Bronze Summer Skin, Please Stay A Little Longer…….

While summer rudely leaves us at some point in the year, it doesn’t mean you can’t rock your sun- kissed glow pretty much all year round if you want to! A few skin care tips and a couple of helpful products and you can look like you just stepped off the vacation-plane; every day!

Glow Girl

So, let’s address the glow part! It’s that enticing sheen that a healthy skin imparts. To achieve this, do not be shy of exfoliation. This gets rids of dead skin cells and build-up, ensuring the fresh, new skin cells are out on top giving off their glow. While some people feel that exfoliating will “take away” the tan, it actually helps prolong it and also keeps the skin prepared for the other great tan-booster – moisture and hydration. For skin that is super polished, try La Prairie Cellular Mineral Face Exfoliator. This decadent treat ensures complete exfoliation of dead skin to clarify the complexion, while providing a moisture boost. 

La Prairie Cellular Mineral Face Exfoliator  

Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise

You should use every opportunity to moisturise your skin in summer, as a hydrated skin looks beautiful and feels healthy. With the additional swimming, sweating and showering you will be doing in summer, we also tend to strip the skin of moisture more, and therefore should pay some extra attention to replacing this moisture as often as possible! If you really need an excellent moisture boost, it is worth splashing out on the exceptional Dermalogica Super Rich Repair cream. This miracle in a tub delivers immediate hydration benefits, making use of peptides to stimulate collagen production, a smoothing complex for elasticity and tone and shea butter and oil of evening primrose to soften and replenish. Add some antioxidants to help shield against environmental elements and you have yourself a new, super-moisturised skin in an instant!

Dermalogica Super Rich Repair cream

Top up tan

You can also help your tan stay a little longer by topping it up with a gradual tan moisturising product or some tan towelettes, allowing you to target areas and add that subtle extra glow. Use a product like St. Tropez Gradual Tan Everyday Body Lotion. A nourishing moisturiser that has a touch of bronze that builds up gradually over time (use it every day), to prolong and create that gorgeous, golden glow. 

St. Tropez Gradual Tan Everyday Body Lotion

Shimmy into shimmer

Nothing enhances a tan like a bit of shimmer, and you can sprinkle some golden fairy dust on your face to keep that glow alive. Jane Iredale 24-Karat Gold Dust Shimmer Powder can be brushed over the cheekbones and forehead to highlight and add warmth to your face. Use Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate Brush to highlight and contour the face with precision. This luxurious brush is made with synthetic hair to achieve a radiant glow without creating streaks or unnatural lines. The handle is specially designed for true comfort and balance.

Jane Iredale 24-Karat Gold Dust Shimmer Powder

Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate Brush 04

Don’t let the weather dictate your look, keep your inner and outer glow alive for as long as you choose!

Mini Haul at COSME-DE.COM, Featuring: Noa Quiroz

The elegant and articulate Noa chats about her COSME-DE.COM beauty haul, featuring products she wanted to achieve a radiant, iridescent, natural spring and summer beauty look. She demonstrates the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector, Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder and Matt Baked Powder as well as Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. Noa sets your mind at ease by delving into the protective packaging and free shipping she experienced using COSME-DE.COM, making her online shopping experience a great one!

Products mentioned:

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal

Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder (Translucent)

Laura Mercier Matte Radiance in Highlight 01

Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation

Ways to Keep Your Hair Damage-Free, Tangle-Free (Protect from the Heat and the Sun)

If there’s one thing that makes a girl feel great, it’s having a good hair day! Our hair is just so “on display” all the time and a large part of our overall style is wrapped up in our hairstyle. Whether your hair is long or short, curly or straight, dark or blond, groomed or wild, it needs a bit of love and care to look fantastic all the time.

Always protect

Our hair can be the brunt of a few too many stresses that can leave it dried out, split, frizzy and dull. The sun, swimming pool chlorine, heat styling, dying and over-washing can strip it of the natural oils needed to keep it healthy, shiny and soft. It’s time to give your hair the love and attention it deserves!

