Beauty products in Saint-Petersburg

A guide to the best beauty stores in Saint Petersburg

You're unlikely to benefit from our insights and would hardly think of them as such if you're anything but new to the beauty industry offerings and are well-informed by Kosmetista and other resources of this kind. However, should your knowledge of makeup and perfume brands be limited by those marketed by the omnipresent Rive Gauche, L'étoile, and Île-de-beauté chains, then you might find our mini guide helpful.

That's certainly true that the above mentioned retailers cover the great bulk of luxury and mass market brands available on the market. Add to this, shop-in-shops by Bobbi Brown, La Mer, Giorgio Armani, Clarins, and Clinique located on the ground floor of the DLT department store, for example. Price point is high, but in-store makeup artists and skin care specialist are there to share their expertise and help you choose the product right for your skin concerns and makeup style that flatters you best. It's also good to know that you don't have to buy anything in return.

The first floor of Au Pont Rouge hosts Cosmotheca, a specialist store of designer fragrances and skin care products by the brands rarely available elsewhere in Saint Petersburg. At Cosmotheca they put emphasis on the brands that are known to adhere to environmentally friendly formulas and production processes. Luxury fragrances are also available at Molecule and «Parfumer» stores. Molecule is the largest luxury fragrances distributor in Russia. «Parfumer» is credited with being the first luxury fragrances store in Saint Petersburg. Both chains are whoppingly pricey.

"Passage" is home to a standalone store by Kiehl’s, a brand best known for keeping preservatives to the bare minimum, mass production notwithstanding. Unlike Organic Shop, Lush, or, say, The Body Shop, who are also known as champions of organic formulas, Kiehl's make beauty products that are way more expensive.

No matter how prohibitively challenging the beauty product technologies might appear at first sight, local labels are starting to pop up here and there in Russia. Among them is Pure Love, a maker of organic cosmetics that is silicone, paraben, and sulphate free. Their products come in jars that can be safely stored in the fridge for about two and a half months. The hipster-inclined Saint Petersburg-based Borodist make really worthwhile products that "helps men to grow a beard that would make even the legendary pirate Edward 'Blackbeard' Teach envy". Chop-Chop also stand out from other beauty brands catering to men's needs. This well-known barbeshop chain launched its beauty line in 2015. The beauty salon chain Birdie, which is to women what Chop-Chop is to men, also make their own hair care products. Irushka have occupied the cosmeceutical skincare niche, while Evolut have cemented their reputation as a maker of antibacterial and antiseptic products.

That said, most of the products other than luxury and pharmacy cosmetics and fragrances, are distributed online. Strawberrynet is among the first online stores that started targeting the Russian market by making its website interface available in Russian. Feelunique is one of the largest beauty product online stores in the world. Pudra is the largest Russian online beauty product retailer. Of all domestic online stores, we would also like to highlight You Need It and Bling Blings. By the way, Bling Blings run their own brick and mortar store located on Khersonskaya street.

Beauty Bay and Cult Beauty are two well-established British online stores: as the name implies Cult Beauty is a cult beauty product specialist, while Beauty Bay is known to ship to Russian for a mere ₽150. IHerb is a go to for all things organic, hypoallergenic, and cruelty free. Nailsupplies stocks everything one need for a perfect nail care routine. Melon Panda is best when it comes to Japanese beauty imports. Check HQHair for quality hair care products. ASOS is an online hub for mass market cosmetics brands that are unlikely to enter the Russian market in the foreseeable future.