worldclass

my teenaged daughter who's into makeup wants some makeup from Germany (eyeshadow,blush on,lipstick,etc) where can i buy reasonably priced make up in munich?
(i'm thinking of maybe german version of france's monoprix) we are also going to switzerland, is there any good swiss brand make up?
i know these countries are not necessarily known for cosmetics but if you know anything in this area, will appreciate your suggestions.

my SIL, mentioned a very good brand of leathergoods she purchased in germany more than 10 yrs ago, it's called "Gold Pfeil". she said she had not seen this brand of leathergoods in US stores in the recent years. i am not familiar with this brand, myself. are any of you familiar with it and your feedback on it (worth buying? SIL says it's expensive but very high quality)

we're leaving in 10 days. today the USD gained vs the euro again. yeeyy!!



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Cowboy1968

You can wait until you go back to the US and shop at the Duty Free stores at the airport. Especially when you should fly Lufthansa or Star Alliance, the store in Terminal 2 has a wide range of products.

Otherwise, perfume & cosmetics translates to "Douglas": a German chain store which is present everywhere. In Munich, the "Müller" drugstore across from the Central Station also has a wide variety of cosmetics.

For leather goods, like the Goldpfeil bags, you can check the Oberpollinger department store near Stachus (Karlsplatz) in the city center of Munich.

logos999

>USD gained vs the euro again. yeeyy!!

The crash of the USD based financial system of the world is imminent. If you need €, I suggest you buy them asap.

worldclass

thanks cowboy for your input.

logos, thanks too for the headsup on the euro and dollar. last week, i saw the dollar moving up vs the euro at around 1.35-1.37. i'll call the bank. re: buying euros from the bank, i'll inquire about bank charges to see if this would be viable to do. i might need more USD bec in the scenario of the sliding dollar, i will pay cash vs use my credit card. i'll post on what i find out re: buying euros from BofA, specifically.

Trophywife007

Worldclass, I recommend that you get a second opinion regarding the dollar and the euro... if you've read any other postings by logos, you'll realize he has a bit of an agenda. I'm not saying he's wrong this time, but that he seems to be a bit biased. Just FYI.

logos999

Nope, I don't have an agenda. I've been talking about the "finacial problems" when others were still freaking out about how great the american investment banking system is.
Once the banks close "for at least a few days", you'll see.

chevre

Best make up prices are in the duty free shops in airports. All the majors have huge stores with every major line represented. I would do that before looking in town. Also you can buy packages that aren't availalble stateside or even in the country you're in. They're created for the duty free and travel market.

worldclass

thanks for your replies. DF stores usually carry US and French brands, for the most part. i would be interested in German brands, maybe comparable to our drugstore brand make up. i prob wouldn't have time to shop any of the duty free shops at the airport. we're arriving in MUC before 8 am and flying out of zurich at 6:45 am. if the shops are open at either airport, i'd definitely check them out. is there a german or swiss version of the venerable french discount store-monoprix?

wanderfrau

For drugstore brand make up, look for a "DM." They have all kinds of inexpensive German brands of every type of makeup. Sorry, I can't tell you where to find one in Munich, but they are in just about every major German city.

Cowboy1968

Schlecker, dm, Rossmann, Müller -- those are the major four German discount drugstore (plus cosmetics) chains. IME, they have store brands for almost any product. Once you get into town, you will find a store of one of those at every street corner, literally.

quokka

Check out dm for their "alverde" products, these are better quality than most cheapo stuff and far less likely to cause skin irritations.
There are several dm stores in Munich, one is, for example, in Karlsplatz/Stachus.

worldclass

ok, i checked with BofA today on foreign currency transactions:

their selling rate,retail as of today's rate(i.e. i'm buying the euros with my USD): $1.44 no other fees.

if the local bank does not have an inventory of euros, you have to pay shipping $7.50 for orders less than $1000. they waive the shipping fee for orders of >$1000. they ship to the local branch of your choice for you to pick up the euros there. no other fees for the transaction.

i checked xe.com today, the official conversion rate is $1.36 to the euro. therefore, the bank charges .08 commision per euro.

i will call my chase one visa card later today to check what their euro conversion to USD is as of today to compare commissions. i have always been a charge it to the capital one CC traveller but in today's volatile currency, I might be better off paying cash. i'll post what i found out.

back to the goldpfeil leathergoods and cosmetics.... any more input is appreciated.

worldclass

correction: i meant capital one visa (not chase bank). must have been the muffin and OJ i had for bfast. reason why reposted to correct a seemingly minor point is: so far the best deal i have found when it comes to foreign currency purchases on visa is capital one. they don't charge any fees and i get reward points i can use on any travel related (better deal in point conversion) and non travel related items (not as good a deal on point to dollar conversion).

worldclass

dollar to euro today is at 1.33 from 1.36 2 days ago!!!