How To Correctly Pronounce Your Favourite Beauty Brand

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How To Correctly Pronounce Your Favourite Beauty Brand

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Nothing and we mean nothing can undermine your authority like mispronouncing a word. And when it comes to beauty brands, there are endless opportunities to slip up. Trying to convince your mum that she needs to try this L’Occitane body wash but can’t quite get the word out? Relatable. How about recommending Chantecaille’s foundation to a friend? Ah, not so easy. Better yet, want to brag about your K-beauty skin care routine but keep getting stumped on the thought of naming that Sulwhasoo cleanser in front of a crowd? Been there. And for the record, it’s pronounced suhl-wa-soo.

At the end of the day, the world will keep spinning if we stumble over a few words. However, if you find yourself in a bet with your sister over whose pronunciation is correct or you’re just a little curious, keep scrolling as we navigate through all the tricky beauty brand names. Because there are a lot.

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”.

How to correctly pronounce these beauty brand names…


A’kin (a-kin)

Aapri (ah-pree)

Aesop (ee-sop)

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)

Amorepacific (ah-more-ay pa-ci-fic)

Andalou (ahn-a-loo)

Anna Sui (anna swee)

Aum (om)

Avado (av-ah-doh)

Badgley Mischka (badge-lee mish-ka)

Balenciaga (bah-len-see-ah-gah)

Batiste (bat-eest)

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

Bioré (bee-ore-ay)

Blomdahl (blom-darl)

Blue Stratos (blue strah-toss)

Boiron (bwar-on)

Botani (bot-ah-nee)

Bottega Veneta (bo-tay-ga van-ah-ta)

Bourjois (bor-jzwah)

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

Byredo (bye-ray-doh)

Caudalíe (kwa-da-lee)

Chantecaille (shan-ta-kigh)

Ciate London (see-ah-tay)

Clinique (clin-eek)

Commes des garcon (comb-day gar-son)

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

Davines Oi (da-vee-ness)

Decleor Paris (deck-lee-or)

Diptyque (dip-teek)

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”)

Givenchy (zhee-von-she)

Glossier (gloss-ee-ay)

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)

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.

Jurlique (jer-leek)

Kérastase Paris (kera-stass)

Klorane (klor-ran)

Kevyn Aucoin (kev-in or-quawn)

Korres (core-ezz)

La Roche Posay (la-rou-shh po-say)

Lancome (lon-com)

Laura Mercier (lore-ah mur-sea-ay)

L’Occitane (lox-ee-tan)

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.”

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)

Le labo (lay larb-oh)

Malin + goetz (mah-lin and geh-tz)

Mario Badescu (mar-ee-oh bad-es-kew)

Mont Blanc (mont blonc)

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

Narciso Rodriguez (nar-siss-oh)

“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’.”

Natio (nay-tee-oh)

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).

Nyx (Nix)

Oribe (or-bay)

Ouai (way)

Payot (pay-oh)

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

Phytomer (feet-oh-mare)

Priori (pree-or-ee)

Sachajuan (sah-sha-hwahn)

Scholl (pronounced like shoal)

Shiseido (she-say-doh)

Shu Umera (show-oo eh-moo-ruh)

Sisley (sis-lay)

SK-II (s-k-too)

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)

Westman atelier (west-man  a-tel-ee-ay)

Yves saint laurent (eve-san-lou-ron)

Written by Lucy Rundle/beautydirectory

Which beauty brand names do you struggle to pronounce?

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