stocking up on Japanese drugstore products while traveling
Budget:
$30 per item
Requirements:
Easy to find at Japanese drugstores, Don Quijote, Loft, etc.
worth the suitcase space
Extra Details:
What are your absolute must-buy Japanese beauty souvenirs — the things you stock up on every time you're in Japan? Hair care, skincare, makeup, eye care, body products, weird little drugstore discoveries… anything goes.
Hada Labo Gokujyun Lotion and I buy like 4 bottles every single trip because the US version, when you can even find it, is marked up to insulting levels for basically the same thing.
It's just hyaluronic acid toner, sounds boring written out, but the texture is genuinely different from anything sold here — goes on almost gel-like, sinks in fast, doesn't leave that sticky residue a lot of hydrating toners do. Costs maybe $8 at a Don Quijote versus $18-20+ if you order it through a US reseller marking up import costs. Suitcase space earns its keep here purely on the price difference alone.
Japan Trip: Don Quijote Finds
stocking up on Japanese drugstore products while traveling
$30 per item
Easy to find at Japanese drugstores, Don Quijote, Loft, etc.
worth the suitcase space
What are your absolute must-buy Japanese beauty souvenirs — the things you stock up on every time you're in Japan? Hair care, skincare, makeup, eye care, body products, weird little drugstore discoveries… anything goes.
Hada Labo Gokujyun Lotion and I buy like 4 bottles every single trip because the US version, when you can even find it, is marked up to insulting levels for basically the same thing.
It's just hyaluronic acid toner, sounds boring written out, but the texture is genuinely different from anything sold here — goes on almost gel-like, sinks in fast, doesn't leave that sticky residue a lot of hydrating toners do. Costs maybe $8 at a Don Quijote versus $18-20+ if you order it through a US reseller marking up import costs. Suitcase space earns its keep here purely on the price difference alone.