Where To Buy Korean and Japanese Makeup & Skincare
Where to buy Korean and Japanese Makeup and Skincare you ask? Good question, I’m glad you asked! Asian makeup, skincare, and beauty aren’t always local to people who live in rural areas and aren’t in larger cities and heck, even sometimes when you live in a larger city you might have a difficult time locating good Korea and Japanese makeup products because you either 1. don’t live in a city with a larger Asian community or 2. your city just sucks…naaa I’m only kidding!
I’m in New York and lord knows even with a larger Asian community in places such as Flushing it does prove difficult to locate certain brands and products I’m looking for.
I’m always asked where is the best place to shop for Etude House, Jill Stuart, Tony Moly, etc…etc….
Honestly? The biggest and best selection of Korean and Japanese Makeup, Skincare, and Beauty is right online at your finger tips. Sure sometimes you’ll have to wait for airmail and this could be frustrating if you’re an instant gratification type a gal or guy. But many online stores offer EMS shipping which arrives within a few days and even regular airmail typically takes 8-10 days in most cases.
So here’s a list of some great online stores to buy Korean and Japanese Makeup and Skincare.
I’m not affiliated with any of these shops. I have however, purchased products from them in the past so I’m relating to you some of my experiences with them in this post.
Sasa.com
Shipping Experience
Sasa is a pain in my a$$ when it comes to fast shipping. If you can’t wait, don’t bother ordering from here. I’ve gotten packages from Sasa as quickly as 10 days and as slow as a month. It really depends! It isn’t because they don’t ship quickly but they have holidays, mail issues due to the weather, etc which can delay things. Just a warning if you do order from the site.
Variety
The nice thing about Sasa is the fact you can a wide range of everything from Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese brands. They carry obscure brands like Shills and popular ones like Tony Moly and Etude House. The stock is sometimes kinda low and they sell out of things quickly I’ve noticed but they do restock so you have to keep your eyes peeled. The sad part is they are limited sometimes to what they do stock from brands…like Etude House they carry but it’s a very limited amount of product they have and not newly released items. They also carry drugstore brands like Maybelline and the nice thing is you can indulge in products we haven’t yet gotten from Maybelline here in the US. For example, Baby Face Pore Eraser was available at Sasa.com months before it reached US shores. They are also the mecca for Asian skincare and sheet masks from brands like My Beauty Dairy, etc.. The pricing is very reasonable here and almost spot on for retail prices in Korea, Japan, etc…shipping is sometimes free if you spend a certain amount and in many cases reasonable for a few items.
Overall
Sasa is an excellent place to dabble your toes Asian waters due to the vast amount of product they carry! From really obscure Asian beauty gadgets to really fantastic facial sheet masks you’ll find what you’re looking for at this online shop!
AlphabeautyUK on E-bay
Shipping
This shop has fast shipping with standard airmail with arrival from 7-10 days. It’s also fairly cheap at around $2 for smaller items and up to $5-$6 for larger ones. The more you buy the more of a discount they offer on shipping.
Variety
This one is sadly lacking in Korean beauty here unfortunately but a good amount of Japanese skincare and beauty from brands like Jill Stuart, Canmake, Kose, KATE, Majolica Majorca. Also excellent selection of newer releases and collections at around the same time they launch in Japan. Prices are reasonable but take notice that sometimes you’ll see a jump of $2-$10 or more on some products…but by US standards you won’t find the prices too high, it’s just not what you’d pay retail for the items in their original country.
Overall
Excellent variety of skincare, beauty, and makeup however, more concentrated on Japanese brands here with a few Taiwanese ones like My Beauty Dairy but no selection of Korean ones. A great places to pick up inexpensive (but effective) Japanese skincare and beauty masks as well cosmetics.
Adambeauty.com
Shipping
Adam offers very inexpensive (around $2 per item) regular registered airmail shipping which takes from 7-10 days to arrive.
Variety
An excellent variety of exclusively Japanese brands like KATE, Jill Stuart, Canmake, Majolica Majorca, Lunasol, B&C, etc…I think of Adam as more of a place to go for color cosmetics but there are some skincare products to be had here as well and of course, an excellent selection of SPF. Over the years I feel like Adam has slowed down slightly as he takes a little longer to post newer makeup collections so you won’t likely cosmetic collections that are newly launched in Japan. It could be he’s delayed or perhaps because he lives in Hong Kong the release date differs from Japan but if you’re wanting something the day it releases in Japan you may experience delays getting it here. None the less he’s an excellent place to grab Japanese makeup!
