Thanks for your comments on my previous installment of my Japanese Drugstore Hunt 2000JPY & Below series. I am really enjoying writing these posts as they are making me look twice at drugstore items.

Today’s post is on lipsticks, and while there are many great Japanese drugstore lippies, there aren’t so many excellent cheap ones. Maquillage, Coffret D’Or, and Esprique make gorgeous lipsticks but they are priced more like 2,600JPY (USD33) and above although they are technically drugstore brands.

After poking around the drugstore and watching like mad, I found two brands that make good lipsticks — Lavshuca Dramatic Memory Rouge(1,575JPY; USD20.50) and Kate Rouge High Glamour (1,400JPY; USD18.30).

I found them to be of medium pigmentation, moisturizing, and they last up to three to four hours if I don’t eat. I still have some lipstick on after having a drink so I think these perform pretty well for the price. I find them to be extremely similar in terms of texture and they do not make my lips peel. Lavshuca’s range has only 12 shades to choose from while Kate’s has 15 shades in their collection. Both have wearable colours but that means there aren’t exciting imaginative hues.

Lavshuca’s RD-1 shade (left) looks like a true pink in the tube but glides on less bright on the lips, while Kate’s BE-33 (right) is a truly lovely everyday peachy shade.

My only real complaint is the packaging. Admittedly, they are both products I would highly recommend and would re-purchase again myself but I don’t feel proud taking these out of my purse. They are actually slimmer than your average Western brand lipstick which has a heftier feel to it. While the smaller circumference actually fits the width of my lips perfectly, the lighter flimsier feel makes the lipsticks look cheaper and the packaging design could be more trendy.

To me, putting on an expensive beautiful lipstick before going out makes me feel like a million dollars, but that’s just asking too much out of a cheap lipstick, I reckon, and that’s why Tom Ford lipsticks exist.

What is your favourite Japanese drugstore lipstick?

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