Guide: Asian Beauty shopping in Thailand

This post was supposed to go up earlier, but 80% of my post failed to properly save when I wrote it over the weekend.

You might have seen this on my Instagram | Source

Source

Nonetheless, I finally found the motivation to finish it up, so here it is! The guide to Asian Beauty (AB) shopping in Thailand :)

First of all, I am by no means an expert, but having spent the past two years back in Thailand since undergrad hunting down Asian branded skincare and makeup, I feel like I have a better knowledge of where to go to test, swatch, and browse for AB items. This list is by not comprehensive by any means, but I hope you find this helpful if you ever have the chance to visit Bangkok!

In this guide, I'll be mentioning Korean/Taiwanese/Japanese beauty brands, but also some Thai brands you might be interested in trying and buying.

I want to preface this guide saying that nearly all the brands listed here are quite marked up in Thailand. I suppose that is to be expected since all these items are imports, but just keep that in mind when shopping around here. It might be in your best interest to simply swatch items at the physical counters, and then buy it later online.

With that said, let's get to it!

AB brands and where to find them

If you're pressed for time and want to hit up as many AB physical shops in the shortest amount of time, I suggest that you head on over to the Siam area.

Siam Paragon, the unofficial center of Bangkok's shopping universe | Source

I tend to mention this often to my friends in a joking way, but it's true: the Siam area is truly the unofficial center of Bangkok's shopping universe. Almost all AB brands have some sort of physical shop in this area. It's moreso a matter of what you're looking for, and where to find it.

The best part about this area is that it is universally well-known in Bangkok, so taxi drivers can take you here very easily. Also, it is easily accessibly via our sky train (the BTS system). Siam is not a stop on the subway system, but you can easily take the subway to a stop that links up with a sky train stop and mosey on over.

A subway, skytrain, and airport link map | Source

As you can see from the above graphic, the Siam station is the interchange station between the two sky train lines: the Sukhumvit (light green) line, and the Silom (dark green) line. It makes it a hard stop to miss, because they announce it pretty well on the trains.

AB brands with physical shops

A lot of AB brands have physical stores in the Siam area. Pros of shopping in physical brand stores is that they give you more samples if you purchase something. Cons is that you have to spend a lot more time walking around and actually finding where these stores are.

The following is a list of brands with physical stores in this area, along with some rudimentary directions on how to get there.

Innisfree only just opened in Thailand a few months back!

Missha counter/store

• Etude House: Follow the signs for Digital Gateway. Head to the ground floor, and walk through the building out through the back entrance (ie, the entrance furthest away from the sky train). Cross the street, take a right, and keep walking. The Etude House shop will be bright pink and on your left.
• The Face Shop: Ground floor of Digital Gateway, which can be accessed directly from the BTS Siam station (follow the signs!)
• Innisfree: Ground floor of Digital Gateway, which can be accessed directly from the BTS Siam station (follow the signs!)
• Missha: Ground floor of Digital Gateway, which can be accessed directly from the BTS Siam station (follow the signs!); it's right next to The Face Shop and directly across from The Beautrium (more info below!)
• *** I want to single out Missha here because it is the only brand that I know of whose prices are not marked up. Their prices are almost similar, if not the same, as prices for their products in South Korea. This is the only brand I'd recommending you stock up on/buy in store while in Thailand!
• Too Cool For School: Located in Siam Square One, which is also directly accessible from the BTS Siam station. 

AB brands in department stores

Department stores in Thailand are a bit different than department stores in the US in that the brands present aren't all limited to high-end brands. Revlon has a counter, as does Maybelline, NYX, Wet 'n' Wild, etc. The same applies to AB brands! You have Sulwhasoo with a counter, but also KATE as well.

The pros of shopping in department stores is that you get to sample and see a lot of different brands in a smaller space. The downside of this is that you don't get nearly as many samples (if at all), and the product offerings per brand tend to be smaller than in physical stores due to space constraints.

The following list includes brands that can be found at two major department stores in the Siam area

Siam Paragon

This mall is directly accessible right off the BTS Siam stop. Just follow the signs - or the crowds of people!

