Happy New Year, my beautiful readers! I’m probably on a sunny beach somewhere in Vietnam. As you can probably guess, I’ve pre-written a bunch of posts to be published while I’m on holiday. How was your New Year’s?

I was inspired to do a series of posts on finding good Japanese cosmetics below 2,000JPY (USDD25). When I first moved to Japan, I found it very challenging to find brands that were affordable and kick-ass. I was also afraid of trying unfamiliar brands because I might break out and the overall shopping experience at the drugstore was just confusing and I felt so lost.

Furthermore, counter cosmetics are really expensive, local and foreign, due to the strong yen and imported products are just generally astronomical. Case in point, a MAC eyeshadow is three times the price in Japan, compared to North American rates. Even SKII, which is made in Japan, is cheaper to buy in Singapore than in Japan.

So, I made it my personal mission to check out cheap and good cosmetics at the Japanese drugstore that I think are stellar and worth looking for. Some of them are well-ranked at Cosme, Japan’s answer to Makeup Alley, which is a guide I always reach for to see if anyone is talking about a particular product in question.

To make it more challenging, I’m also leaving out more expensive drugstore brands, like Esprique, Maquillage, Aube etc., as they don’t really have that “cheap as chips” price tag although they are only sold in drugstores. To me, they are not exactly “pure” drugstore brands because of their price point. An eyeshadow palette from Esprique is 2940JPY (USD37.80) which is actually more expensive than some high-end Western brands like Too Faced, or comparable to Urban Decay’s Box of Shadows palettes, to quote an example.

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To kick things off, I’m going to start with lip gloss and you might guess what is up my sleeve…

Canmake Candy Wrap Lip (also featured in my November Faves video) is one of the best drugstore lip glosses around. At the time of writing this post, it was standing at number three after Dior and Maquillage. Though it might be above brands like Chanel, please don’t think it’s naturally better than Chanel. It’s not but I think its friendly 600JPY (USD7.70) price tag helps to boost its ranking, plus it is a great lip gloss.

It has medium pigmentation, is non-sticky, fragrance-free, and quite long lasting for a gloss. I ate a bowl of oats after slicking it on to put it to the test and there was some gloss left on my lips. The only downside is that it only comes in four colours and I got two — a cherry red and a warm pink. The others on sale were a coral and a cool pink. Canmake, please make more shades!

The only other thing I could think of that would stop people from buying this is that Canmake is a very teenagery brand and I know that is a turn-off for some women. It’s probably okay to say you use Canmake in your 20s, but beyond that, it’s a little weird in Japan (I obviously don’t care) where being age-appropriate is very important.

Another brand that is more “neutral” in terms of branding is Visee. It’s still for younger women but it doesn’t have that cutesy image like Canmake. I’m a huge fan of Visee and think not only do they have solid products but their image is quite pretty and veers to being a bit edgy with their various fashion collaborations (you can read about the Smacky Glam limited edition lip gloss and eye shadow palette here).

I loved the Smacky Glam lip gloss in Bitter (right) so much that I bought another one from their permanent collection in BE304(left) which is a pinkier nude than the Bitter one. The texture is more like MAC’s lip glass but is less sticky and less shiny. The pigmentation is on the sheer side and it’s more of a lip enhancer than something you would wear on its own. I could wear the Canmake Candy Wrap ones on their own because there is more colour to them. Compared to Canmake, Visee has a bigger range of colour and they are usually wearable shades suitable for everyday.

Visee lipglosses are about 1,400JPY (USD18) each but I always get them discounted without even trying. They seem to be on sale a lot of the time and I usually pay 1,100JPY (USD14) at Matsumotokiyoshi (for those unfamiliar with this drugstore chain, it’s the one with the bright yellow sign with stark black characters).

Do you have any other products or brands to recommend for drugstore lipglosses?
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