Drugstore Guide to Brands Available in Slovenia

torek, december 11, 2012

Slovenia is not known for it's great selection of (drugstore) make up. By my count we have about 12 brands that are available in most drugstores, but it is getting better. It's about the same range of brands as is all countries of central Europe (the influence of Műller and DM is really dominant here), also in other European countries. Of course we have less brands and even those carry limited ranges (I'll explain more in individual descriptions).  I set on doing a post that features the products I own from individual brands, my experiences in general with the brands and maybe to help some make up addicts who intend to visit our little country and are interested in what our drugstores have to offer. There are three mayor drugstores: Müller (the biggest), DM (most common) and Tuš Drogerije (I actually only been in the one in Kočevje, so I don't know what brands they carry, if someone can fill me in it'd be much appreciated). E.Leclerc also carries some brands, as does Boutique (Maximarket), Limoni, Nama, Ilirija and some bigger Interspars and Mercators. I'm not sure what happened to Douglas. I did a post about favourite drugstore products here and here is a post on drugstore disappoitments.

Alverde
Is a brand available only in DMs. They pride themselves on offering a range of make up based on natural ingredients. It's fairly cheap, I think I paid 3€ for their baked eyeshadow. Since it is a more natural line, some products contain a lot of denaturised alcohol, like their liquid blushes. This results in quite an odd scent of some products that not everyone would like. I love their eyeliner brush (it cost less that 2€, my favourite brush for gel eyeliner) and their baked eyeshadows. I hated their gel eyeliners, but I believe those were just a part of LE collection. A Müller equivalent of a natural brand is Terra Natura (Thanks Taya) in the same price range. 

Bourjois
Without a doubt one of my favourite drugstore brands. They have amazing foundations (Healthy Mix), lipsticks (Rouge Edition), lip pencils, eye pencils and lip glosses. My cousin loved their mascara Volumizer (with 2 steps). I do, though, dislike their blushes and bronzer, but some people swear by them. It's not the cheapest brand, Healthy Mix foundation costs 14€, but you get what you pay for. It's also one of the rare brands that carries shades of foundations that are appropriate for us Snow Whites. It's available in most DMs and Müllers, also in Leclerc, Nama and Tuš Drogerija.

Catrice
 It's a fairly new brand here, but a great one. I think most were really excited when Müller finally started to carry this brand here (also sold in DM and Tuš Drogerija). They have awesome lipsticks, eyeshadows (cream and powder), nail polishes and those are the products I've tried so far. So far I haven't been disappointed by them, well apart from Lashes to Kill mascara, but it's not bad, just average. Eyeshadows and nail polishes cost around 2-3€, lipsticks are 3-4€.

Deborah
This is the only brand I don't own anything from right now. My mum loves their Atomic lipstick in 09. It's the only lipstick she's repurchased so far and it's the only thing she wears. I used to have their bronzer, but it was too orange and their blush, which was quite nice. Their lipsticks cost around 9-10€. It's available in most DM's and Müllers, also in Nama and Leclerc.

L'Oreal
Is everywhere. It's probably the most intentional brand, closely followed by Maybelline. But we only get a fraction of what's available in the UK or US. It's one of my favourite drugstore brands. I mean it is expensive, but most of their product are really good quality. I love their Infallible eyeshadows, mascaras, Lumi Magique primer/highlighter, lipsticks, Super Liner and there is probably some more. Unfortunately, they don't carry foundations that are light enough for me, so I don't know how they perform.

Essence
A lot can be said about Essence, but to sum it up in a few words: affordable, innovative and colourful. I own a pile of stuff from them, both from regular lines and from numerous trend editions they release. It's one of the most fun brands available. I love their nail polishes (cheap, great range of shades), Stay with Me lipglosses, Stay all Day eyeshadows, gel eyeliners, Sun Club blotting sheets and much more. I did a favourites post here. Their lipstick are more like glossy tinted moisturisers, which are great for those who are afraid of wearing more pigmented lipsticks. I don't like their eyeliners, lipliners (some love them, though), eyeshadows and foundations, also I find their mascaras quite average. It's available in DM, Müller, Tuš Drogerija, Ilirija, Leclerc and larger Mercators.

Manhattan
A brand that doesn't get much attention, but I adore their lip creams. It's the brand I used to buy almost everything from when I was in my early teens. It used to be the cheapest brand here, before essence of course. I bought my first mascara and lipgloss from them, also quite a lot of nail polishes. They have very pigmented lipsticks, good lipglosses, nice single eyeshadows, but bad trio eyeshadows. Lipliners and eyeliners are average. Sold in DM and Tuš Drogerije, it might be sold in some Müllers as well .

