Guardian

Always check the price next door at Watson. Often the prices are cheaper at Watson unless the item is not avail there.

This branch at Holland Village is a life-​saver when I’ve got to get something important for the next day but most of the shops are already closed. This branch opens till 1am. Woohoo!
Just towards the right of the Holland Village MRT station exit, it’s situated next to a tiny Watson’s, which is super cramped and without much light. So naturally Guardian is my usual first choice. They’ve got pretty much everything the regular Guardian has: hair products, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products, snacks, toiletries etc. There’s only a handful of customers after hours, you can take your time to test out cosmetics if you want to, though the range is not wide.
The counter’s in a circular shape, you’ve got to walk to the other side if the queue at one side is too long — which means you can’t do the auntie thing, i.e. stand at both counters and try to see which one moves faster.
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Guardian Health & Beauty is actually a subsidiary of Cold Storage. It is Singapore’s largest health & beauty chain having more than 145 stores throughout the island. Next to the large variety of health and beauty products they also offer other professional services such as patient-​care counselling & dispensary services.
The small and cramped Watsons is located next to the more spacious Guardian store here in Holland Village so the choice is easy. Guardian has a way better selection of products and the products discounts are actually good. Watsons on the other hand always have the same products on discount. It’s like house of hung, where it’s always 80% off. So I don’t trust the discounts at Watsons. At Guardian I do, they are more sincere. The doctor is also pretty attentive and not stuck up. He will even answer questions about tiger balm etc. Usually the queues here are not that long, and when they are, they quickly open up another counter so you never have to wait long. Make up section is pretty extensive as well.