The boy and I found a store with makeup in Bodrum, a week and a half into our time in Turkey. There were certainly stores before then, but it was the first we actually stumbled upon, and he gamely joined me in my browsing exploits. I picked up a number of nail polishes and swatched a lot of lippies but ended up only buying one (review to come!), but while I was playing the boy took some photos with my camera.
 |
No makeup = ghostly Amy. This face = "this gloss is such a pretty color, but
why does it have to have glitters?!" |
 |
| Hm, maybe you're pretty |
 |
| Nope, never mind |
 |
| Some swatches; decided I wanted the top/right one |
 |
Pretty sure I wasn't supposed to do this, but there was only
one employee and she was busy ringing people up |
 |
| "How are there so many lipsticks to swatch?" |
 |
| Bahahahahaha. What a trooper. |
Some eczanes (pharmacies) had makeup, but the selection was generally more restricted; there are also standalone stores for brands, but we didn't visit any of those. The exchange rate was very favorable when we were there, so Turkish-brand makeup was super affordable. International brands were much more expensive, especially compared to US prices, but if you go to Turkey and want to buy something from Chanel, you're doing it wrong. I look forward to my next visit so I can more fully explore the options!
[In terms of the makeup worn by Turkish women, it tended to be similar to that which you see in America, "natural but better". I occasionally saw a bolder lip, and there were a lot of bold brows (which made me feel right at home!), as well as some colorful nails. The weather was really hot everywhere we were, what with it being the middle of summer, and even I took to wearing very minimal makeup (concealer, mineral foundation, mascara, gel blush, light lip color, and yes that is very minimal stop looking at me like that), so it would be interesting to see how the use of makeup may differ in the cooler months (Sarah, you'll have to keep me posted when you get there in January!). Not least because many women wear headscarves or burqas, which do not help with the whole sweating one's brains out thing (the times I spent in mosques were among the hottest of my visit, since they're the one place I had to wear a headscarf and clothing past my knees). In spite of the heat, though, there was an abundance of super cute shoes and beautiful, colorful headscarves.]
How does your SO feel about your makeup hobby? Do you look at makeups when you travel? Have you noticed different beauty trends when traveling?
