WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN
When I moved down to Mexico's Caribbean coast back in 2005, I felt like I was in a different world every time I stepped into the grocery store or the mall. The store names meant nothing to me, the clothes weren't the style I would find back in the States, and the products lining the shelves weren't always as easily translated as I wanted them to be.
Over the past 8 years, things have changed around here.
Kind of.
Clothing
In 2013, the clothes around the Riviera Maya are still looking quite different from what I was used to. Many of the popular shops at the mall are originally from Europe, meaning that the styles are edgier than back in the States and usually designed for slimmer French and Spanish figures. I have found some nice clothes from stores like Zara, Bershka, Oysho, Pull and Bear and LOB, but the price is a little higher and the quality a little lower than in the USA.
Undergarments for ladies can be an issue here, making it difficult to find any bra size that's not a B-cup. That's something I often wait to purchase until I'm north of the border.
In short, I can find the outfits I need here in Mexico in a pinch or on a whim, but I still wait for my trips to the USA for most of my clothes shopping.
Hair Care, Makeup and Toiletries
Brands for shampoo, deodorant, hair gel and soap tend to be different in Mexico, although there is a little overlap. At the same time, you can find an abundance of options for all kinds of hair with shelves full of products in every supermarket. It's easy to find a replacement for whatever you used back home. For more specialized hair care products, cities like Cancun and Playa del Carmen have plenty of beauty supply shops.
I've only ever had great hair salon experiences, with prices for a haircut ranging from just $70 pesos to $400 pesos. Nice coloring and highlights are also available, especially at some of the higher end salons. The one thing missing in the area is decent care for ethnic hair.
Makeup displays in Playa del Carmen show brands we all know like Cover Girl, Revlon, etc, even though many of the products are different. For those of us who are picky about makeup, we might need to stick to the USA for most of those purchases. If you're not picky, you'll have no problem in the Mexico makeup aisle. Specialty makeup brands like Clinique can be found at Ultrafemme stores.
American favorite Bath and Body Works does not exist in Mexico, although you can find similar products and scents at higher prices in mall stores like Fruits and Passion, or just pick up some scented body wash or body lotion at the grocery store.
Supermarkets
Mexican grocery stores sell mostly the same items as in the States, although the brands are often different. You'll also find fewer options for things like peanut butter, cheese, spaghetti sauce, cake and turkey, which aren't as popular around here, but each supermarket has tons of seafood, ham, beef, dairy products, cereal and of course salsas.
The produce department has many USA favorites like watermelon, apples, pears, bananas and cantaloupe year round, along with a few other surprises like pitaya and multi-colored mango that you don't see as much of back home. Raspberries, blueberries and blackberries can now be found at most Riviera Maya supermarkets, but at a very high price... often up to $50 pesos for a small 2-portion box.
For organic foods, you won't be able to find any kind of Whole Foods equivalent down here. Cancun and Playa del Carmen offer a few small specialty shops with organic items, but nowhere close to enough to build your entire day-to-day diet.
If you're looking for a specific American brand and can't find it at your local supermarket, superstores like Costco and Sam's Club offer more imported brands, so there's a chance they might have what you need. Chedraui supermarkets also have an imported section, while Mega Comercial supermarkets offer more imported cheeses than other grocery stores.
Overall, here in the Riviera Maya you can buy everything you need (and then some!) at affordable prices. If you're loyal to a specific brand, however, you'll probably want to stock up during your trips back to your home country.