• The Face Shop
• Kanebo (includes Lunasol)
• KATE
• Kose Cosmetics
• Ipsa
• Laneige
• Skin Food
• Sulwhasoo

Central World

This mall is right next to Siam Paragon, so definitely within walking distance! It's right in-between two stations, so you can access it either via BTS Chidlom or BTS Siam. 

• Fairydrops (under the counter named Jill Mika)
• KATE
• Laneige
• Skin Food
• Majolica Majorca
• Suqqu
• Too Cool For School

Also of note is that there is a Sephora in this mall, in case you wanted to check that out :)

Stores with a variety of AB offerings

Iz so shiny

I'm not sure what you call these stores, but these kinds of stores have a sampling of brands from all over - both AB and non-AB - but are independent from malls and department stores.

Pros of these stores is that you get to discover a lot of various brands and products that may not have previously been on your radar. Cons is that the sales associates here tend to be less knowledgeable and therefore kind of unhelpful :\

Below I list just some of the brands offered at branches I've visited.

• Boots: a British/UK-based drugstore. You'll find branches all over the city, but not every branch offers the same items.
• Hada Labo
• Mamonde
• My Beauty Diary

• The Beautrium: loads of different brands available! You can find this branch right across from Missha and The Face Shop on the ground floor of Digital Gateway. The following is a small sampling of brands you can find there.
• ALLIE
• Canmake
• DHC
• Dolly Wink
• Freshel
• Isehan Heroine Make
• Kose Cosmetics
• Ladykin
• Mizon
• Peripera
• Tony Moly
• ALL the sunscreen (not really, but a lot of different brands like Biore, Sunplay, Sunkiller, Senka, and etc.!)

• Eve and Boy: more or less the same offerings as The Beautrium, but at a cheaper price point. There's a branch in the Siam area, which you can find if you walk through Digital Gateway out the back, take a right, and keep walking. It's a little bit past the Watson's in that Siam Square area.

• Ogenki: A drugstore similar to Boots and Watson's mainly carrying Japanese brands (but also some Western and Korean brands). I haven't seen too many of these around, but the branch near my house has the following brands
• CLIO
• Dolly Wink
• KATE
• K-Palette
• My Beauty Diary
• Peripera
• Pure Smile

• Tsuruha: like Ogenki, also a Japanese drugstore similar to Boots and Watson's mainly carrying Japanese brands
• Dolly Wink
• Fairydrops
• Isehan Heroine Make
• Kao
• Lots of sunscreen offerings!

• Watson's: is a very similar drugstore to Boots. Their brand offerings tend to vary according to the branch, but I find that they offer more AB products than Boots.
• Biore
• CLIO
• Hada Labo
• Freshel
• KATE
• Leaders
• Majolica Majorca
• My Beauty Diary

Other brands and places of note

3CE Stylenanda

There's a physical Stylenanda branch in Bangkok! You can find this at EmQuartier, which is a mall accessible via the BTS sky train at the BTS Phrom Phong stop. The mark ups aren't too bad here, so it might be worth checking out!

It's Skin

I haven't seen too many physical branches of this brand around, but I know there's definitely one at Terminal 21, a mall accessible both via BTS sky train (BTS Asok) and the MRT subway (MRT Sukhumvit). 

Thai brands to check out

A photo posted by Pat Thai (@howdoithai) on Jul 3, 2015 at 7:52am PDT

This article lists some Thai brands that may be of interest! In addition, I've also listed some other Thai beauty brands as well (again, by no means a comprehensive list).

• Cosluxe: a makeup brand that can be found at The Beautrium and Watson's. I've heard that they're lip products are pretty good!
• Gla Nature: organic skincare and body care. I love their lip cream, and mangosteen body lotion! You can find them at Central World on the second floor (the same floor as the sky walk connection between Siam Paragon and Central World). 
• Namu Life Snail White: this is an incredibly famous brand here, very well-known for their cream. I've actually reviewed their cream before, which you can find here, in case you wanted to read up on it some more!
• Siam Botanicals: organic skincare and body care. My friend loves their sunscreen and their serums. You can peruse their offerings on their website. Their physical shop is located at BTS Phrom Phong.

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I hope you've found this guide helpful! Let me know if you think I've missed something, and/or want more information :) I will update this guide as I discover more brands/stores and/or remember brands I have otherwise missed.

Cheers!