There’re many highs and lows in the life of an expat, and while living in Shanghai has many perks, beauty shopping definitely isn’t one of them. Especially not for a die-hard beauty addict. On the surface, it doesn’t look that bad – in Shanghai’s enormous shopping malls, there’s usually a Sephora or drugstore, and there’re also a lot of free-standing stores of the big Western beauty brands, and some Korean ones as well. But. There’re a lot of buts, actually.
Some difficulties you might encounter
The first ‘but’ is availability, and the second ‘but’ is the price. Imported goods from other countries (especially ‘luxury’ goods like cosmetics) have an import tax of about 40-50%. That means that your MAC foundation that costs 30€ at home will be around 50€ when you buy it here, Chanel nail polishes are about 30€, and so on. It gets ridiculously expensive.
And then availability. Everytime I enter the Sephora that’s nearest to me, I want to start to cry. Because honestly, as Sephoras go, Chinese ones are a tragedy. The range is seriously limited, same with the brands they showcase. You’ll likely find the big ones like Dior, Clinique, Lancome, and Guerlain, but only their core range. Seasonal collections? There’s neither rhyme nor reason to them. Sometimes you’ll find them, sometimes you won’t, sometimes you’ll find them one season later. And sometimes, when you’re at MAC, you’ll find that the Limited Edition you were looking for bears only a passing relation to the thing you’re looking at. My favourite example for that was MAC’s holiday collection ‘Nutcracker Sweet’ that had the same special packaging, but consisted completely of permanent items. And no, it was a proper counter and not a fake one.
Another problem might be the language barrier – even in Shanghai, the most ‘Western’ of all Chinese cities, it’s often difficult to communicate if you don’t speak Mandarin. SAs often speak only basic English, and if you want to check the ingredients of a product, you’re out of luck – there’re stickers in Mandarin over that helpful (English) info.
Chinese beauty brands
BUTbutbut, you’ll say. What about Chinese products? I’ll go into that in another post, but right now there’re three factors that hinder me from buying Chinese beauty brands: Availability (again) – I know about two Chinese beauty brands on top of my head. That is because the Chinese mainly buy French and Korean beauty brands. Scandals – there have been so many scandals related to food and hygiene. Fake beauty products are everywhere online, too. Animal rights – beauty products have to be tested on animals in China. ‘nuff said.
Where to shop
If that doesn’t deter you or if you’re desperately searching for a product that you’re run out of, here’s where I shop in Shanghai. Please be aware that this is by no means a full list, Shanghai is much too big for that. This is my list, meaning you’ll likely to see me browsing one of those places!
Sephora
The biggest Sephora is on Nanjing Rd (East), near People’s Square. Have a look at their online site to get a feel of their offerings and also read this great article on how it differs from the US Sephora (clue: more skincare, less makeup). I bought things there when I was absolutely desperate and also on Single’s Day (November 11th) when you’ll find the best discounts of the year. But usually, whenever I’m in a Chinese Sephora, I’m totally exasperated, because they don’t stock the products I want. But then, a regular German Douglas isn’t that much different – SAs who don’t help you, products unavailable – so yeah.
Department Store Beauty Halls
Of course there’re various department stores with beauty halls, just like at home. The one I like is in Parkson Department Store, and has a MAC counter, Origins, Clinique, Chanel, Dior, Guerlain (the Chinese for sure love the French brands), Estée Lauder, Lancome, YSL, MUFE, Fancl, Shu Uemura, Kanebo, Laneige, IOPE, just to name some. Again, same like with Sephora – if you’re on the hunt for limited editions products, you often won’t have any luck. The range is limited, BUT you’ll find some of the offerings for the Asian market there (Chanel’s whole Le Blanc range, for example).
Also, some highly prestigious Asian brands are there, too: SK-II and Sulwhasoo. Btw, L’Oreal is considered a prestige brand here, same with L’Occitane (and the price surely reflects that).
Shopping Malls/ free-standing stores
Near People’s Square, there’s Plaza 66, a rather high-end shopping mall that not only houses Shanghai’s only Chanel Beauty Boutique, but also has a MAC store, a fresh store, Bobbi Brown, Benefit and Burberry. It also has a large Watsons drugstore downstairs. Service at both MAC and Chanel is decent, SAs are reasonably friendly and also speak English.
In the former French Concession, there’s a plethora of shopping malls around metro station Xujiahui. Luxury mall Grand Gateway 66 will have you covered if you want to pop over to shop for a Burberry trench, a Bottega Veneta bag or a Rolex (you know, if the need should arise on a casual Monday morning), but also has a few beauty destinations. There’s a Sephora and an Innisfree store in the basement, but there’re also a Bobbi Brown, an Estée Lauder, a Burberry, a SK-II, a Jurlique and a Jo Malone store. There’s also a shop called Apothecary that carries more niche luxury brands like Dyptique, Byredo and skincare brands like Eve Lom.
