Kawaii Kauaian: April 2017

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K-Mart's cosmetics section is much smaller than Walmart. It's basically condensed into four short aisles and one long wall. What I like most about Kmart is that they carry Milani Cosmetics, which I can't find at Walmart. Their sections are also well-stocked, unlike Walmart. It's just very small and compacted together.

Before Walmart carried, it, K-Mart had the most E.L.F. products. They carry both tools and makeup, but seem to be just slightly pricier than Walmart.

There was a really large section for Covergirl mascara. Not so much variety as there was quantity, though.

There is a small Wet n' Wild section that had some items that they didn't have at Walmart, like the Coverall Pressed Powder, color correcting wheel, and foundation. Walmart didn't carry any of the Coverall line. There was a lot of nail polish.

Kmart is one of three places on the island that carries Milani. Their section is decent, but honestly I haven't seen anything here change in like a year.

Large L'oreal section

The L'oreal section is large, but doesn't carry all of the Infallible line.

Variety:

K-Mart carries the following brands:

Revlon
Jordana
Milani
Almay
L'oreal
Maybelline
Covergirl
NYC
Rimmel
Wet n' Wild
E.L.F.

The largest section belongs to Revlon, followed by Covergirl, which is almost the same size, Maybelline, and L'oreal. There are medium sized sections for E.L.F., Rimmel, and Wet n' Wild, and small sections for Jordana, Milani, Almay, and NYC.

Ease of Browsing:

The aisles are small and few, slightly cramped, and poorly lit. Some areas are labeled, but are done so incorrectly. The space between aisles are nowhere near as wide as Walmart's. The size of the department is actually pretty disappointing, but it's not a hot mess the way Walmart's is, and the shelves aren't bare.

On Trend:

I've seen the same items at K-Mart for at least a year. As you could see with the Wet n' Wild section, there isn't a whole lot of updating. However, if you look at the ends of the aisles, you'll often find the newest items. K-Mart was the first place on the island to carry the Milani Lip Trio items, which is easily missed because it's nowhere near the actual Milani section. They also carry the Wet n' Wild Photo Ready collection.

Prices:

Kmart's items are marked up slightly higher than Walmart's, but sometimes there's a great sale, and that's definitely when I take advantage of items from here.

For example.

Conclusions:

While K-Mart's section is small and cramped, you can find things here that you can't find at Walmart, and they often carry newly released items sooner than other stores. You just have to make sure you look carefully for them.

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Macy's is the only place on Kauai that you can find high-end makeup. And even then, you can't find many brands at all. The section itself is small, and they have carried the same brands since the beginning of time. I think at one point there was an Urban Decay Counter, and possibly a Hard Candy counter when it was considered a little higher end, but don't quote me on that.

The entire department is pretty outdated looking, and frankly there isn't very good lighting. There aren't even dedicated counters for each product. In most places, counters are shared between two brands. Besides that, there aren't enough specialists to staff all of the brands. Sometimes you'll be helped in one brand, but that person is from another brand all together.

I didn't snap a lot of pictures in here because there were a lot of people around and I didn't want to get in trouble (even though there's really no rules about picture taking in there). I snapped some pictures of the Shisedo counter to give you an idea of prices and what they carry.

What I do like about the high end brands is that there are a lot of kits that you can buy, as well as free gifts with purchase. The bad thing is that the samples that are out are almost always empty. That is done on purpose, I've been told, because people were coming by and stealing what was in the containers! How ratchet is that?

Variety:

Macy's carries the following brands:

MAC
Clarin's
Shisedo
Lancome
Clinque
Estee Lauder

I think MAC is the only counter that doesn't have to share with another braned. Estee Lauder and Clinique share a counter, and Shisedo and Lancome share a counter. Clarin's, I believe, has their own counter. Each section has both skincare and makeup, but Estee Lauder seems to be mostly skincare. On the day I went, there were no makeup samples at all. I think they were redoing that section. You definitely don't get anywhere near as many brands to choose from as Macy's on Oahu or Macy's anywhere else, and there aren't many workers in these sections, so you probably aren't going to get someone who is a true expert in their brand, except for the MAC workers. They know their stuff, and some of them have been there for years.

Ease of Browsing:

The counters are just kind of placed in this big area, so there aren't any clear paths, You just kind of weave in and out of them. There are many displays and sets that you can look at, but for the most part it's just kind of a mishmash of things in this section. A little random.

