Thai cosmetics
14 August 2024
Travelling to Bangkok, Thailand soon? Bangkok’s bustling markets, traditional delicacies and warm local hospitality are world famous. But did you know that Thailand’s local beauty and cosmetics scene has been cultivating a gradual regional presence? On a recent trip to Bangkok, I had the opportunity to experience the diversity of the Thai cosmetics scene. One aspect that stood out to me about the Thai beauty in Bangkok was its wide diversity of homegrown cosmetics brands offering quality products!I’ve put together a 2 part guide to cosmetics shopping; and a few Thai beauty brands that stood out to me. I hope you enjoy these posts!
Meanwhile, my beauty experience and skincare shopping guides to Tokyo and Seoul are here:
Skincare & Makeup Recommendations to Buy in Japan5 Must Visit Beauty Stores & Experiences in Tokyo
5 Exclusive Japanese Skincare Brands to Know 2024
Best Korean Beauty Stores & Experiences in Seoul 2024
Address: Siam Square Soi 7, Khwaeng Pathum Wan, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Beautrium to Bangkok is like Olive Young to Seoul. Beautrium is one of Thailand’s largest chain of beauty stores; and its presence in Bangkok is ubiquitous. Established in 2012, the Beautrium chain stocks a diverse range of beauty local, regional and international cosmetics brands. I visited the Beautrium flagship in Siam Square, and it was the best place to shop for skincare and makeup in Bangkok IMO.
The Beautrium flagship in Siam Square consists of 2 storeys, and it reminded me of the Olive Young flagship in Myeongdong- bustling, crowded and a dizzying array of brands. Besides carrying the usual Asian and international cosmetics brands like Laneige, Biore and Cerave that’s already widely available, Beautrium also carries brands that are not available in Singapore. I was pleasantly surprised to find Hince in Beautrium, a Korean makeup brand that I discovered in Seoul that is currently not available in Singapore.
Related blogpost:
An Expert’s Guide to Trending Korean Skincare Ingredients
What impressed me at the Beautrium flagship was the relative cleanliness and availability of tester products on the shelves. Testers at cosmetics stores are notorious for being dirty and breeding grounds for bacteria and fungi. Some beauty stores clean and replace their tester beauty products more than others; and it shows. I visited the Beautrium flagship on a busy Sunday afternoon and was pleasantly surprised to find that the tester products were clean looking and topped up. This does not negate the testers may still contain germs, but it makes for a more a pleasant shopping experience. My experience at EveandBoy immediately afterwards was different, so I appreciated this effort from Beautrium.
Address: 264, 4-6 Siam Square Soi 3, Khwaeng Pathum Wan, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Another major chain of multi-brand beauty stores in Bangkok is EveandBoy. Founded in 2005 by sister and brother team, Hiran Tanmit, “Boy”, and Suthawal Trachu, “Eve”. EveandBoy has been compared to Sephora, but the former has a greater spread of Thai cosmetics brands than the latter.
EveandBoy’s flagship store is located at the Underground, Siam Square One. It’s a couple of minutes away on foot from the Beautrium flagship; and I also recommend visiting the EveandBoy flagship if you’re in the vicinity. Compared to the Beautrium flagship, the EveandBoy felt like it had a wider range of cosmetics brands from local and international brands.
Service from the sales assistants at EveandBoy Underground was also warm and helpful. Some of them also had makeup products preswatched on their arms and forearms so customers did not have to try it on their skin. However, I noticed that the tester products looked messy; and some were empty. A couple of popular Thai beauty products that I wanted to purchase were sold out at EveandBoy Underground.
Central World outlet Address: A320 / A321 999/9 Level 3 CentralWorld 999/9 Rama I Rd, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
If you’re a fan of British drugstore, Boots, the good news is that you don’t have to travel to the UK to pick up your skincare favourites. The pharmacy chain has a retail presence in Bangkok, Thailand.
Boots Bangkok is a regular pharmacy, but if you’re a fan of products exclusive to Boots, this is your reason to visit. The Boots pharmacy chain in Bangkok carries skincare, haircare and body washes exclusive to the brand. The most famous Boots in-house brand has to be No7; its skincare and makeup range for both females and males. Boots pharmacy Thailand also stocks its comprehensive vitamin C range (literally vitamin C in every skincare product you can think of) and its sunscreen and tanning range called Soltan. There was an ongoing collaboration between London high street fashion brand, Ted Baker and Boots when I visited in March 2024; and the products were exclusively available at Boots pharmacies.
Address: 991 Rama I Rd, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
If you’re into high end beauty brands, Siam Paragon is your place to go to in Bangkok.Siam Paragon’s beauty hall is exactly what you’d expect from a luxury beauty- expansive space with opulent beauty counters.
Siam Paragon’s beauty hall is one of the largest in Bangkok, occupying more than 4,000m² retail space with more than 250 brands represented. Expect the usual big brands like Chanel, Dior and La Mer; as well as niche cosmetic brands that are exclusively retailed at Siam Paragon such as Hermes and Charlotte Tilbury. The shopping experience for me was pleasant, but similar to the beauty halls of luxury malls I’ve been to. That said, Siam Paragon runs a couple of pop-ups for the beauty brands consistently. When I visited in March 2024, Chanel Beauty, YSL Beauty and Kiehl’s were among the brands that were having pop ups at the mall.
Central World branch address: 3 Fl. Central World, Pathum Wan, Pathum Wan District, Bangkok 10330, Thailand, Pathum Wan, Bangkok.
Japanese beauty fans will be familiar with Matsumoto Kiyoshi. Matsumoto Kiyoshi is one of the biggest drug store chains in Japan; and the chain is known for providing a wide range of Japanese beauty products at very economical prices. The Matusumoto Kiyoshi stores are a must visit whenever I’m in Japan. The prices are 10-20% lower than most other stores in Tokyo; and Matsumoto’s inhouse brand of lip balms are my favourite! More of my Japanese beauty recommendations in 5 Must Visit Beauty Stores & Experiences in Tokyo and 5 Exclusive Japanese Skincare Brands to Know.
Matsumoto Kiyoshi has not expanded to Singapore yet, but the chain has a retail presence in Bangkok. I visited the Matsumoto Kiyoshi branch in Central World; and found that the store carried its inhouse hair care range (under the brand Argelan); but not its skincare range. Matsumoto Kiyoshi also carries a curated range of Japanese and Thai cosmetics products.
I hope you found my recommendations for cosmetics and beauty products shops in Bangkok useful. I also visited Sephora and smaller multi-brand cosmetic shops like Multy; but found that the 5 shops that I mentioned above offer a wider range of beauty products and better shopping experiences. If you have any recommendations to share to the list, please leave them in the comments below.
And one final tip: If you’re spending over 2,000 Thai Baht, your buys qualify for tax refunds. Stay tuned for my next post on Thai beauty brands to know and a review of my buys 🙂