In another part of the French Concession (metro stop South Shaanxi Rd) is iapm mall, which manages to be even more upscale than the Grand Gateway (De Beers store, anyone?). You’ll find beauty only in the basement, but there’s a Benefit store, a MUFE store, Shu Uemura, banila co., Fancl, Innisfree and Jurlique. There’s also a Mannings drugstore in the basement. (Generally speaking, cheaper stores are on the lower floors. Just so you know.)
Supermarkets
Don’t scoff, high-end supermarkets like City Super and Olé will carry European beauty brands and also some organic options. I’ve seen Bioderma, Weleda, Lavera next to Nivea. Sometimes there’s even some makeup. Big chains like Carrefour also have some (rather limited) options – I’ll never forget my quest for nail polish remover during my first weeks in Shanghai when I couldn’t find any wherever I tried. (I finally found some at Watsons drugstore.)
Carrefour stocks some makeup, skin and body care, but remember, those will likely be the Asian line-up. So you’ll find Nivea, but not the body lotion or deodorant you know from home. Carrefour though offers some L’Oreal, Maybelline, Hada Labo, Tony Moly, Biore, Olay, Dove, Cetaphil and Vaseline.There’s also Pantene, Head & Shoulders and Vidal Sassoon for your hair care needs.
Drugstores
Oh, the drugstores. Similar to Sephora, I usually want to tear my hair out whenever I enter them. Biggest chain is Watsons, with runner-ups Guardian and Mannings. The biggest difference to Western beauty is that skincare is generally much more important than colour cosmetics to the general Chinese customer, and that shows everywhere. Drugstores in other countries are those big fun places where you can shop nail polishes for a few bucks. You can get a new eyeshadow palette while at the same time you can stock up on toilet paper and cat food. That’s simply not the case here in China. (No cat food at the drugstore, for starters.)
There will be some makeup brands, though. The most ubiquitous brand is Kate by Kanebo – and a mix of Asian and Western brands. (Here’re some that caught my eye: Missha, Mamonde, Dr. Jart, Hada Labo, L’Oreal, Nivea, Vichy, Avene, Neutrogena, Max Factor, and Maybelline.) What can be fun though is checking for Asian exclusives from Western brands – Maybelline cushion?! Yaaaawn, here you can get at least three different ones.
So here we are, at the end of my survival tips for beauty shopping in Shanghai, whether you live in the city or are visiting and forgot your moisturizer. Do say hi when you’re in the area!!!
Oh, and if you want to know how to move with a huge stash of makeup, read my account of my move from Germany to China here.
Does China have companies similar to Ulta there?
Not that I know of! There’s drugstores and there’s Sephora and that’s it.
Dorit please please help. Where Can I find a bourjois in China??
Hi Olga! Please take into consideration that I’m by no means an expert on China – I know my little corner in Shanghai reasonably well, but that’s it! Nevertheless, you can find Bourjois at Sasa in a lot of Asian countries. There’re only a few stores in Mainland China, though, but you could try finding a counter near you here:
Hope that helps! (Btw, if you’re thinking about ordering online via Taobao or Alieexpress, be extremely careful, because both platforms are swamped with fake cosmetics.)
Dorit you don’t know how much you helped me. I’ve moved here only a short while ago and had one of those days today where everything gets too much. Your reply really really made one thing so much easier for me.
Happy to help! And good luck here in China!
Hello, I currently just moved to South Korea and by looking on Instagram I found out about Drunken Elephant skincare. There is no way I can get the products delivered to me so I thought a trip to china would be helpful (and also to see the sites). But your article has got me abit worried lol. You don’t recall seeing these products in any Sephora stores by any chance? Many thanks
Hi Chanell, I’m afraid not. I had a quick peek at the Sephora CN site, and no Drunk Elephant. Generally, beauty product wise, S.Korea is much, much better than China, so no reason to come over solely for that! For the sights, tho – that’s a different story! 😉
Hi! So, I’m from Brazil and I love make-up. The problem is that make-up’s ridiculously expensive here (and so are any imported products but let’s not get there). There’s a possibility that I’ll be travelling to China soon and I wanted to know if it’s worth buying make-up there. Like, how different is the price comparing to the USA? If you could give me any information on this I would be very grateful.
Thank you.
Hi Caroline! Makeup and beauty products are generally very expensive in China. Products from International brands are generally 30 – 50% more expensive here than in Europe or the US. If you find something that‘s cheap, chances are good it‘s a fake. It‘s not worth it at all.
Have you seen any lavera products sold in China? Thank you !
