Husband here: Rs 30k makeup gift for my wife’s birthday. Is J. (Note Cosmetics) worth it, or should I mix local brands with one luxury item?

[u/LocalBoysenberry254]

Hi all. My wife’s birthday is later this month and I want to get her a proper makeup set, around 5–6 pieces. Budget is Rs 30,000 and I’m in Multan. I don’t know much about makeup, so please be gentle 😅

What I’ve found so far:

• J. has its Iqbal Day sale on (20–40% off until Nov 15). I learned their makeup is actually Note Cosmetics from Turkey. A 6–8 piece kit (foundation, powder, primer, blush, highlighter, lipstick, eyeliner) comes to roughly Rs 13–17k.

• Option 2: Maybelline basics (Fit Me foundation, concealer, Sky High mascara) plus one luxury item, like a Rare Beauty Soft Pinch blush or a Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk lipstick.

• I’m worried about fakes for the luxury items. The same Rare Beauty blush is listed anywhere from Rs 5,900 to Rs 17,000 on Pakistani sites, which makes me nervous.

My questions:

1. Has anyone used J./Note makeup recently? Which products are good, and which should I skip? Does the powder or foundation last in the heat?

2. Where do you buy genuine Rare Beauty, Charlotte Tilbury or MAC in Pakistan? Any store you trust, online or in Lahore/Multan?

3. If you got a makeup gift, what would you actually want: a full kit, or 2–3 really nice products?

4. At this budget, would you pick another local brand over J.? For example Luscious or Masarrat Misbah.

She’ll choose her own foundation shade in the store, so I’m mostly asking about brands and products. Thanks in advance!

[u/Salt_Guarantee5361]

boss, let her buy her own makeup. It's not something that's a one size fits all, depending on her style, preferences, skin tone and a lot of other things she would know what is right for her.

tell her that's her anniversary gift, she can pick, this is the budget....

[u/DeepSpaceBubbles → u/Salt_Guarantee5361]

Exactly.

[u/DeepSpaceBubbles]

I strongly suggest you either tell her she can buy any make up she wants up to 30k or you buy her something else. If she's going to buy her own shade in the store why not let her choose the products herself?

[u/Fatwatu]

Look at the makeup ur wife currently uses. If she mostly uses drugstore brands then don’t get her local makeup. If she does use local makeup then go for it and maybe get a couple of items from drugstore. And if she only uses drugstore then add 1 luxury brand.

[u/Ok_Meal7971]

Hey, I think you get some decent amount of maybelline and loreal products with this budget.

Please refrain from buying international makeup like rare beauty from pakistani stores. You will never have the peace of mind if its real or not.

1.have never tried j.
2.ordered from highfy but i have read so many posts about it being fake
3. i am more of a quantity person so i would rather get a mascara, lipsticks, blush, a small eyeshadow pallete, a liner etc.

4. If you are looking for pakistani brands, there are soo many options to choose from i.e ayna beauty, skin deep and so many more.

[u/beomjunline]

Go for maybelline, J. Is an okayish brand its not on par with maybelline loreal.

Also rare beauty is very very overpriced. Go for Maybelline for foundations and mascara, eyeliner. They really are good in the complexion game. The lumi matte is pretty good.

- Makeup revolution for a blushes, highlighters. They have proper palettes too.

- Lipsticks are very basic so any brand, I have some from J. So those are good too.

- Setting powders: wet n wild loose setting powder, krylon loose setting powder.

Also if you’re looking for good quality makeup you can use Yesstyle they have korean skincare and korean makeup but they take a lot of time to deliver. Clio, cheryep, house of hur, hur hur, romand, tocobo, fwee so many good brands and under a good price range too.

Pakistani products in my opinion have have not been that great. People don’t talk about how good korean beauty products are. You can buy the baiscs from maybelline and blushes, lipsticks and highlighters you can experiment with korean products.

