Shopping in Taiwan…

Disclaimer: I am by no means a Taiwan-shopping expert. Just happened to drop by Taipei for a few days, and would like to share spots where I got my hauls…

I totally love shopping in Taiwan for beauty products. They are sensibly priced, they have wide range of Japanese brands, be it department store brands or budget friendly drug store stuff. And this country, is filled with cute stuff… Hello Kitty masks, Rilakkuma creams, Little Twin star stuff… packaging junkies-be warned, prepare your money & that credit card limit!

I will save the introduction, and just goes to the details… for department store beauty brands, look no further than Shinkong mitsukoshi. This is actually a complex of shopping malls, 4 buildings to be exact. The beauty department in ground floor of few of the buildings offer international brands like Dior, Chanel, Guerlain and such. There’s quite extensive offerings of Japanese brands: shiseido, coffret d’or, kose, esprique, dr ci la bo, shu uemura, paul& joe, anna sui. I do think it is worth to mention they also have NARS there! Needless to say, if up scale department store brands is your cup of tea, this is your heaven. At night, usually you can find street artists performing in the alleys between the buildings.

When I was there, there’s even donation / adoption drive for doggies. These are not your usual mongrels, these dogs are actually well trained and they are good breeds- golden retrievers, jack russels… so heart breaking to see some of the dogs got injured. Those who cant take care of dogs, really shouldn’t get dogs or cats… and those who already have one, please neuter your pet – don’t force urself to send your pet’s offspring away to impatient and clueless (or even cruel) hands…  Ahem… now, back to beauty stuff…

How to go there? Take the MRT (metro) line to Taipei City Hall, it takes 2 -3 minutes walk from the exit. (I recommend buying the easycard for NTD 200 –that’s NTD 100 for refundable deposit and NTD 100 worth of value. Makes your MRT ride a breeze , no need to queue for your tickets everytime!).

For more budget friendly stuff, go to Watson’s. this drugstore chain is ubiquitous, I am sure anywhere you stay in Taipei, it wont be so hard to find one nearby.  They sell, my favorite shiseido’s tsubaki hair care line, ma Cherie, some happy bath day range. And alley full of masks!!! I love Taiwanese sheet masks!!!  The drug store staples such as Maybelline (find your Asian special editions here) and L’oreal is here. Japanese brands: Media, canmake, nature &co. and many more. And loadz of BB cream brands!

Wonderful thing about Watson’s is they seem to always have special offers and discounts on various stuff. Lovely! When I was in Taipei, they even have buy 1 free1 for certain mask range.

Asian brand lovers must be familiar with sasa.com. do visit the real store here! They are easy to find in shopping spots. They have majolica Majorca, kate & Revlon stands there. They also offer selected range of Heroine Make, Pupa, Dolly Wink, My beauty diary, eos  (how nice to find eos in asia!), seabreeze and many more…and lots and lots of false lashes too!

I do recommend shopping in Taipei City Hall area, they have a few malls, watson’s & sasa around the area. And of course, you get the visit the famous Taipei 101 tower! which hosts shopping mall with small beauty hall inside.

One surprising place to find beauty stuff is 7-11! I found decent offering of My beauty diary face masks there, Sexy Look line (okay, never mind the cheesy-cheap sounding brand name, but they have Hello Kitty line! So cute!), Simply (This brand offers Rilakkuma themed cosmetics!)

Those are places where I find most fun to shop! Have fun shopping in Taiwan. Do inform me if you have additional recommendation where to shop!!!