Saturday 13 December 2008

Sephora in Singapore

The new issue of Elle Singapore had a preview of the brands that will be available at the Sephora store. Items shown in the pic are (I've listed their prices in the US in brackets):
1. Sephora Body Scrub in Ice Mint $16
2. Sephora Bubble Bath in Curacao $18
3. Sephora Colorful Palette in Sherlock 08$32 (US$24=S$35.80)
4. Bliss Lemon + Sage Body Butter S$32 (US$12=S$17.90)
5. Jack Black Sun Guard Oil Free Sunscreen $24
6. Federic Fekkai Pomade Cristal $48
7. Smith's Rosebud Salve $12.90
8. Too Faced Shadow Insurance $45 (US$17=S$25.30)



Looking at the price difference of the Too Faced Shadow Insurance in Singapore versus the US, it looks like Singapore consumers are getting majorly ripped off if this is the indication of how much prices are going to be marked up over the US. And Too Faced isn't even one of the most lusted-after brands on Sephora!

I walked by the store in Ngee Ann City today and got a glimpse of the store interior. And the brands I saw were ... *drumroll* Estee Lauder, Lancome, Clarins, Biotherm, Clinique! My first thought was: FAIL. Major FAIL. Why would anyone buy these brands at Sephora when they can already buy them at major department stores with their store card discounts or regular sales such as Metro when Metro has their regular 20% storewide sale? What a waste of space! Another two brands that will reportedly be available at the Singapore Sephora are Becca and Bare Escentuals.

18 comments:

clara said...

Will there be NARS? I'd be so crushed if there isn't!
):

aichaku-愛着 said...

aiyo no tarte in sg's sephora? sad.

Taryn said...

What a major letdown. If it's any comfort, the Sephoras here do the same thing with the department store lines. Our Sephora is not huge, but the space taken up by Lancome, Clinique and others could easily have been given to some of the smaller boutique lines that they now carry, like Kevyn Aucoin or Josie Maran.

Oh, and to add insult to injury, Shiseido, the one department store brand I actually liked browsing in Sephora, was removed for some crappy Carol's Daughter products. :(

Anonymous said...

What?! You're kidding! Those are departmental store brands! What's the point of having Sephora in Singapore if they're not going to stock the fun brands? I agree with you. MAJOR fail.

Anonymous said...

well better than nothing!!! i believe it will bring other brands in later on. the sephora marketing people probably are just testing water now. (they should have known better though!!!)

i am keeping my fingers crossed hoping we get one in the future.

ps: i bought a sephora brush in singpoare before and it was a ripoff!! sigh...

cewek said...

Hmmmm..that sounds very similar to the set up of the Sephoras in China. Shame...

Haru said...

NARS won't be available too, and I highly doubt Tarte will be available either. But Bare Escentuals will be.

Anonymous said...

OMGod ! NO fair, they don't even have it out in Australia :(

Anonymous said...

But even though Bare E will be available, the price is at least 30% more, and what's with the "reknown overseas brands" slogan? No nars, no UD, and even too faced stuff will be majorly overpriced. I was looking forward to getting shadow insurance and mirror mirror gloss, but looking at the pricing i'd rather get a friend to CP it straight from the US.

Inspiring Beauty Creator: said...

Honestly, I am from the US and when I order Etude house, MIssha, or anything from Ichibankco.com. I get charged 2x the fee that you pay for in your country! If I order things from gmarket.com like Etude house, I pay the same price but a lot on shipping. However, sellers for Skin food and Missha are not willing to ship to the US. So I get my stuff on ebay, in which they charge me an arm load even though when I got on the missha site and see there is a 50% off sale!

makeupmag said...

Bad marketing decision to bring in those brands. We don't need another EL, Lancome et al, that's for certain. And the fragrances too - they are mostly the ones we see everywhere!

There was so much they could've done with the Sephora store. It's not difficult for the TPTB to find out about the local makeup scene and desires. Too bad they didn't do their homework. :( What a waste of space.

As for the TF SI price...*eyebug*.

PS: Becca is on the right, near the Sephora makeup counter in the middle! ;)

Anonymous said...

howz the markup for fekkai?

Haru said...

The Cristal Pomade costs US$18.50 on Beauty.com, which is about S$27.50 so the markup is also quite hefty. Doesn't look good.... :-(

Anonymous said...

wow, the prices are really jacked up! The yays is that Bliss is available here XD

Anonymous said...

Sigh ... I was still soo looking forward to its opening. Seems like it pales in comparison to the Sephora Store in US. :(

Can't believe it ... Much space devoted to EL, Clinique and such. But remember reading in the Straits Times that the store gonna concentrate BIG TIME on skincare.

Hope they can bring in some good brands not available here. It's sad looking at what happened to Stila in Singapore. The selection available now is PATHETIC!

Smiley

Anonymous said...

sephora here is also missing smashbox, lorac, caudalie and a whole lot more! sephora here sucks. i would still order online. nars is avai at true colours at taka.

Anonymous said...

Exactly! i totally agree. They should bring in brands that are not found in Singapore. Isnt that the whole point about bringing sephora here?

Shereen86 said...

ooo things to note, i asked the sales assistant at the new Sephora outlet at Ion, its not released yet but their bringin in OPI, so u dun have to buy from salons, also Urban Decay..for those who noe abt U.S make-up, tat is uber popular, and lastly Benefit make-up, so dun be hating, quite a-few big brand names from U.S.A...not 2 b found anywhere else in Sg!!