one more thing to look out for when shopping in 🇯🇵

I'm sure everyone knows that when visiting Japan (and Korea), you're bound to go home with a shit ton of beauty products. In Japan, there's so many of their local Japanese brands to buy! Canmake, Kate, Suqqu, Majolica Majorca, Etusais etc etc etc. But on top of that, did you know that the prices of international brands are also much cheaper there?

While shopping at the many department stores in Tokyo, I realised that the prices of brands like Givenchy (cosmetics) is much lower there. I can't say for sure that its ALL international brands, but the 2 I shopped at were definitely more affordable there. So here's 2 brands you should keep an eye out in Japan 👁

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1) Armani Beauty

During this trip, I discovered the beauty in Armani's Lip Maestro Satin. Whilst it didn't dethrone my all-time top fave (Rare Beauty's tinted lip oil), its gorgeous colours and lasting-effect made it to 2nd place on my list. It's also cheaper there than in Singapore! In SG, it retails for S$63. In Japan, it retails for 5830 JPY, which is approx S$53. And that price is before the 5% tourist discount offered by Mitsukoshi/Isetan department stores, AND the 10% tax refund. Imagine an almost S$15 discount on a lipstick? That's more than a 20% discount! But wait, it gets better with the next brand.

Also, let’s take a quick look at Armani’s The Yulong perfume, which was super popular for a bit! It costs 30,800 JPY for 100ml as you can see in p2, and which is about about S$274.14 according to YouTrip. Clearly, already cheaper than the price it retails for in Sephora (S$280 - screenshot in p3)! After you include the 5% tourist discount AND 10% tax refund??? 🤯🤯🤯

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2) Givenchy

If you're really into cosmetics & social media content about cosmetics, then you might have heard about the viral 4-colour loose powders from Givenchy. It's well-known for being amazing but also notoriously expensive. In Singapore, it retails for a whopping S$103 for the full size and S$53 for the mini size on Sephora (p5-6 respectively).

In Japan, the full size retails for 7480 JPY (~S$69) and 3960 JPY (~S$36) for the mini (p4). These prices are BEFORE the aforementioned 5% tourist discount and 10% tax refund.

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I KNOW. It's ACTUALLY INSANE. The Givenchy powders literally just became SO affordable???? I mean obviously it's not super ridiculously affordable, but for a famous luxury brand, it really is. In comparison, Huda Beauty's loose powder costs S$62, Rare Beauty's S$42, Fenty Beauty's S$57...

… A mind was blown.

Initially, I only bought the mini size to test out, and a colour corrector. But the next day I immediately returned to get the full size one, AND the pressed powder. Was it really that good or was it the price difference... We'll never know 😭 My mom also went equally as insane after trying out the colour corrector and powder ooops... Unfortunately one of the items she got was the Le Soin Noir UV Compact, which was a base product + SPF is not available in Singapore. So it's not just more affordable in Japan, they also have a wider selection of items. Where is the fairness in this 🥲

It really baffles me because it's not JUST the exchange rate. Even if we were to use the old JPY exchange rate from last year, the prices are still significantly cheaper for such an item. It's just even more affordable now with the JPY rate. Unfortunately,I didn't take a look at the other international brands because I had zero interest in the rest (ooooooop)... BUT ALSO I literally spent all my time in Armani/Givenchy. But yes, don't just look at the Japanese cosmetic brands! The international ones are so well-priced too 🥹

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TLDR price comparisons 💸

Armani:

Lip Maestro Satin

Price in Singapore (Tangs): S$63

Price in Japan: 5830 JPY (~S$53) before 5% tourist discount + 10% tax refund

Givenchy:

Colour corrector

Price in Singapore (Sephora): S$61

Price in Japan: 5060 JPY (~S$47) before tourist discount + tax refund

Prisme Libre loose powder – full size

Price in Singapore (Sephora): S$103

Price in Japan: 7480 JPY (~S$69) before tourist discount + tax refund

Prisme Libre loose powder – mini size

Price in Singapore (Sephora): S$53

Price in Japan: 3960 JPY (~S$36) before tourist discount + tax refund

Prisme Libre pressed powder

Price in Singapore (Sephora): S$98

Price in Japan: 7480 JPY (~S$69) before tourist discount + tax refund

Prisme Libre blush

Price in Singapore (Sephora): S$78

Price in Japan: 6600 JPY (~S$61) before tourist discount + tax refund

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