Siam Center in Bangkok

arthuredward

Shopping Bangkok is unreal. They’re just one step ahead. From the service you get all the way to the fine detail they put into the shop display, I’ve never seen attention to detail quite like it. I was walking through Siam Centre and this amazing skirt and jacket caught my eye, I was admiring how amazing the design was when I looked up realised the whole ceiling was made from wood, calved into skulls and flowers! I don’t know who the shop designers are, but the creativity and detail are something they don’t take lightly!

Let’s start with fashion…Asian fashion is amazing to begin with, they manage to balance the Eccentric fashion so well. Styling a plain white T, collets with the most amazing colourful trainers. Half the dresses I saw in the shops looked like they had just come from the met gala or fashion week.

One shop really stood out to me. When you walk in, you immediately see all their shoes and handbags hanging from the ceiling on wooden racks and guess what?! They were already matched and styled together for you! They do make shopping scarily easy!

It’s so hard not to buy anything when you’re shopping in Bangkok, one thing I did notice that may put some people off some of their items is the fact that most of the clothing, handbags and shoes all contain real fur. I don’t think animals in Thailand are ‘part of the family’ like how I and many others tend to see them! Fur is a massive fashion statement over there. I agree it does look great especially when they make the fur in the most amazing colours, however I don’t agree with the treatment of the animals to achieve this. I guess if you go shopping over here, just expect to see A LOT of fur.

When it comes to makeup, unlike westerners, the trend is Asia is looking pale. Just as we love to go a few shades darker whether that be by the electric beach, the real beach or just a simple fake tan, there are products out here to make consumers paler. For example, they have a product called ‘snail white’ which as the name suggests, it makes your skin whiter.

This trend doesn’t just stop in skincare, it’s evident when it comes to makeup as well. The darkest shade I found of foundation wasn’t even close to a Caramel shade…One brands darkest shade was almost too pale for me (I’m about a nc35) if that reference helps.

Blush is a lot more important in their beauty routines than bronzer. This could be due to the doll trend I noticed when looking around the shops. When giving inspiration on makeup looks a lot was focused on full lips, clear skin and pink cheeks, kind of representing a doll like look. One of the face masks I saw was of a picture of a doll. A lot of the marketing is focused around ‘fun’ and ‘easy’. I understand the target audience in Thailand is women and men wanting paler skin, I just found it quite shocking how far from diversity the shade range is.

If you get a chance to go to Siam Center in Bangkok, please do. You will not regret it, I can guarantee it. The only thing you might regret is the amount of time you will spend in there… or money!