Let’s start with the basics! Just as we all know to protect our skin from the sun, we need to protect our hair too! UV rays break down the cuticle of the hair shaft and leave hair dry and frizzy. Luckily for us, our hair actually protects our scalp from the harsh sun, but we need to give it a little protection here too if we want a shiny mane of healthy hair! When you are going to be outdoors for long periods, a stylish and highly effective method of protection is simply a hat! No mess, no fuss, no damage! If you swim in a chlorinated pool, wear a swimming cap to protect your hair from the chemicals that will dry it out and possibly affect the colour too!

Another way to protect your silken strands is to use a sun protective spray – you can use a spray that you use on your skin, and make sure you pay particular attention to the skin of your parting, which could get very burned if not protected. You can also use a leave-in conditioner for days that you will be outdoors. Try Macadamia Natural Oil Nourishing Leave-In Cream for a moisturising boost for dry, difficult-to-manage hair. The moisture transforms unruly locks into a well-behaved, shiny tumble of softness. What’s more, it has a built-in UV protection that keeps your hair healthy as well as protects any colour from fading.  

Macadamia Natural Oil Nourishing Leave-In Cream

Give your hair some love and care

Paying attention to your daily hair routine is also worth doing to keep your hair looking great. If possible, try not to wash your hair every day, as this strips the hair of natural oils. Using gentle, natural products will also keep your hair and scalp healthy, instead of harsh chemicals. I love the shampoo and conditioner from Le Couvent des Minimes Hair Care from the Root. The “Gentle Beneficial Shampoo” is suitable for all hair types and makes use of plant care with stimulating rosemary, sage and nettle and fortifying mint. The hair and scalp are gently cleaned and nourished without any silicone, and the result is soft, light, shiny hair. The “Root Beneficial Conditioner” includes olive oil to infuse moisture into the hair and impart that scintillating shine!

Le Couvent des Minimes Hair Care from the Root Gentle Beneficial Shampoo (For All Hair Types)  

Le Couvent des Minimes Hair Care from the Root Beneficial Conditioner (For All Hair Types)

All the wonderful products in the world won’t be of use if you “abuse” your hair afterward with vigorous towelling! If you towel dry your hair, just pat and rub it very gently to absorb moisture. By rubbing your hair, you roughen the hair shaft, making the hair appear frizzy and dull, so very gently does it! Once a week (or even more if your hair is excessively dry or you use heat styling often) give your hair a treatment mask to really give it some deep moisturisation and help restore any damage. For a decadent hair treat, you can’t go wrong with the Molton Brown Mer-Rouge Deep Conditioning Mask. Seaweed and amino acids add strength and shine to the hair, while vegetable proteins enrich and smooth each strand for soft, tangle-free and lustrous locks.

Molton Brown Mer-Rouge Deep Conditioning Mask  

Style Queen

And of course, we have the styling. There is no denying that blow drying, flat irons and curling wands can damage the hair, but they make us look so good! So, where there is a will, there is a way! Use your styling tools, but protect your hair first so that you can have your cake and eat it too! Give your damp hair a good mist of Giovanni 2chic Ultra-Sleek Blow Out Styling Mist, and make sure it is evenly distributed throughout your hair, and then go for the blow and style away until you are happy with your perfection! The Brazilian Keratin and Argan Oil give moisture, a silky bounce and zero frizz!

Giovanni 2chic Ultra-Sleek Blow Out Styling Mist   

It is worth thinking about what kinds of styles are most similar to your natural hair state, and work with that as closely as possible to avoid excessive styling and treatments. For example, if your hair is black and straight, a mass of blonde curls will be hard to achieve and maintain and your hair will go through quite some trauma to achieve the look!

So, no matter what you were born with, make sure you treat your locks with care and love, for everyday good hair days!

Everyday Beachy Waves for Mid-Length Hair Tutorial ft. Ashley Ahn

In this tutorial, the beauty pro Ashley Ahn shows you how to achieve the gorgeous “beachy waves” look on mid-length hair. This style looks gloriously natural and effortless, and Ashley shows you how to achieve the look in around 5 minutes. She uses Amika Un.Done Texture Spray and Touchable Hairspray, for a stunning style that smells fantastic too. So whip out your straightener and learn from a pro! 