On-Trend:

I can't honestly say that I've bought items from most of the brands in this section. I know that MAC usually gets the latest lines on time, but I can't say the same for the other brands. I know I attempted to buy the Lancome rose highlighter, but Kauai Macy's never got it. I'm not sure how limited that release was, so maybe they were never intended to get it in the first place, but who knows. I don't think that Estee Lauder got any of the Victoria Beckham collection, either.

Prices:

This is high end makeup, so you're going to pay a lot of you want anything from these brands.

Macy's is the only place on the island where you're going to find these high-end brands. You might be able to find some at the expensive hotels, though. I know the St. Regis Princeville carries Butter London cosmetics, but I couldn't tell you how much it costs there. More on that in another blog, maybe.

Conclusions:

If you want high-end makeup from like, six brands, then this is the place. But don't expect to get the hottest items, because chances are Kauai Macy's didn't get them.

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It's often a struggle to find things on Kauai. Clothes, cooking ingredients, shoes, cars, etc. Everything is very limited here because this is a small island in the middle of the ocean. It's especially difficult finding cosmetics. We don't have Sephora, we don't have Ulta, or any other makeup-related stores. That means, for the most part, we're limited to drugstore brands, or a minimal amount of high end brands. Of course we can order things online, but sometimes I want instant gratification.

Welcome to my Cosmetics on Kauai Series, where I'll be talking about all the places you can find cosmetics on the island. I'm going to break them down store by store and focus on the following four things: variety of products, how easy it is to browse them, if the collections are up-to-date, and price point.

Let's start with Walmart!

Walmart has recently revamped their cosmetics section and made it look a little cleaner and brighter. They also stopped carrying Hard Candy, which sucks because Walmart is the exclusive retailer for that brand. They used to have a pretty nice sized section of it, but now, nary an eyeshadow to be seen. I was especially bummed about that when I saw the Trolls collab with Hard Candy, because I wanted that rainbow highlighter.

The largest sections are occupied by Revlon, Maybelline, Covergirl and L'oreal.

As you can see, a lot of the sections are pretty picked over. This is an all the time thing. Every time I walk into the cosmetics section, it looks like a hot mess.

More blank spaces on the shelves.

The Almay and Neutrogena sections are pretty small.

The Wet n' Wild section is small too, but they have up-to-date items, including the ombre blush, highlighters, the cushion correctors, highlighting sticks and matte liquid lipsticks.

The E.L.F. section was added when they revamped the cosmetics section. This section carries both makeup and tools, I think a good balance of both. There is also a carousel nearby, which I didn't take a picture of.

I primarily buy my nail polish things from Walmart, but their nail section always looks like a mess.

Variety:

Walmart carries the following brands:

Revlon
Maybelline
Covergirl
L'oreal
Almay
Neutrogena
Wet N Wild
E.L.F.
Rimmel

The largest sections belong to Revlon, Maybelline, Covergirl and L'oreal. There are medium sized sections for E.L.F. and Rimmel, and a small sections for Neutrogena, Almay, and Wet n' Wild. But despite its size, Walmart's Wet n' Wild section is more up to date with products than any of the other stores on the island.

Ease of Browsing:

Since it's update, the aisles are bright and wide enough for two people to pass by each other. But it's a hot mess in this cosmetics section. While the sections are all labeled appropriately, it's hard finding anything because everything is missing and not restocked. There are also items strewn all over the place, so it could be that what you're looking for is there, just in a completely unrelated area.

On Trend:

Walmart seems to be up-to-date with the latest makeup lines. They have most, if not all, of the L'oreal Infallible line, including the foundations, and like I mentioned, they are up-to-date with the Wet n' Wild products. They don't have any Spring Collection items yet, but it could be worse.

Prices:

The cosmetics here are reasonably priced, not marked up like some other places (we'll get to that). They are probably marked up from mainland stores, though. For example, the Wet n' Wild Color MegaCushion Color Corrector is $6.18 here, but is $5.99 on their website. Not a huge difference, but there is one. Compared to other stores on the island, Walmart has the cheapest non-sale prices. I used the L'oreal Lumi Cushion as my control. At Walmart, it cost $16.47, whereas at the different Long's locations it cost anywhere between $16.99 and $17.89.

Conclusions:

Walmart's cosmetics section is a hot mess, but it is mostly up-to-date, and is the cheapest on the island. But good luck getting anything you're looking for, because the shelves are almost always bare.

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