Maybelline
One of the easiest brands to find, however, and there is a huge however, the range of products available here is severely limited. Most of their, in my opinion, best products never reach our drugstores. For one it's one of my favourite concealers Instant Anti-Age Eye Eraser. It's available in Croatia, but not in Slovenia. What's the deal with that Maybelline? Another example: their Dream Touch blushes, available in most Carrefours in France (something like Interspar here), but not in Slovenia. Bonkers - the only appropriate word for this. Apart from blushes and concealer I also like their mascaras and lipsticks. I didn't like any of their foundations so far, also most of them are too dark.

Max Factor
I believe Max Factor is like an equivalent for Cover Girl, hence the similar products. They have fantastic eyeliners and I liked most of their mascaras (all of the ones with plastic brushes). They have nice lipsticks and foundations (most don't have a shade light enough, though Liquid Illusion has one). It's available almost everywhere. Oh, and if you're looking for their cream blushes, so far I've only seen them in Nama. It's in the Bourjois/L'Oreal price range.

Misslyn
The newest brand available here. I've never heard about it until about a year ago, when it appeared in Müllers. They have an impressive range of products, everything you need from regular things like lipsticks to a wide range of falsies, lash curlers, etc.  So far the only thing I bought from them are individual false eyelashes (size 2, no glue included), which are too short for me. Prices are very affordable, somewhere in the Catrice/Manhattan range.

Revlon
Available in Müller and Illirija, it's finally picked up after a rather odd era of nothing new coming in and now there is actually quite a current selection of their makeup sold here. I used to own their Colorstay foundation, but the lightest shade was too pink, I hated the strong alcohol scent and there was no pump. I love their Luxurious eyeliner in the shade Antiqued Gold and their Lip Butter are nice as well. I used to live next to Illirija  (Vič, Ljubljana, Tržaška cesta, by the factory and next to the petrol station, opposite of Mercator, you can't miss it. Take the number 6 city bus) and there were some awesome deals, eyeliners for a 1€, the lightest shades of Colorstay and Photoready for 2€.

S-he Stylezone 
Is only available in DM and (this is just my opinion) I honestly find it a bit lame. I like their huge nail polishes range, but the rest is just blah. They have a big colour range of lipsticks and almost all of them I find completely unwearable for me (it's like a festival of weird frosty shades. I hate frosty finish). There are a few exceptions, though. I like their mono eyeshadows (great quality), but their liners and quads are terrible. It's in the essence price range.


Müller also carries Isadora, Artdeco and Make up Factory; some Müllers have Pupa, however, they are too expensive to be considered drugstore brands. 

Brands that disappeared from our drugstores are Wet'n'Wild (try nonpareilboutique.com or eBay), Rimmel (but available in every other country. I suggest a visit to Croatia, Austria or Italy, if all fails try feelunique or Asos), Margaret Astor (Austria), Nivea (doesn't exists anymore), Gosh, Miss Sporty (I'm not sure if it's still sold in Tuš Drogerija).

Update December 2013: Limoni has left Slovenia and there is no drugstore department in inside Leclerc any more, but makeup is still sold there in a small shop across it.

I hope this was useful. Thanks for reading!

You Might Also Like

25 comments

  1. I saw in Mueller that they won't sell Revlon there anymore.

    OdgovoriIzbriši
  2. Super post, me veseli, da si se odločila napisati tak post.
    V Tuš drogerijah v bistvu prodajajo podobne znamke kot v DM-u in Müllerju: Essence, Catrice, L'oreal, Maybelline, Manhattan (vsaj teh 5 se spomnim). Drugače pa imajo vmes še kake neznane znamke lakov.
    Mislim, da nisi omenila, ampak Müller ima znamko naravnih izdelkov, ki se imenuje Terra Natura, imajo pa vsa ličila razen lakov pa še nekaj izdelkov za nego obraza. Cenovni rang pa je nekje med Essence in Catrice. Do sedaj sem preizkusila le eno njihovo šminko, ki pa ima dobro prekrivnost.
    Za Gosh sem slišala, da smo ga včasih imeli v naših drogerijah, za ostale znamke pa nisem slišala, da bi bili prej pri nas. Škoda, ker so nekatere med njimi super in bi bilo fajn, če bi lahko kupili njihove izdelke tudi pri nas.

    OdgovoriIzbriši
    Odgovori
    1. No super. Hvala. Sem napisala za Müllerjevo naravno znamko pri Alverde, samo sem napisala napačno ime, tudi nisem vedela da ni Altera lol. Sem zdaj popravila :) hvala.
      Gosh je bil včasih v Leclercu in Nami, ampak to je leta nazaj. Vse tiste znamke so kar nehali prodajati pri nas. Naprimer Rimmel je bil v 90.tih še pri nas v DMu, Wet n'Wild še predlani v Iliriji. Škoda.