Products Mentioned:

Amika Touchable Hairspray

Amika Undone Texture Spray

Light, Bright, Porcelain Perfect Skin is Yours

We all have a different look, thank goodness, or the world would be a really boring place! I was posting recently about achieving and maintaining a gorgeous, golden summer tan, which is really beautiful. But on the flip side, there is another look that is equally as beautiful, and that is the radiant, even tone of porcelain perfect skin.

Smooth and Even-Toned

Gentle lightening and brightening of the skin can bring out a youthful radiance, a perfectly even skin tone and even help diminish uneven pigmentation and scars. Now who would say no to that? No one I know! A word of caution though when it comes to lightening, is to make sure you use products that list their ingredients. There have been lightening creams on the market before that contain hydroquinone, which can lighten your skin, yes, but possibly burn a hole in it too, so be careful! There is no need to do anything damaging with so many wonderful products out there, with safe and natural, listed ingredients and at all price ranges!

Some of the best natural brightening ingredients include liquorice root, arbutin, songi mushroom, lemon peel and resveratrol (grape seed extract) – you can look out for these ingredients and others when choosing your brightening products.

Where there is a will, there is a way!

If you want to jumpstart a “brightening skin” campaign, you could treat yourself to a salon microdermabrasion or professional peel. This gently removes the top layer of skin to give you a refreshed, radiant start to healthy skin functioning and boosted collagen turnover. Then, you need to habitually follow up with excellent lightening and brightening products.

As always with our skin, we start with cleansing! I suggest you give the wonderful Clarins White Plus Total Luminescent Pearl-to-Cream Brightening Cleanser a try. The name is long and the effects long-lasting! It is a fine mousse textured cleanser, rich in clarifying plant extracts that promote a luminous transparency to the skin. This is a great product if you have any pigmentation, as it includes Spergularia and Alchemila extracts to even the tone and stop further pigmentation.

Clarins White Plus Total Luminescent Pearl-to-Cream Brightening Cleanser   

Another wonder-brightening product comes from SK-ll, the Whitening Source Clear Lotion, packed out with nourishing hydrators and texturisers. Micro fine visual modifiers bring an instantly uniform tone to your skin and a soft, glowing effect. After your cleanser, you dispense a little into a cotton pad and pat gently over the skin, pressing in with your fingertips to get all that goodness in it.

SK-ll, the Whitening Source Clear Lotion

For the final brightening, whitening, even-toned skin whammy, follow up with a radiance wonder-product – CAUDALIE Vinoperfect Radiance Serum – the no. 1 anti-dark spot product in your arsenal. This milky, moisturising serum creates a radiance in the skin that looks lit from within. It’s suitable for all skin types and contains free radical blasters that are 62 times more effective than vitamin C.

CAUDALIE Vinoperfect Radiance Serum   

So, with a little care and attention, and some perfect brightening skin products, you too can be mistaken for a porcelain doll!

How To Get And Keep The Beautifully Bronzed And Sun-Kissed Look

The bronzed glow of a summer tan makes us all appear more beautiful and relaxed, full of all the good things in life! Getting and keeping this gorgeous look can be a bit of a contradiction – we all know that excessive sun exposure causes premature ageing and skin cancer, so it’s safety first!

Scrub up

However, it is possible to care for your skin and get a radiant sun-kissed glow at the same time. To start with, make sure you exfoliate thoroughly before your vacation or sun exposure. The sun stimulates the production of a pigment called melanin, which colours the top layer of your skin with your tan. This skin layer sheds approximately every ten days to two weeks, so it’s best to get that tan on the new cells! Exfoliation also helps your moisturiser to really sink in and do its job. For an exfoliating treat, try Decleor Crème Exfoliant with a double action to gently eliminate impurities in the skin as well as any roughness or dead skin cells. The result is instantly renewed, revitalised skin.

