Shenzhen Beauty Shopping Guide: Drugstores, Sephora, and Duty-Free Shops for Cosmetics and Skincare

If you love makeup and skincare, a trip to Shenzhen won't disappoint — there's a huge selection of beauty stores, lower prices, and plenty of domestic Chinese brands you can't find in Hong Kong to try. Here's a roundup of the best Shenzhen beauty shopping tips:

Where to shop?

International brands / multi-brand stores

• Sephora: A full range of international brands, perfect for trying makeup at your own pace, and some stores offer professional makeup services
• Watsons / Mannings: They also have branches in Shenzhen, making it convenient to pick up drugstore skincare and cosmetics

Chinese brand stores / counters

• Perfect Diary, Florasis, Judydoll and other Chinese brands: great value for money, beautiful packaging, and many aren't available in Hong Kong
• Large shopping malls and beauty multi-brand stores (like Colorist and WOW COLOUR) stock a full range of Chinese brands, so you can browse and try at leisure

Duty-free shops

• Shenzhen Airport has duty-free stores (departures / arrivals) where you can get tax-free prices on international cosmetics brands

Tips for Hong Kong shoppers

• Chinese makeup is great value to try: Many eyeshadow palettes or lipsticks cost just a few dozen yuan and are decent quality — perfect for experimenting with new products
• You can also shop online: Use Taobao / Tmall to buy beauty products, have them shipped to a consolidation warehouse, and then forward them to Hong Kong. See the Taobao guide
• Check the ingredients: If you have sensitive skin, be sure to read the ingredient list — don't just look at the price
• Return policy: Most cosmetics on the mainland can't be returned once opened, so think carefully before buying
• Want more shopping tips? Check out the Shenzhen shopping guide