      Izbriši
  3. Super post! Ljubljanski Leclerc ima sicer poleg Essence tudi še Catrice stojalo (vendar ne pridejo čisto vse LE k njim), pa Bourjois, Manhattan in Loreal. Tudi Max Factor. Revlon so na žalost umaknili. Se strinjam za Revlon, res je čisto bedno, da ga umikajo, pa ne vem zakaj, nikoli nisem dobila občutka, da se ne bi prodajal, izdelki za ustnice so krasni, ogromno punc prisega na njihove podlage ... kdo bi vedel. Sem pa velika ljubiteljica Bourjois, tudi jaz prisegam na čedalje večji rang njihovih izdelkov, pudri v prahu, tekoče podlage, senčila, lip linerji, eye linerji, šminke ... super so. Z Essence imam malce love-hate relationship. Catrice je tudi meni všeč, pri Manhattnu sem domača samo z njihovimi lip kremami, ki jih obožujem. L'Oreala pa čisto nič ne poznam, je pa njihov highligher na WL že nekaj časa ...

    OdgovoriIzbriši
    Odgovori
    1. Hvala za update kaj se dobi v Leclercu, se mi pozna da letos nisem v LJ :). Za Revlon je pa taka škoda, ena izmed boljših znamk, predvidevam da bi se lip butterji zelo dobro prodajali.

      Izbriši
    2. Točno, sem pozabila, v Iliriji se baje dobijo Lip Butterji! Za devet evrov, kar je ceneje kot na tisti spletni strani. Sicer ne vem, če so vsi odtenki, ampak vem da so punce že kupovale tam. Jaz sem moram tudi spravit malce pofirbcat, jih imam ene 7 na WL. :D

      Izbriši
    3. Kaj res! A veš slučajno kako je kaj z odtenki? Nenadoma obžalujem da sem se odselila :)

      Izbriši
    4. Na žalost še ne vem, ampak se že lep čas spravljam tja, ker tudi mene firbca. Ko bom šla, ti sporočim kako so z odtenki. :)

      Izbriši
    5. Sem na Ars-u prebrala da naj bi jih bilo 10. Me zanima če jih imajo res na zalogi. Včasih sem bila redna stranka tam in po mojih izkušnjah Revlonovo stojalo ni bilo vedno pretirano polno.

      Izbriši
  4. All the same drugstore brands as in Bosnia, except we don`t have Revlon anymore.We also don`t have Misslyn. The other drugstore brands we have are Astor, Evelin, Artdeco, Rimmel and turkish brands like Golden Rose, Flormar and Farmasi.
    What do you think about Misslyn, is it better then Essence or in the same range?

    OdgovoriIzbriši
    Odgovori
    1. I haven't bought anything from Missyln yet, but I've swatched a few products. Lipsticks are way better, lipglosses are about the same and eyeshadows seem to be better quality than Essence. Also they have a much wider colour and texture range in just about everything.

      Izbriši
  5. Bourjois is so freakin' expensive where I live, I mean €20+ for Healthy Mix is just too much! We have Essense but I wish we had Catrice instead... Revlon, same story over here. So, so limited stock, ugh! Very nice and informative post!

    xx

    OdgovoriIzbriši
    Odgovori
    1. 20€?! I wonder on what is that price actually based. Insane.
      Thank you:)

      Izbriši
  6. ful ful dober post! sploh nisem vedla, da so niveo, miss sporty in gosh ukinili.. no, saj nisem nekaj ful kupovala od njih, ampak una maskara od nive, doule black extansion al kaj že bla, je bla ful fajna :) imaš kako fb stran, kjer se te da lajkat, da bom bolj na tekočem s posti? :)

    OdgovoriIzbriši
    Odgovori
    1. Hvala :) Nimam fb strani, imaš pa možnost sledit preko bloglovin', hellocotton, bloggerja in emaila. Ikone so na desni pod spremljevalci.

      Izbriši
  7. Greetings from the US!! :) My Mother's family came from Slovenia, so I've always wanted to visit! I really hope I can one day! At least I know where I get my paleness from! haha! Alverde looks like they have some really nice stuff, I wish I could get a hold of it here!
    <3 Kirstie

    OdgovoriIzbriši
    Odgovori
    1. Hello :) I hope you get a chance to visit our country, I'm sure you'd love it here. Most of us Slovene girls also wish to have some of your drugstore brands here and Mac of course :)

      Izbriši
  8. Hi! Do they still sell revlon in Slovenia? I am from norway but I am going to slovenia in the summer. This post is quite old so I wondered if you could give me an update about what brands they sell in slovenia now? This post helped me alot! Thank you in advanced! Love form norway <3

    OdgovoriIzbriši
    Odgovori
    1. Hi :) Yes they do in Müller. I regularly update this post, so the brands are still the same :)

      Izbriši
  9. My parents are going to Slovenia and this post was just so helpful! Thank you very much!

    Enrie Scielzo, The Ladyboy
    www.enriescielzo.com

    OdgovoriIzbriši

TRANSLATE