Say my name

29 Jan 2012 04:57 AM | Posted by Editor

As women, we’re all supposed to be beauty experts on some level or another.
Sure, you might not know how to perfectly apply your winged eyeliner or create an amazing vine braid (that’s what we’re here for!), but you’d be pretty confident when it comes to saying the names of beauty brands, right?
Don’t nod so fast beauties! I’ll bet that if I asked you, a few of you would slip up on the pronunciation of a fair few brands. Like L’Occitane, Guinot or Narciso Rodriguez for example (bet you’re trying to say them to yourselves right now, aren’t you?).


Not as confident that your pronunciation is as perfect anymore? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

“We’ve had so many mispronunciations for our brands it’s hard to count,” admits Kate Gildea, PR Manager for beauty group, Cosmax. “Narciso Rodriguez trips people up all the time. I’m not sure why but people love to pronounce it with an extra ‘K’. They say ‘Nar-siss-ko’, but there is no ‘k’ in there – it’s simply pronounced ‘Nar-siss-oh’.”

Another brand Gildea says provides a constant source of struggle for people is Issey Miyake. “It is pronounced phonetically as ‘Iss-say Mee-ya-kee’, and his most popular fragrance L’eau d’Issey is pronounced ‘Low Diss-say’,” she explains.

Lesley Bowen, PR and Communication Manager for L’Occitane Australia agrees. “We have so much trouble with the pronunciation of L’Occitane. ‘Lox-ee-tan’ is how we try and guide people.”

Serena Mackinnon, Public Relations Manager for Natio and Aum says both brand names are a source of confusion for both consumers and industry pros. “It is not uncommon for consumers to write in to us asking how to pronounce the names.” (For the record beauties, it’s “nay-tee-oh” and “om” respectively).

And just so you can sound like the beauty pros we know you are, here is a list of other hard-to-pronounce beauty brands – with the correct way to say them of course!

Oh and to help you out a bit, here are a couple of tips on understanding our explanations:

1.) When we use “jz”, we’re referring to the sound you make when you say “jzhooj”, as in Carson Kressley’s favourite verb.

2.)  A “hard G” means the sound made when you say “goat”.

A’kin (a-kin)

Aapri (ah-pree)

AHAVA (ah-huh-va)

Agent Provocateur (ah-jzon prov-ock-a-ter)

Al’chemy (al-kem-ee)

Alexami (a-lex-a-me)

Alina (a-lee-na)

Andalou (ahn-a-loo)

Anna Sui (anna swee)

Aum (om)

Avado (av-ah-doh)

Badgley Mischka (badge-lee mish-ka)

Batiste (bat-eest)

Be Genki (gen-key, said with a hard ‘G’)

Blomdahl (blom-darl)

Blue Stratos (blue strah-toss)

Boiron (bwar-on)

Botani (bot-ah-nee)

Bourjois (bor-jzwah)

Bulgari (bull-gar-ree, with an emphasis on the first syllable)

Danné Montague-King (d-nay mont-a-gu king)

Decleor Paris (deck-lee-or)

Eles Mineral Makeup (elle-ess)

Elie Saab (elly saab)

emerginC (pronounced like “emergency”)

Eylure (eye-lure)

GAIA Skin Naturals (guy-a)

Gatineau Paris (gat-in-oh, with a hard “G”)

Guinot (gee-no, with a hard ‘G”)

Ilcsi (il-chee)

Illamasqua (illa-mass-ka)

Inika (in-ee-ka)

Issey Miyake (iss-say mee-ya-kee)

Kérastase Paris (kera-stass)

Klorane (klor-ran)

Lancome (lon-com)

L’Occitane (lox-ee-tan)

L’Oréal Professionnel (lor-ee-al pro-fesh-on-elle)

La Biosthetique (la bee-os-thet-eek)

La Mer (la mare)

Lapureté (la-pure-et-ay)

Mont Blanc (mont blonc)

Montagne Jeunesse (mon-tan-a jzer-ness)

Natio (nay-tee-oh)

Payot (pay-oh)

9IX Rocawear (is said 99 rock-a-wear)

Phytomer (feet-oh-mare)

Priori (pree-or-ee)

Scholl (pronounced like shoal)

Shiseido (she-say-doh)

Sisley (sis-lay)

Skeyndor (skayn-door)

Sodashi (so-dash-ee)

Sophyto (sof-ee-toe)

Sothys (so-tees)

Strega Estetica (stray-ga ess-stet-i-ka)

Sukin (soo-kin)

Sundari (soon-dar-ee)

The Jojoba Company (the hoh-hoh-ba company)

Thierry Mugler (tee-air-ree moo-glare)

Uandi (yoo-ann-dee)

Weleda  (well-ay-dah)

 

Written by Lucy Rundle/beautydirectory


Which beauty brands make you slip up on the pronunciation?