Yes, I’ve seen them in the higher end supermarkets (City Super, Ole) – but the prices are absolutely out of this world!
Have you seen them recently ? This is of utmost importance to me and many of my friends, lavera claims that they dont sell in China anymore ( in fact since 2014). Thank you for your help!
Well, I can’t say for sure, but I have definitely seen them last year still.
Thank you very much … if you come across them again, please let me know under this comment xxx
Hi, do you know anywhere in Shanghai that sells magic makeup remover cloths? The pink microfibre cloths that you can remove your makeup with using only water? I’m desperate. Thanks x
Hi Deborah, I’ve no idea about that specific one you mentioned, but regular microfibre cloths can be purchased everywhere. Try whatever drugstore is nearest to you!
Dorit hi! where can I find GEL nail polish stores in Shanghai? or stores for professionals beauty products? any ideas?
Thanks,
Roni
Hi Roni, that’s a tricky one! I love nail polish, and was quite disappointed when I first came here that I could never find a good selection of any polishes in any stores I went to. I haven’t searched around for some time now, though. For me, the best option was always ordering online. Gel nail polish I’ve only ever seen at nail salons (which are plenty, maybe you could ask there?). Hope that helps!
Thank you for this article, I’m using it to check which brands sell on China so I can avoid them, specially for Korean Brands, since I’m not Korean and neither can I speak the language, I have problems trying to find information on whether or not they sell there, have you seen products from COSRX? I wan to buy thing from them but I can’t find a lot of information.
Thanks!
Hi Ailin, cosrx isn’t sold in China. As a guideline, nearly all brands under the Amorepacific umbrella are sold in China afaik. (Which are a lot.) HTH!
With regards to COSRX, they don’t sell in China because they have a very strong policy against animal testing.
Have you come across any Whamisa products or stores by any chance? I’m trying to find info as to whether they sell in China but coming up short.
Hi Danielle, no, I haven’t seen Whamisa here in Shanghai – but I’m a bit hesitant to say that they don’t sell here at all. I mean, it is a pretty big city… Have you tried contacting Whamisa directly?
Thanks for the reply. I have but still waiting on a response so I thought I’d ask while here. I also tend to trust people who have no stake in the company a little more than the standard company line recitations.
Hi Dorit,
I’ll be moving to a town near Ningbo soon, which is 4 hours away from Shanghai, and I’d like to know if there are some restrictions to buy at Sasa online while living in China. I don’t understand Chinese and tried to use the translator to understand the customs’ requirements when placing an order but it was quite confusing. Could you help me?
BTW, your post was very helpful. I’ll spend 2 days in Shanghai and it is nice to know that there are some options out there that could be good enough. I’m afraid that my nearest store will be Carrefour for at least a month… wish me luck.
Silvia
Hi Silvia, so sorry for the late reply – I’m right now up to my head in preparations to move back to Germany, and life’s a bit hectic!
I’m afraid I can’t help you with your question – my Chinese is very, very bad, and I usually rely on friends when I try to order something online!;) I also didn’t ever try to order cosmetics online while I was here. So sorry!!! Ahhhh, and Carrefour isn’t so bad! Fingers crossed!!!
Lavera and Kneipp? :O They’ve been confirmed as being cruelty-free by some bloggers, but if they sell in physical stores in China, that’s impossible! The post is from one year ago – is it possible for you to check if those brands are still available there?
Hi Aleksandra, you’re right, that sounds a bit weird, doesn’t it? I’ve to say that I hadn’t seen both brands for quite some time in Shanghai’s stores, but I’ve moved back to Germany last month, so right now, I’m unable to check. I’d suggest to contact Lavera and Kneipp to see what they say? One possibility is, of course, that those are unauthorised retailers, I’ve seen that a lot!
HI,
I need DARIYA Salon De Pro Non Smell Hair Color, No. 5 Natural Brown, 2.82 Ounces
Till 5 th June i am in Shanghai
Please guide where this product i can purchase it help lot for me
Hi Rushit, I’m really sorry that I don’t know the answer to this! Maybe you can try an expat forum – people there might know!Keeping my fingers crossed for you!
Thanks for the blog! Very helpful as an expat. I’ve been looking specifically for nail polish – ANY nail polish at this point. But hopefully not costing an arm and a leg. What’s the best store/chain that you’ve found for a variety of nail polish??? Thanks! Melissa
Hi Melissa, sorry for the late reply (I was on vacation). That being said, I guess your best bet would be ANY of the Korean brands sold in China. I know there were some Innisfree shops in Shanghai, and the brand does some decent polish. Nailpolish-wise it was pretty bleak when I was living in Shanghai. (And be careful when trying to leave China by plane with nailpolish in your suitcase: they WILL regard those as ‘hazardous’ and throw them away at the airport – especially Pudong).