2500 yen DON QUIJOTE Make Up Challenge!

2500 yen DON QUIJOTE Make Up Challenge!

• 7.15.2018

Getting a whole make up set within the given budget is that even possible? That was the first question i asked myself as 1000 yen alone is easily spent without much effort on a daily basis whether its for food, drinks or miscellaneous items and since i've moved to Japan it's been a usual habit for me to walk into any random drug store to check out for new arrivals. Something i couldn't do while i was in Malaysia and always had to wait for it to arrive a couple months later lol, now i get to test it out first hand! The down side is i don't get sponsored to review all these make up and skincare items anymore so i gotta buy them myself (ouch) but guess i have to budget myself monthly for these kind of expenditures so that my readers have new interesting contents to read weekly/ monthly, maybe i should find myself a cheaper hobby because every single one of them are so expensive (cosplay, sewing, writing, traveling, etc lol).

See i love you guys too much until the expense of my own wallet *cry* lol oh well, what to do when you are in a foreign land and have to start again from a scratch. 

Picked up this challenge because it sounded challenging and fun, i get to shop and explore tons of Don Quijote outlets just to collect the stuff i need and though i shouldn't be walking around too much in my 3rd trimester at least i got a decent leg workout from all that shopping lol.

Okay won't write much as i'm going to let you guys watch the video, i'll list out the products here one by one so you can refer back to it in case you are interested in purchasing it yourselves next time.

Sadly the nearest DONKI for Malaysians is in Singapore, but who knows if LUSH can open in Malaysia, maybe DONKI can too near future if there is a healthy demand!

Watch the full video here!

Tiara Girl Premium Cushion Foundation Matte (SPF50+ PA+++)

Cost: 500 yen (on sale)

Color: 01 Light

Made in Japan

Thoughts: 

For a 500 yen cushion it definitely exceeded my expectations (had none actually because the price made it felt like a joke lol), gives out a dewy finishing despite the name "matte" and there are actually 3 cushion range for Tiara Girl- Dewy/ Matte/ Premium (all 500 yen each) and available only in 2 fair skin shades (01 & 02).

Considered as an affordable "high school budget friendly" brand among Japanese girls that gives off a natural finishing and minimal coverage. Not recommended for those with super oily skin (unless you have a good oil control base & powder) and has acne scars as it doesn't cover that much. It's coverage can be considered like my tinted moisturizer but it has decent lasting power if it's set with loose/ press powder. During hot summer days where all make up melts, this lasted on my face for good 8 hours, minimal blotting needed at the nose area (i have oily T-zone). 

No weird allergy reaction towards this cushion, no pimples or acne pop up at the end of the day and i tested it 3 days in a row. 

Rating: 3.5/5

ELSIA Eyebrow Pencil by KOSE

Cost: 200 yen

Color: Light brown (BR301)

Made in Japan

Thoughts: 

The pencil might be half the size of your usual eyebrow pencil but that's what you get for half the price paid lol, and i'm impressed with how pigmented and smooth this pencil is that it fills in my eyebrows effortlessly. Gives off a natural finishing but go easy on the pressure during application or you'll end up looking from Crayon Shin-chan. ELSIA is a sub brand by KOSE, as expected by a reputable brand they do not compromise on quality offering customers a more affordable range of cosmetics. Maybe i should check out their other products next time as it ranges from 200 yen - 800 yen, nothing above 1000 yen!

Rating: 4/5

Media Gel eyeliner by Kanebo

Cost: 400 yen

Color: BR (brown)

Made in Japan

Not a stranger brand as Media products can be found in most convenience stores throughout Japan, it's like your emergency back up make up in case you left your make up bag at home during a trip and it's by a high end brand like Kanebo, so you definitely won't think twice about picking it up because it's selling like 10 times cheaper than Kanebo usually sells their products. I've tried their mascara before last year because my tube kinda froze halfway as i was going around Hokuriku region, turned out quite decent for a 700 yen mascara. The gel eyeliner lasted well on my lids despite the insane summer heat and humidity, doesn't smudge but i'm not used to using gel liners because i love drawing sharp wing tip therefore i lean towards liquid liners more.  

