Etude House in Singapore: Plaza Singapura Store


Teeming with people throughout the day, the newly-opened Etude House store at Plaza Singapura is as adorable as the brand’s girly packaging. Its signature strawberry milk-pink décor theme sets it apart from other Korean beauty stores here: The Face Shop and Beauty Credit have clean lines and a minimalist feel, while Skinfood has vintage vibes but Etude House is infused with a fun, frivolous pink. Its playful facade adds to the brand’s cute factor and never fails to draw attention.


The Plaza Sing store may not have an elaborate shopfront like its counterparts in Korea and Bangkok but it certainly has a special charm of its own. I particularly like the makeup play area and the sparkly raspberry pink traincase on which products are displayed for testing.

Like Sephora@NAC, the store offers generous testers, with duplicate tester products all over the small store. Neatly displayed, the beauty-full pretties are aching to be touched!

A plethora of colours, tones and textures beckons…


Spend only S$50 to obtain a ‘Princess Membership’ that gives you a 7% discount on future purchases. Not difficult, really, when a couple of items easily add up to this amount. ;) A decent range of wearable colours and interesting skincare products make this store a place worth visiting. The prices vary – some eye makeup items are under S$10, while a few BB Creams are just shy of S$40.

The prices are undoubtedly marked up* and soar above the prices in the brand’s native country. I suppose they could be justified somewhat, when you factor in the shipping and take product efficacy into consideration. Personally, it is gratifying to be able to see and touch the products. That experience makes up for the difference to some extent, not to mention being able to purchase the products on the spot. What’s more, Etude House prices are somewhat reasonable, when you compare them with Skinfood and The Face Shop prices here. I do concede that the products are overpriced, whichever way you look at it.


I wondered if Korean actor Lee Min Ho (the brand’s celeb rep) would come to our sunny island to promote the brand. The Etude House people have said no, unfortunately (sorry, BBF fans!).


* For instance, Precious Mineral BB Cream is S$39.90 here but only ₩13,500 (under S$16) in Korea, while a Precious Petit Darling Eyes shadow single is S$7.90 but around S$3.50, when converted to Korean Won!

32 Comments

  • aichaku-愛着 says:

    i still haven't gotten over the mark up in prices. :p

  • jojoba says:

    I found Etude House store payout is exactly the same through out the world. lol

    sometimes i wish they were different, with a bit of local twist i guess.

    and the price in sinpgapore is also higher than here.

  • makeupmag says:

    Aichaku,

    I completely understand. After all, you saw them in Korea itself. The heart aches to see the prices here! :P

  • makeupmag says:

    Jojoba,

    I've yet to see the stores in JB and KL. This uniformity is necessary for branding, I suppose.

    A local twist…hmmm, I wonder how they'd pinkify something native to us, lol!

    You're lucky to have the brand at lower price points! :)

  • Anonymous says:

    Anyone tried out SaSa single color eyeshadows before? they cost SGD9.90 each.

  • Anonymous says:

    of course have to be higher here. its imported.
    i went to Seoul in Apr. yes it was really like cheap and they throw tons of samples at you. but then air tix, hotel add…i guess u have to consider that too. so just buy it and enjoy it at the comfort of yr home.

    btw, how do spore gals use BB cream? the weather is so humid and hot here! dun u guys find its a tad too greasy for our weather? end up looking shiny. i used etude's creme in korea, ok last the whole day but here…..bad bad..

  • Flavor of Beauty says:

    The prices are too high. Anyway I'm off to Korea this month on business trip so will stock up over there.

    If you want to get anything, contact me.

  • makeupmag says:

    Hi Anon1,

    I haven't tried Sasa singles.

    Anon2, you're so right about the airfare and the like. :) We do get generous gwps here too, thankfully!

    BB cream is all right here; a light layer and powdering/blotting help.

  • makeupmag says:

    Flavor of Beauty,

    Thank you for your kind offer. I've bought a few things here already. I hope you have a fruitful trip! :)

  • vead says:

    qu cuman bisa bicara
    I LOVE UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU LEE MIN HO
    qouwh cute bangeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet
    qouwh seperti malaikat penghibur qu
    sungguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh
    qu ga bohong
    ni jujur dari hati qu
    oh LEE MIN HO qouwh guandteng bangeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet
    datang to INDONESIA ya pliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • peggy says:

    where is it located?

  • Snow says:

    Wow, Im pretty much envy all of you who can go to Etude House in Korea to get all these pretty items. Im too young to travel there myself and the items in Singapore are actually quite pricey. Hope I get to go Korea in the near future and stock up my makeup products :]

    I LOVE Park Shin Hye together with Jang Geun Suk .

  • Snow says:

    Yay, my mum is going to bring me to Plaza Singapura soon. I hope there is friendly assistance in the Etude House there. Some shop assistants can be pretty rude to teenagers like me.

  • Snow says:

    I’m going to visit the store soon. I hope the assistance there is friendly. Some shop assistants can be really rude to teenagers like myself.

    • makeupmag says:

      Hey Snow,

      Today’s teens are tomorrow’s big spenders, so it’s unwise of stores to disrespect younger customers. The service at Etude House has been good so far though, so don’t worry too much. Have fun; I hope your mummy and you have a great time! :)

  • Snow says:

    Bought pretty much stuff. And I became a member easily, a few items here and there made this possible. The service was fine, there was a free LMH poster and some other small stuff like a pen and stuff.

    I thought the items in the shop were really little. Not enough stock maybe, and it wasnt really arranged neatly though. That part was disappointing.

    Other then that, it was great. I’m going again, but next time, its the Etude House at Ion Orchard. Wonder how its like :/ ??

    • makeupmag says:

      Hi Snow,

      Sounds like you had a fruitful trip. Thank you for sharing! The one at Ion Orchard always feels cramped to me; a result of the crowds perhaps.

  • moonflower says:

    Whenever i have friends or colleague who go Korea, i will ask them to help me buy precious BB mineral Cream to stock up. The price is abt half the price in sg. I love their lovely cookie blush as well.

    • makeupmag says:

      Hi Moonflower,

      Thanks for the recs. I will have to take a look at those items the next time I visit an Etude House store. :) The Korean prices seem really good!

  • Rach says:

    Just came back from Korea and the prices are too different :(
    Wanna buy some products that I forgotten to buy but it’s like triple the price here!! Think I’ll go back Korea for another trip again….. :)

  • Anna says:

    Thanks for sharing Etude House Branch there in Singapore, hope you check my blog, as you can see the Etude House in Manila, Philippines :) Thanks!

  • etude insider says:

    Etude House Philippines will open its 2nd store in Festival Mall (Filinvest) on March 15, 2010. Heard it was twice the size as Megamall. Hurray!!!

  • nicole says:

    what do you think skinfood and etude house products range, do you think skinfood range of products is more than etude ??

    kindly adv

    • makeupmag says:

      Hi Nicole,

      Etude House is more affordable and while not everything works, I generally like its makeup range. Skinfood is more expensive in Singapore and I don’t think the prices reflect the quality of their makeup (their brow pencils are good though). That said, they do have good skincare items! If you’re referring to quantity, I’d say Etude House seems to have a larger range of products (there’re items in Korea that haven’t made it here).

  • Lyra says:

    I was browsing through the net on Etude House items, since I passed by their outlet last week.
    Wow, seems that there are loads of positive feedbacks on the items. Will be dropping by and grabbing some items soon. :)

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