The Face Shop: Why I Really Love This Brand (But Never Really Realized It)
You know those products that are always on your vanity but never really get the attention of that sexy new palette or coveted face cream in the faceted jar? You reach for them — and often — but you don’t really think about them. They’re staples, your workhorses, the mainstays, but without any of the glory. Well, that’s how The Face Shop is for one writer. Until she cleaned up her beauty stash one day and realized how much she loves The Face Shop. She tells us why (and why you should, too).
The Face Shop has definitely come a long way since opening their first "road shop" store in South Korea’s beauty mecca of Myeongdong in 2003. Since then, The Face Shop has delivered on their promise of creating effective cosmetics at reasonable prices, producing cult classics like their Rice Water Bright Cleansing Oil and Air Cotton Makeup Base.
What the brand is best known for, however, are their collaborations. While many usually turn their noses up at brand collabs — and justifiably so — The Face Shop just does it so well. Rather than taking regular ol’ products and slapping a giant Disney sticker on it, the brand focuses on making sure the products have aligning color stories to them that are both unique and wearable, all while developing adorable packaging that is both high quality and useful. You always can expect to see The Simpsons, Kakao Friends, Coca Cola, and your favorite Disney characters gracing the walls of The Face Shop’s now 2,600 stores.
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Today, they’re pushing past that envelope and housing their products in mega-adorbs packaging, which they’ve been sneak-peekin’ on their Insta like crazy.
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Sign me up!
I’d never been particularly brand loyal to The Face Shop, nor do I ever really recommend them to people, but after having a major beauty decluttering moment this week, I realized that most of my Face Shop products were no-bargain, must-have items in my collection. So these are The Face Shop items I've fallen in love with all over again. (Disclaimer: I won’t say I bought many of these items for Ryan-obsessed purposes, but I won’t say I didn’t either.)
CC Ultra Moist Cushion
This is easily one of my favorite cushions of ALL TIME. I’ve talked about this countless times on Beautytap, and I will continue to talk about it forever.
It does everything I need: It hydrates, matches my skin tone perfectly, and is just so pretty on the skin. This is a dry skin must-have — if my skin is feeling particularly flaky, I will reach for this immediately because I know my skin will feel so much softer and calmed down, even after removal. My pores are hidden and my skin looks glowing and radiant all day long.
If a dewy finish or the Kakao Friends aren’t your thing, no worries. They carry a variety of cushions — all in multiple finishes — with cute packaging options from The Face Shop’s endless line of collaborations.
Tint Stick
This is a really basic, really simple lip balm that packs a serious punch. I have the shade Soft Pink, a sheer shade that pulls a bit fuchsia but nothing too overpowering.
I love the texture of these! I could write a love song about the texture alone. It’s butter soft and melts deliciously for long-lasting hydration. I like tossing this into my purse as a replacement for chapstick and wearing it over my pink lipsticks for a juicy look. I basically rely on this in the wintertime when I wear the most amount of matte lippies and have to deal with some unwanted flakage.
Pro tip: Throw some on before going to bed for some added hydration and a quite literal I-woke-up-like-this pop of color in the morning.
Mono Pop Eyes
I’ve tried tons of these, and let me tell ya: These are SO GOOD. Not only are the packaging options always extremely cute, but they’re easy to blend and bring a ton of versatility. My favorite aspect of these palettes are the cohesiveness of the shades. You could blindly pick one for a vacation trip and not regret a single choice because every option holds wearable, blendable shades.
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My personal favorites of the selection, The Face Shop x Kakao Friends Hoodie Ryan palettes, are my travel go-to for the perfect range of nudes. You won’t find hardcore Sugarpill-like brights from these, but that’s the point. No matter which way you go, they’re hard to mess up, making them the ideal everyday palette.
Easy Gel
This is my ultimate vacation polish. It lasts FOREVER, gives a beautiful gel-like shine, and comes in endless colors with new releases every season. I always make sure to bring a bottle and top coat on trips.
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The name ain’t lyin’: This is my answer for a gel-like, crisp manicure in a snap. The brush is wide enough to disperse color to the entire nail upon first application, but tapered enough to avoid skin and cuticles. Every shade I’ve tried thus far has been true to color and chip-resistant.
The top coat is so good and can be used on any polish for lasting shine. My ultimate nail hack is to use their nail stickers + top coat for an expensive-looking mani on a budget.
What are your favorite The Face Shop products? And do you have a brand that's always on your vanity, but you kinda take it for granted? Let’s chat in the comments!
(And here's an extra The Face Shop post, just for fun, because it's THAT SATISFYING):
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