Overall
He’s English isn’t great but he’s fabulous with contacting you right away with shipping details almost within moments of your order as well as getting your products to you right way. Very good place to shop Asian beauty!
Gooddealer.com
Shipping
Fairly inexpensive shipping with regular airmail that arrives around 7-10 days. Sometimes posts products he doesn’t have in stock so you’re technically paying to pre-book them and he’ll ship when they release. He also lives in Hong Kong thus the slight delay and difference in release dates from Japan.
Variety
This shop concentrates mostly on color cosmetics and collection but has a few skincare products as well! Excellent pricing on Jill Stuart, Majolica Majorca, KATE, and many other Japanese beauty brands. The shop is a little harder to navigate and isn’t user friendly unfortunately.
Overall
Kevin’s English isn’t a bit better than Adam’s so if you need to contact him for anything he’s quick to reply and friendly. He’s good about getting products out but remember some items he pre-books and it could be a week or even three before they arrive. For example, he lists Holiday Coffrets earlier but in November and sometimes you won’t get them until the week of Christmas. Typically he does e-mail to tell you that you ordered a product you might have to wait for.
Imomoko.com
Shipping
FREE! with an order of $99 or more but reasonable US priority shipping is available for two or three items. They are US based and items arrive fairly fast. I’ve gotten packages as quickly as three days but sometimes four.
Variety
Imomoko carries a vast array of Japanese and Korean products as well as Taiwanese including both color cosmetics and skincare as well as gadgetry! Unfortunately the prices can be cringe worthy. They add a good deal of money onto retail prices so if something costs $10 in another country expect to pay $15-$20 for it on Imomoko. It does vary from product to product you just have to do a little research to see if you’re getting a good deal or not.
Overall
Super fast shipping! Excellent variety of products and the newest, hottest Asian releases in both cosmetics and skincare.
Gmarket.com
Shipping
Prices are EXCELLENT but hipping can be expensive depending how much you buy but is reasonable if you buy a good deal of products. Fairly fast to ship but sometimes there are hold ups.
Variety
ANYTHING you could possibly want from Korea can be found on Gmarket and that’s not limited to beauty!
Experience
Gmarket has a very steep learning curve in my opinion. It’s sorta of combination of E-bay and Amazon combined as you’ll be purchasing from a ton of different sellers and these sellers send their products to Gmarket for you. Gmarket proceeds to box all your purchases together and sends them out to you. There online site is a little confusing and has a steep learning curve plus the last time I used it it needed to be translated because the check out was not in English. The good news is customer service is excellent about getting back to you if problems arise. I like the prices but I think there are shops that are easier to use especially if you’re a n00b to Asian beauty.
YesStyle.com
Shipping
Expensive so buy more to avoid being hit by a large shipping fee on smaller items. A little slower shipping so expect to wait up to two weeks or if you’re lucky within ten days.
Variety
Fairly good variety of Japanese and Korean brands including Jill Stuart, Holika Holika, Etude House, etc…pricing fluctuates as some items are fairly priced and others feel a bit too expensive. They have a good selection but sometimes aren’t as active with newer products and collections.
Overall
YesStyle is nice to browse occasionally and if you’re purchasing clothes or accessories/shoes it’s a nice place to grab a bit of beauty as well. I typically avoid it for beauty purchases only though as there are better and cheaper online shops to go with.
F2Plus1 on Ebay or Beautynetkorea.com
Shipping
This sight and e-bayer typically includes shipping in your purchase making products slightly higher than retail but not by much! They ship via regular airmail and it arrives in around 6-10 days in my experience.
Variety
An AWESOME array of the latest and greatest Korean makeup and skincare from Tony Moly, Etude House, Holika Holika, It’s Skin, Skin Food, the Face Shop, Etc…
Overall
I absolutely love shopping from this seller! They have incredible prices that are close to retail plus an excellent selection of the hottest and newest Korean beauty products.
So…where to buy Korean and Japanese Makeup and Skincare has definitely been covered in this post eh?
I hope you enjoy some of these recommendations for great online shops to grab the best in Asian beauty.
Happy Shopping!