I have never really heard anything about Thai beauty products before - nothing good or bad - and this blank slate made me even more curious. Of Asian countries, it is South Korea and Japan that are probably the best known for their cosmetics internationally and I have personally tried plenty of products from both countries before but this was my first time trying anything from Thailand.
When my sister returned home and passed over the bag of goodies, the first thing I noticed was that the products were cuter than I thought. I don't know why this surprised me, as any Asian beauty products that I have tried in the past have had incredibly cute packaging, but it did. In fact, the plastic bag from the store, Beauty Buffet, was adorable in its own right. In pastel pink and white, it looked like it was from a bakery instead and all of the products from this store are based around food and sweets.
I delved inside the bag and found that my sister had been rather generous on her backpacking budget, with a considerable offering of two sheet masks, an eyeliner, an eyeshadow and a blush.
Since I received the bag all those months ago, I've tried everything that was in the bag and found that the makeup was great but the skincare a little less impressive compared to the Korean innovations that I am so used to. The Scentio sheet masks - in Pomegranate for Anti-Aging and Tea Tree Essence for Anti-Acne - were fine. Pleasant but not the kind and standard I've come to expect. I'm accustomed to masks dripping in essence that can be used twice (front and back) with enough essence left on your hands and in the packet to be spread over the arms and chest as well. These just weren't that. I just didn't feel dewy and fresh after using them.
The makeup, however, is both cute and great.
The Macaron Eyeshadow is the standout highlight for me. Impossibly adorable, it comes in this lovely shimmery orange hue that builds beautifully and looks subtle, pretty and girly on the lid. Don't expect intense pigmentation. Instead, you get a soft wash of colour that straddles somewhere between "no makeup" makeup and a sweet, fresh look.
I also like really the blush that she got for me. The Kanom Chan Blending Blusher is inspired by a Thai dessert and the packaging tells you all about it, which is a cute little bonus. It is also in an orange shade and is made up of four tones in a block that can be swirled together or used one at a time. Unlike the eyeshadow, however, this stuff is pigmented and packs a punch so I'd recommend using a light hand for application. Like the eyeshadow, though, it is a very pretty colour that looks terribly sweet and natural.
Finally, there is the Candy Eyeliner, which looks like a chocolate bonbon. It is a nice true black shade and isn't an eyeliner that sets immediately and stubbornly. In fact, I wouldn't say it's waterproof at all, which is probably a negative for some but a positive for me as I hate eye products that require intense scrubbing to be removed. My only problem with it, in fact, is that it has a brush applicator and I'm way too useless to use it without messing up. But that's my fault, not the eyeliners.
In all, I'm not blown away by innovations but do really enjoy how cute and pretty both the packaging and applications are. Obviously, this is only a tiny peek into Thai beauty and couldn't be considered representative of the whole but it's enough to leave me suitably intrigued as to what else Thailand has to offer when it comes to cosmetics.
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