Decleor Crème Exfoliant

Hydration internally and externally

Staying moisturised and hydrated is important in order to stop dryness and flaky skin, which means bye-bye tan! Keep your water bottle filled and at your side at all time and eat foods with a high water content such as melons, cucumber and celery. You can also switch to a moisturising shower oil instead of a gel or soap, which will lock moisture in your skin and prolong your tan. For total moisture and a satin-smooth finish, try L’occitane Almond Shower Oil, a lavishly decadent softening foam, rich in almond oil and nourishing lipids. And the fragrance is heavenly too, it’s hard to get out of the shower when it smells this good in there!

L’occitane Almond Shower Oil

Eat up for a great tan!

The raw materials our cells need to produce melanin is called tyrosine. So make sure your cells have enough of it by eating foods rich in tyrosine, such as turkey, egg whites, cottage cheese, salmon, soy, almonds and avocados. And don’t think you can speed up your tan by not wearing a high enough SPF protection against UV rays. If you let your skin burn, it will simply flake and peel, not to mention an unsightly red colour and be dried out and damaged. Build your tan slowly by wearing an SPF at all times, and your tan will last a lot longer too!

Shimmy shimmer

One way to always enhance the tan that you have, is to wear a moisturiser with a gentle shimmer to it. This gives the appearance of a deeper tan and looks absolutely beautiful if you choose the right one, like Nuxe L'Huile Prodigieuse®. It can be used to add a delectable shimmer to face, body and hair while nourishing and repairing. The golden shimmer makes your skin glitter gently every time you move.

Nuxe L'Huile Prodigieuse®

Tan safely and successfully and keep that skin glowing long into autumn!

The Perfect Travel Kits for Your Summer Vacation

A summer vacation is the ultimate treat – a reward for all the hard work you have done throughout the year. A chance to retreat, relax, see and experience new places, people, food and fun. A chance to soak up some dazzling sunshine in exotic countries, with beautiful people!

Be Beauty-Wise

When packing, it’s worth planning ahead and being beauty-wise with what you take with. On the one hand, who needs a whole lot of extra baggage? On the other, you do not want to be caught out with an amazing party to go to, without all your favourite products that make you look and feel like the vacation belle of the ball!

I love beauty travel kits – products come in smaller sizes so you can still have all your favourites while you travel, without having to carry a suitcase that is bigger than you are! Travel kits are often beautifully packaged, and bring together everything you need to care for your skin, create flawless makeup looks and keep the pool or beachside body beautiful.

All eyes on you

Amazing eyes are the window to the soul, and the most unforgettable thing about a face! So two of my travel kit favourites are all about caring for and making up the eyes to look simply spectacular, eyes that will be remembered, long after the vacation has ended!

The skin around the eyes is delicate and needs extra special care to look smooth and clear of puffiness and dark circles. The revolutionary SK-ll Magnetic Eye Care Kit promises visibly less fine lines around the eyes within 10 days of use, and in this case, it delivers. The anti-aging kit contains Stempower Eye Cream, a potent formula that firms the skin around the eye, strengthens it and visibly reduces sagging and the appearance of wrinkles. A magnetic wand is included, the first of its kind in the world, that delivers the formula deeply into the skin, with three times the absorption power than if you were to simply use your finger. Boasting some serious science, the wand uses tri-magnetic technology and an innovative bi-polar magnetic micro array, to ensure the skin around your beautiful peepers is fresh, smooth and perfect! 

 SK-ll Magnetic Eye Care Kit

With the skin around the eyes looking youthful and luminous, it’s now time to enhance their natural beauty. You can have those “you have the most beautiful eyes” comments coming at you thick and fast when you follow the instructions on the Benefits “Big Beautiful Eyes” kit. It’s a real miracle worker, with a primer, an Alabaster pink base shadow, a cocoa shimmer contour shadow, and two precision brushes for perfect application. The kit also includes an illustrated, step by step makeup lesson leaflet, to guide you in the application of show-stopping eyes! This kit is the best for defined, contoured, exquisite eyes. 

Benefits “Big Beautiful Eyes” Kit

The body beautiful

On holiday you might be soaking up some sun and exposing more skin than usual, so keeping your skin soft, smooth and supple is vital. The Clarins Body Care Collection has everything you need to exfoliate, moisturise and contour your body with the Tonic Body Treatment Oil. The Collection comes in a beautiful white bag, perfect to pop into your suitcase.