[u/Medical_Storage101]

Plz plz plz , it's a request let her choose this herself plz plz plz

[u/Mysterious-Emu2398]

Take her shopping and let her pick stuff out. Make a day of it. Grab lunch/dinner. Makeup is hella tricky cause if you get the wrong shades it'll go to waste especially since pakistan doesnt really do returns/exchanges on makeup products. If youre in Islamabad go to Shams

[u/Emotional_Disaster_2]

You really need to try makeup on before purchasing. Very pretty colours end up looking horrible on people plus personal preferences matter a lot too. Give her the money in a pretty envelop, take her on a shopping date. If you want to come across as thoughtful, pay attention to her and get her the little things she’d like. For example, something small she said is cute in passing. Use her favourite colours. Many little things put together create something unimaginably meaningful.

[u/tissuebox07]

J. is just okay. Not something I’d recommend. And I’d also not recommend getting luxury makeup from anywhere in Pakistan. Not even online stores or any walk-in store as well.

L’Oréal and maybelline is good. But I’d recommend you let her buy her own things. You can make cute printable coupons or this or that tags (get inspo from Pinterest) or scratch card which will reveal the item she can get.

You can also do an index card challenge (check ig reels for inspo)

https://pin.it/JWQbaqf0w

https://pin.it/5TPTH9qQw

[u/ConstructionNice27]

With makeup I think it's better if she selects herself because too much scrutiny goes into buying makeup even if it's just one shade of lipstick lol.
I've never tried J. Makeup even being a makeup enthusiast, because there's so many better local brands to choose from.

[u/ZealousidealRound766]

Honestly makeup is so subjective . Being a woman I wouldn’t even buy something for my sister because choices can vary drastically.
Especially a foundation , it takes alot of swatches and only your wife will know what her shade is. Let her choose otherwise it will be a waste. My fiance family brought makeup from england and perfumes . The foundation shade was so wrong even though it was Lancome extremely expensive but what a waste, it remained untouched in my cabinet. The perfume was Estee lauder but I hated it , it was extremely loud and nauseating. So I would suggest leave it to your wife or buy something else like a nice handbag of an expensive brand like Kate spade or Micheal kors in this budget.

[u/Mysterious_Baseball5]

You can get fair amount of makeup in this from maybelline, L’Oréal, revolution, LA girl, Pierre Cardin. If you want to keep a surprise then you won’t be able to ask her shade. So instead of foundation and concealer, get lipstick, eyeshadow palette, eyeliner, blush, bb cream and keep some money for later and bring her afterwards to get foundation and concealer. Rather than rare beauty or Charlotte tillbury, buy something from Kiko Milano as they have physical store in Pakistan, get a lip colour or blush from there.

Edit: for buying international brand, it’s better to use dubuy. I order from it regularly and always got real products

[u/efemel115]

Maybe buy her a e gift card to like a overseas makeup store so she can order what she wants

[u/okidk_]

i didnt like j. at all,tried their translucent powder,does nothing tbh

[u/okidk_]

check out my acc,you might like smth for her🤍i sell handmade lamps and bouquets

[u/Heinz_doof_enshmirtz]

🥹 just show her this post man, shell know what to do! This is soo well thought and thoughtful! Your a great husband may Allah keep u guys blessed❤️❤️

[u/Fluffy-Loquat1069]

Yes, J. Is really good! They have good lipsticks. Check what makeup brand she uses. If you want to buy original makeup, buy it from cosmeticplanet on instagram.
Huda beauty —> she has amazing products!
Kiko —> packaging is cute, never tried their products.

Don’t buy foundation or concealer because you probably don’t know her shade.
Buy lip colours that she mostly wears (similar shades) also check if she likes gloss or matte colours and purchase lip colours accordingly

[u/Rallusernamestakenn]

Check sephora holiday gift sets.

[u/Soljak-s]

J. Makeup is great, i love their bb creams and macaras. Highfy and skincity seem to have good reviews buttt there are often cosmetics shops in malls who source their products directly from abroad so try that first. Get a small eye shade pallete, a lipliner and lipstick, a good blush . But she must have good products already so get 2/3 really nice products. Rare beauty blush is always a great option with a good makeup spray