Rating: 4/5

JACMARCS 3D Solid Eyelash Care Mascara

Cost: 300 yen (on sale)

Color: Black

Made in Japan

Thoughts:

For a 300 yen mascara i assumed it was going to be bad because first of all, it's my first time seeing this brand and it sounded kinda dodgy like a rip off name of "MARC JACOBS" lol, something China beauty manufacturers would do but when i flip over the packaging and saw it made in Japan that gave me slight assurance on the quality at least i know the risks of going blind from unknown chemicals are minimal. I initially thought of just purchasing a 100 yen false lash for this challenge because it's cheaper and safer (rest of the "cheap" mascaras are price 600-800 yen in DONKI) until i stumbled upon this sale bin filled with JACMARCS 300 yen mascaras!

It claims to be waterproof, fibre, washes off with warm water and lengthens your lashes on the packaging, and i can proudly say that this cheap mascara put all my expensive mascara to shame seriously feel like throwing out all my other mascaras (priced 600-3000 yen) out at this point because wtf a 300 yen mascara made my short lashes super obvious with just a few strokes. The effect reminds me of Kiss Me's volume mascara except it's easier to remove (no need special remover) and the brush is smaller so it's able to coat shorter lashes as well. I might go back to DONKI soon and stock up on more of this!

Rating: 5/5

Angel Heart Multi Magic Stick

Cost: 800 yen

Color: 04 (coral)

Made in China

Thoughts:

As i mentioned in the video i'm very cautious on purchasing beauty products from China but if it's sold in Japan one can rest assured that it has met the strict health rules and regulations of the country as Japan does not tolerate fakes well. Items are made in China as production costs are definitely cheaper there if you are supplying in mass quantity.  This brand was new to me and i didn't see it in any of the other smaller DONKI outlets except MEGA DONKI and the brand's products has been proven to be quite promising with an affordable price point and decent performance.

Spent quite some time calculating on whether i could fit in this product without exceeding my budget as it's the most expensive product out of the whole challenge (800yen) but it has 3 functions so instead of buying 3 different products might as well get a multipurpose one.

Multi Magic Stick works for cheeks, lips and eyes (first time) because most multi usage products are usually limited to "cheeks & lips" only. It comes in 6 colors and all of them seem quite pretty, the texture is smooth so i had no problems gliding it on my eyelids, cheeks and lips, the color is definitely build-able, reminds me of Etude's house Play 101 stick as they are the first who started out on this trend lol. Lasted well with minimal touch up needed, but i'm still not a fan of "dewy" finishings.

Rating: 4/5

Angel Heart Eye color

Cost: 300 yen

Color: 

Made in China

Thoughts:

Single color eyeshadow for that price, it's the cheapest i could find and initially wanted to get 2 colors to mix them but one of the shades i wanted was sold out so that's how i've decided to get the Multi Magic stick instead lol. It's well pigmented (smooth like Breena Beauty's eyeshadows), long lasting and the shimmer doesn't fall underneath my eyes. Goes well together with ther Multi magic stick in fact the powder eyeshadow kinda "sets" the cream in making sure it doesn't budge throughout the day. Will get other colors next time when it's back in stock!

Rating: 4/5

Have to say this was an experiment well done, pretty satisfied with my picks for the challenge and hope it's helpful for those of you planning to shop in DONKI next time!

I've proven that IT IS POSSIBLE to get a full face make up set within 2500 yen, simple enough for day to day look if you are not into fancy stuff like contouring/ highlighting / etc. Everything fits into a small make up bag that you can grab and go for traveling. 

Also a lesson to learn from this, don't be quick to judge a make up's quality based on it's simple plastic packaging and cheap prices!

Really enjoyed myself doing this, hope to do more of this kind of budget challenges near future during my stay in Japan to make things more interesting from my usual mundane life lol.

In a traditional city like Kyoto the biggest DONKI you can find is about 30 minutes train ride away from Kyoto station (need to exchange once), the rest are small ones so items offered are pretty limited but if you are staying in Osaka or Tokyo, guess it's not a problem because most of their DONKI outlets are multi leveled lol.

DISCLAIMER: This is not a sponsored content by DON QUIJOTE, everything featured here is purchased by me. 

XOXO,