The Clarins Body Care Collection   

So, intrepid and beautiful traveller, make sure you get kitted out with some beauty treats next time you venture out on vacation!

Frequent Flyers Live The High Life By Winning And Winning More!

Life is good when you get more out of it. And, let’s face it, is it possible to have enough of the latest and greatest skincare, makeup, hair care and beauty products? I think not! More is better! Therefore, we are introducing a gorgeous new promotion – The Frequent Flyer Promotion. The more you buy, the more you get for free, free, free!

How to win with “Frequent Flyers”

So how does it work and how do I win? It’s quite simple, the more you spend, the higher your chances. Chances of winning a US$1,000 COSME-DE.COM cash voucher! Just imagine what you can do with that? A lot. A whole lot. But that is not all, there are some amazing beauty product giveaways too, from SK-ll, Christian Dior, Albion, Chanel, Elizabeth Arden, Clinique and LANCÔME too.

Get all your favourite products, at the best prices, to the door!

To get your hands on a piece of this pie, you need to buy your essential beauty products from our extensive product range. The top spender between the 4 July – 31 July 2016, will nab the top prize, with US$1,000 cash coupon! The 2^nd top spender will win a cash coupon of US$600!

Win big, with cash vouchers to COSME-DE.COM and great products

Come in at No. 3 and you will receive a free SK-ll Facial Treatment Essence 250ml. I am sure that you, like most have wanted to try this wonder product, also known as “miracle water”. The formula gently exfoliates the skin, and naturalizes your skin’s renewal cycle, giving you amazing results in just 14 days – less spots, reduced wrinkles, refined skin texture, improved firmness and a majorly glowy radiance.

Hit that jackpot at No. 4 and you will be the proud owner of Christian Dior Capture Totale Multi-Perfection Eye Treatment, 15ml. The skin around our eyes is thinner and needs extra special attention from an early age to stay youthful. This little pot of magic identifies the deepest stem cells within the skin responsible for its density, structure and radiance, correcting all visible signs of aging such as wrinkles, fine lines and crow’s feet. Use this, and you can answer Cher with – yes, you can turn back time!

Fifth will be treated to a free Albion Essential Skin Conditioner 330ml. If you have any skin problems, then here is your message in a bottle! By regulating and improving skin metabolism, this lovely conditioning lotion calms red skin, prevents any roughness and stops the dreaded pimple invasion. This conditioner stops skin problems to reveal the radiant, bright complexion you were born with.

It just keeps on getting better!

And on it goes, with gorgeous, must-have products being given away for free.

Here is the top 10 Flyer Reward Prize List*:

1.         COSME-DE.COM Cash Coupon total value: US$1,000^   (US$200 x 5 qty)

2.         COSME-DE.COM Cash Coupon total value : US$600^  (US$200 x 3 qty)

3.         SK-ll Facial Treatment Essence 250ml (US $237)

4.         Christian Dior Capture Totale Multi-Perfection Eye Treatment, 15ml (US $101)

5.         Albion Essential Skin Conditioner 330ml(US $140)

6.         Chanel Hydra Beauty Hydration Protection Radiance Gel Cream, 30ml (US $97)

7.         Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Capsules Daily Youth Restoring Serum, 60 capsules (US $76)

8.         Fresh Rose Face Mask (For All Skin Types), 100ml (US $62)

9.         Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion, 125ml (US $56)

10.       LANCÔME Tonique Douceur Softening Hydrating Toner (Alcohol-Free), 400ml (US $44)

*The price of the prizes is for reference only

So, to get yourself in the running, you need to understand a few terms and conditions.

Terms and Conditions (they are necessary!)

