Today’s post is a closer look–in pictures–at Japanese and Korean beauty store Ichimi Cosme in New York’s East Village. That link will take you to Renee’s first look at the store, and Ichimi Cosme is also on Instagram and Yelp.
That’s Renee shopping because I was in the midst of my no-buy when we went ::quietly sobs::
Ichimi is located at:
318 E. 9th St
New York, NY 10003
(between 1st and 2nd Ave.)
What I love about Ichimi Cosme is that it offers a ton of Japanese beauty brands that weren’t available before in NY (at least not as far as we two shopaholics knew). Los Angeles (including the Asian suburb of San Gabriel Valley) has long had tons of Japanese offerings. (I’ve posted shopping guides on LA shopping and specifically Takashima in the SGV before.)
Yet Japanese beauty–aside from the ever-present Hada Labo and Japanese eye makeup–remained a huge gap in the NY Asian beauty scene. Sure, you could find a fair amount of stuff at New Kam Man and Sunrise Mart, but there was also a ton you couldn’t find: Canmake, Kate, Laduree, Jill Stuart, and Visee for example.
Enter Ichimi Cosme…
Laduree makeup! Gawwwgeous but ridiculously priced (not Ichimi’s fault; Laduree is just overpriced).
How about some Jill Stuart, Econeco, Canmake, and Visee?
Um when are Western brands going to come out with compacts half as delish and swanky as these Jill Stuart ones? 
Hello, Kitty cleansing brushes! Basically Hello Kitty Clarisonics.
The one purchase I allowed myself because it was ostensibly a replacement for my depleting supply of Tatcha mists (love!) was this L:oil Water & Oil mist. And you know what? It’s pretty darn good! I got the one for brightening skin and it leaves a dewy sheen (downright glossy if you overdo it). Full review to come, but I’m already planning to pick up more bottles when I’m back in NY in a week.
And here are some obligatory Japanese cartoon stuffs. 
Ichimi Cosme also offers plenty of Korean beauty as well. Perhaps 1/4th of the store is Korean, but I appreciate that Ichimi Cosme picked less widely available products.
Check out these Laneige Two Tone Shadow Bars. I swatched all four shades of this cream eyeshadow: Orange Island, Humming Coral, Coffee Bronze, and Golden Rose.
And the Laneige Two Tone Lip Bars were there, too, alongside lippies from Etude House, Innisfree, History of Whoo, and Hera. Swatch to your heart’s content!
And of course there were the cushions: Innisfree, Etude House (incl. the limited edition Save Cushion for endangered species), Laneige, IOPE, and Hera (in the limited edition Nicholas Kirkwood designs).
And then there was this su:m37 Air Rising Glow Cover Metal Cushion, which alas, was in a special edition box and not open for testing. ::fans self::
A few other makeup items…
Finally, the sheet masks!
Despite all the photos I took, they only show like 1/3rd of what Ichimi Cosme has to offer. I skipped, for instance, the Japanese eye makeup section. Although the store space is tiny, it’s jammed with so many Japanese and Korean goodies (even snacks!) that I could get lost in it for hours (OK, maybe only for 2 hours…it’s still pretty small).
The service is hands off, which is much appreciated because we like to basically touch and swatch everything and read all the ingredients without interruption.
Hope you’ll give Ichimi Cosme a look-see the next time you’re in the area!
