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15 Beauty Brands You Might Be Mispronouncing

From Lancôme to Shiseido and all the Phyto in between

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Twenty20

Walk into Sephora or Ulta and at least half of the brands are from other countries. Even though we love chic Parisian perfumes and advanced Asian serums as much as the next gal, we also feel the fear of God when it comes to actually asking the employees for them. Here, 15 beauty brands that are commonly mispronounced.


oribe
Oribe

1.

Oribe

The wrong way: Oh-ree-bay
The right way: Or-bay

What half of Hollywood uses on their hair.

kerastase
Kerastase

2.

Kérastase

The wrong way: Kera-stace
The right way: Care-a-stoss

What the other half uses.

phyto
Phyto

3.

Phyto

The wrong way: Phy-toe
The right way: Fee-toe

Rhymes with neato.

glossier
Glossier

4.

Glossier

The wrong way: Gloss-i-er
The right way: Gloss-i-yay

As in, “Yay, my back-ordered lip balm is finally here!”

lancome
Macy's

5.

Lancôme

The wrong way: Lan-comb
The right way: Lahn-comb

Pass the eye cream, dahhling.

givenchy
Sephora

6.

Givenchy

The wrong way: Give-en-chee
The right way: Gee-von-shee

Designer lipstick > designer bags (or so we tell ourselves).

chantecaille
Barney's

7.

Chantecaille

The wrong way: Chan-te-kale
The right way: Sean-tuh-kye

We’d applaud anyone who got that on their first try.

loccitane
L'Occitane

8.

L'Occitane

The wrong way: Loc-say-tane
The right way: Lox-ee-tan

French is hard, oui?

guerlain
Guerlain

9.

Guerlain

The wrong way: Goor-lane
The right way: Gare-lahn

You’ll feel more sophisticated just saying that.

caudalie
Caudalie

10.

Caudalie

The wrong way: Caw-daly
The right way: Ko-da-lee

One of the original purveyors of fancy face mists.

shiseido
Shiseido

11.

Shiseido

The wrong way: Shih-say-doe
The right way: She-say-doe

Or say it really fast so no one notices the difference.

shu uermura
Shu Uemura

12.

Shu Uemura

The wrong way: Shoe-yoor-ma
The right way: Shoe-ooh-ay-moo-ra

Arigato, Mr. Uemura, for your bomb lash curler.

stila
Sephora

13.

Stila

The wrong way: Still-ah
The right way: Steel-ah

Stealin’ our hearts with those liquid lipsticks.

ciate
Ciaté

14.

Ciaté

The wrong way: See-uh-tay
The right way: See-ahh-tay

Emphasis on the ahh.

korres
Korres

15.

Korres

The wrong way: Coors
The right way: Coh-rezz

So as not to be confused with the boozy beverage.



Jenny Jin Headshot Vertical 2023

Beauty Director

Jenny Jin is PureWow’s Beauty Director and is currently based in Los Angeles. Since beginning her journalism career at Real Simple magazine, she has become a human encyclopedia of...