinda packaging, complete with a doe foot applicator. You also apply it the same way you would apply a lip gloss. The special part is the 2.5g of shot tint, which is delivered through the doe foot applicator (yes, the same one!) by clever product design. Clicking the button on the end of the packaging will release the shot tint through a small hole in the center of the doe foot applicator! genius or what?

Confusing much? Probably not so once you see the actual product. Any how, it's quite a brilliant idea since it is more convenient to carry one product for 2 shades :) From the official swatch, the product seem to have a satin finish, which seems drying to me.

Comes in 9 colour variations.

click to enlarge!

I really think it's a brilliant idea to package two colours into one product!

Personal favourite is the RD301 lady x red shot, and possible OR201 pure x love shot. Those two combination looks healthy and lovely! The only one I do not understand is PK002 inner x peace shot. I believe the blue tint changes colour to that universal hot pink shade that every colour changing lip product achieves, which looks almost similar to the pink "shot colour". What's the point!? If you're into colour changing products, I'd recommend Canmake's your lips only lip gloss. :)

More dupes that won't break your bank!

After introducing the Urban Decay Naked dupes in the previous entry, which I suppose is probably the most useful dupe ever because who doesn't like the Naked series? That is, if you don't already own a tonne of neutral eye shadows.

I've done my little research and put together another list of dupes. If you're not a fan of Urban Decay, Makeup Revolution does dupes for other popular palettes too! Just a little bummer if you live in the States: some of these products are not available on their US web store! I say it's a little bummer because I live in a place where Makeup Revolution isn't even available here. :P So yea, count yourself lucky!

LORAC PRO PALETTE VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION ICONIC PRO 1 (12USD)

LORAC PRO PALETTE 2 VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION ICONIC PRO 2 (12USD)

TOO FACED CHOCOLATE BAR VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION I ♡ MAKEUP I HEART CHOCOLATE

TOO FACED SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE BAR VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION I ♡ MAKEUP I HEART CHOCOLATE SALTED CARAMEL

TOO FACED SWEET HEARTS BLUSH (CANDY GLOW) VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION I ♡ MAKEUP BLUSHING HEARTS (CANDY QUEEN OF HEARTS)

Makeup Revolution has a wide variety of products (that aren't dupes) worth checking out. They straight out take inspiration (or should I say, copy!?) from other brands and make them in even more shades than the original brand. You can call them sly, but they are clearly targeting a different market segment from the high end brands and bringing good products to people who aren't willing to fork out that much money.

Economics at its best!

Sweet peachy goodness, and everyone else seem to agree with me on that!

Too Faced recently launched a limited edition eye shadow palette. Usually they just slip past my radar, but this is peach themed and for some strange reason, I'm into peachy shades lately. Well, it probably isn't a strange coincidence, because I no longer under estimate the influence advertisement and marketing can have on me.

I also read that it sold out within 5 minutes? Or was that just an exaggeration? Whatever the case, IT'S SOLD OUT. If you planned on getting your hands on them, don't be heart broken yet! I happened to come across several other palettes that are also peach themed, so MAYBE they could soothe that little heart ache of yours?

TOO FACED SWEET PEACH EYE SHADOW COLLECTION | USD49

MAKEUP REVOLUTION ULTRA 32 EYESHADOW PALETTE FLAWLESS 2 | USD 15

MAKEUP REVOLUTION I ♡ MAKEUP I HEART CHOCOLATE VICE | 7.99 POUNDS

ETUDE HOUSE PLAY COLOUR EYES JUICE BAR | USD26.4
musingsofamuse swatched these on her blog!

while these dupes aren't exactly the same, but they do have some shades that are similar to the Too Faced palette. I would warn against the Etude House palette though, it probably won't be as buttery smooth or pigmented (especially the matte shades) as Too Faced's.

On a side note, how do you like the new style of graphics in this entry? I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm very happy with my creation! I love how pleasing it looks :) And I hope you like it as much as I do!

You don't always need to sacrifice money for quality.

Makeup Revolution was introduced to me by a dear friend of mine a while ago. She's all about how awesome their eyeshadow palettes are (she owns probably 8 or 9, if I remember correctly). When I finally got a chance to try them out when I was back in Hong Kong last November, I snapped up a palette for myself even though I don't need anymore eyeshadow.

I just couldn't resist it - the quality at that price point is just too good to ignore! Not buying it would result in more regret than if I were to buy it. So after rationalizing my purchase, I paid for the ICONIC 3 palette, which is a dupe for the Urban Decay Naked3 palette.

In fact, the entire Redemption Iconic series is a dupe for the Naked series! I've put them together for better comparison, prices included! You're welcome!

URBAN DECAY NAKED VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION REDEMPTION ICONIC 1

URBAN DECAY NAKED2 VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION REDEMPTION ICONIC 2

URBAN DECAY NAKED3 VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION REDEMPTION ICONIC 3

URBAN DECAY NAKED SMOKY VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION ICONIC SMOKEY (12USD)
Note: This palette is not available on the US site, so I've referenced the price in British Pounds. But I just found out it's available on ulta!!! So I've linked it there ;)

Will they offer the exact experience as the higher end counterpart? I can't guarantee that, and I don't think so in my honest opinion. 

I've only tried the Naked testers in the Sephora stores, and may I say their formula is a lot more buttery, and gets picked up by my finger a lot easier. My Makeup Revolution palette works fine for most of the shades, expect for a few that might harden over time and requires some effort to pick up a decent amount of pigments.

But if you were to standardize their quality to their price, I dare say they are on par with each other. Probably, the Makeup Revolution Palette might even come in on top! 

Bottom line: if you're a makeup junkie who is into experimenting with many colours, then the wallet friend dupes are a good bargain for you. C'mon, you can get 7.7 Makeup Revolution palettes for the price of 1 Urban Decay palette.