There’s a whole lot that’s still undiscovered when it comes to Taiwanese beauty. While you might know Taiwanese beauty brands for dermatologist skincare and face masks, as we recently discovered at a Taiwan Beauty Alliance presentation, there are quite a few noteworthy skincare brands in their fold too.
Some of these Taiwanese brands, such as 1028 Visual Therapy and BeautyMaker, have already made it pretty big and gained quite a bit of international exposure, most of the time thanks to high-profile makeup artist ambassadors like Xiao Kai and Kevin lao shi. But there are more that are still bubbling under the radar that you should start getting acquainted with, to expand your knowledge of Taiwanese beauty beyond that cult transparent makeup puff.
Lam Sam Yick
When a makeup brush brand started off as a maker of calligraphy brushes, it’s obvious they know their stuff. Lam Sam Yick started off as a producer of traditional writing brushes way back then in 1917, in the Chinese province of Fuzhou. Sometime around the middle of the century they shifted their headquarters to Taipei, and focused on really understanding the materials used to craft brushes. They’ve since modernised and now make brushes for the face instead of for paper, with bristles of both animal hairs and synthetic fibres.
Star products:
Acne Brush, Heart Shape Brush, Fat Foundation Brush
Selected Lam Sam Yick products are available on qoo10.sg.
Solone
Meet Taiwan’s most popular pencil eyeliner, the Solone Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil. It just performs its basic functions of not smudging or fading, and you can get it at under $10. Instant winner in our books already. Other than that, the range also includes on-trend products like eyeshadow palettes, liquid cheek colours, and a very handy eye makeup remover pen.
Star products:
Fantasy Wonderland Eyeshadow Kit, Waterproof Eyeliner, Makeup Remover Pencil
Selected Solone products are available on lazada.sg.
City Color
At first look, we’d guess this brand to be Western. The colours and packaging have none of the girlishness of most Taiwanese brands, but instead the matte textures and daring shade selections remind us more of Instagram-famous brands like NYX Professional Makeup, BH Cosmetics, etc. As with these brands, City Color does some pretty solid contouring and highlighting palettes.
Star products:
Contour & Correct Cream Palette, Strobing Palette, Banana Powder
Selected City Color products are available on comamakeup.com.
Miss Hana
This brand is inspired by an interesting premise: every girl’s dream wedding. That means products that are all dreamy and very feminine, all to “arouse a girl’s desire for romantic love”. We don’t know how makeup can make you feel like falling in love, but we still can get on board with the pretty packaging, pigmented formulas and drugstore prices.
Star products:
Perfect Metal Cushion Foundation, Dual Lasting Tint Lip Balm, Smoky Eyeliner Pen
Selected Miss Hana products are available on lazada.sg.
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