•  From 4th July (00:00) to 31st July (23:59,) (GMT+8) 2016, all spending in COSME-DE.COM (au.cosme-de.com, cn.cosme-de.com, hk.cosme-de.com & www.cosme-de.com) will be accumulated. The highest spending amount of 10 members will be entitled to prizes. The top prize is US$1,000 COSME-DE.COM cash coupon.
•  Only dispatched will be counted in the spending amount. Cancelled orders, refunds or processing orders are not counted in the spending amount.
• Accumulated spending will be counted on one account only (in case of members own different accounts).
• This offer is not available to COSME-DE.COM wholesale members or orders.
•   The COSME-DE.COM TOP 10 Flyer Award Ranking will be updated every 15 mins. The final result will be announced at our website on 18^th August, 2016.
• The prizes cannot be transferred or refunded. It also cannot be redeemed for cash. Once announcement the final result, COSME-DE.COM will inform winners about prize details via email within 14 working days.
•  ^Cash coupon cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.
•  ^Cash Coupon will be available in member’s ‘My Loyalty Discount’. Members could use each coupon for next order when shopping over US$300. Cash Coupon can be used once, including promotion & clearance items.

So, get online to our website, choose from the massive range, spend, and get a whole lot back in return!

Hair’s the Deal! 2016 Best Summer Hairstyles & Hair Colors

When summer hits you need a hairstyle that can take the heat, look absolutely gorgeous all the time, and not be too fussy so you spend your time at home styling your hair instead of at the beach or the pool party having a great time!

Color me in!

Luckily the summer trends are perfect for hair that looks natural and does not require a rigid routine to look right! So, let’s start with colour! With beautiful shades and techniques available, there is no excuse not to have the hair you love the most. Summer shades include warmer tones – shades with words like “cinnamon” and “buttery” are everywhere. “Nude hair” is a new trend that sounds a bit racy but is actually a very flattering combination of an even amount of warm and cool tones in the hair. If blonde is your thing, freshen it up with “snow lights” – a sprinkle of shimmery, pale strands scattered across the top of the head. Or try the stunning “rose gold” shade – a beautiful pink-tinted blonde that gives skin a lovely luminescence. You can also stoke the flames with a bold “cuivre” red – an intense, reflective copper colour that will make sure you are head and shoulders above the crowd! Or, go bold or go home – how about denim blue for your colour – instead of the neons and pastels we have seen recently, this is more of a subtle, dusty blue – absolutely stunning!

Preserve that color

So, with all the colour trends going down, you need to make sure your hair is in tip-top shape to take the colour.

And once you have decided on your summer look and parted with your well-earned cash at the hairdressers, you need to preserve that colour! Treat yourself to L’Occitane Aromachologie Radiance And Color Care Conditioner. You only need a small amount to gently detangle hair. The best bit is that the 5 essential oils preserve the brilliance in just-coloured hair. It smells absolutely amazing (don’t be too surprised if people come sniffing around your head) and leaves your hair super silky without being weighed down.

L’Occitane Aromachologie Radiance And Color Care Conditioner

Style me Summer

So, the colour is a riot of prettiness, what about your style choices? Well a great summer style is the bob – as seen on Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Lily Collins. It’s cool for summer, and a strong shape means your hair just falls into place. Another great summer style is long layers, which are versatile and not “perfect looking” which means you can get away with minimal styling. What you do need though, is the ultimate in anti-frizz to combat the humidity – I swear by Giovanni Eco Chic Hair Care Frizz Be Gone Anti-Frizz Hair Serum. It seals the hair, controlling frizz, adding shine and protecting against humidity and heat styling. It also smoothes and detangles and prevents breakage – I won’t let frizz get me down! 

Giovanni Eco Chic Hair Care Frizz Be Gone Anti-Frizz Hair Serum

A perfect summer look is tousled “beach hair” – those gorgeous dishevelled waves you get after swimming in the sea. “But I don’t live by the sea” I hear you cry? Or you simply don’t like swimming. No matter – get the look in a flash with John Masters Organics Sea Mist Sea Salt Spray with Lavender. The sea salt adds that lovely texture and volume, while lavender stops the hair from drying out. This is also a fabulous look when you don’t have time to wash and condition – it absorbs oil so you get to get out there and have fun for longer, before telling people you can’t make it you are “washing your hair”!

John Masters Organics Sea Mist Sea Salt Spray with Lavender