Black Friday / Cyber Monday Deals Tatcha

My love affair with Japanese luxury skin care brand Tatcha is no secret.

I've blogged about their products many times. I travel with travel sized Tatcha products, I buy their gift sets for myself and for my friends and family. Unlike most gift sets, Tatcha's packaging is sensational. Wooden boxes, indigo tissue, and the story behind the products on a vellum scroll all make them exciting to open.

 I love to shop their deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

I like to preview their gift sets before cyber weekend. They have some really fabulous gift sets for 2016, you can preview them here

My favorite Tatcha products are

Luminous Dewy Skin Mist

Camellia Beauty Oil

Deep Hydration Firming Serum (the Holy Grail of serums)

Tatcha Holiday is here! Discover & share joyful gifts that make holidays bright. Shop Now!

Beginner's Guide To Skin Care

I have been traveling around the country speaking at Pinner's Conferences, teaching my Beauty 101 course. After each class I do a Q and A session, and I am finding that no matter where I am speaking there are loads of ladies and girls who find the whole skin care equation completely confusing, and are frequently using the wrong products or no products at all.

When they read my posts about Korean skin care and the way  Korean girls layer their skin care products it just confuses them more, so today lets look at the basics of skin care.

The first thing you need to do is figure out your skin type. Are you oily, normal, dry, or combination? 
Most of us get a shiny T-Zone, but that doesn't mean we are oily. It may just mean we are combination skin. Truly oily skin has an almost wet sheen to the cheeks as well as the T-Zone.
Normal skin looks basically perfect, dry skin can look anything from pulled under the surface to flaky.

Next look at what your objective is. Is your skin congested/acne prone, battling black heads? Is it aging too quickly, or dry or irritated or sensitive? You need to know what you are trying to achieve before you invest in products.

Once you have these two items figured out you can choose a simple system to meet your needs, using the basics of cleanse, tone and moisturize.

If you have oily skin look for a foaming or gel cleanser like Kiehls Ultra Facial Oil free Cleanser which will give you a good cleanse but also will also reduce excess sebum on the surface of your skin, without stripping it dry. 

Follow up with Kiehl's Ultra Facial Oil Free Toner to remove any residue, help combat excess oil, and prepare your skin to receive moisturizer. I can hear you freaking out that you don't want to use a moisturizer if you have oily skin, but it is essential. You just need something formulated for oily skins. Try Kiehl's Ultra Facial Oil Free Lotion to help balance your skin's surface oil equation, giving you a dryer appearance while nourishing it and keeping it in good condition.
You can find Kiehl's products online at Nordstrom.com

If you have normal skin look for a cleanser that is gentle, removes makeup, cleanses but doesn't strip the skin. 

Try an all natural product such as REN Rosa Centifolia Purity Cleansing Balm. When you mix it with water it turns into a luxurious milk texture and leaves your skin super soft and silky.
REN's Evercalm Global Protection Day Cream was designed for the most sensitive of skins, but is also lovely for normal skin. It protects your skin against environmental pollutants and keeps it feeling soothed and smoothed throughout the day.
REN's V-Cense Revitalizing Night Cream revitalizes the skin, works on preventing fine lines and wrinkles and makes it beautifully radiant.
Find REN products online at Nordstrom

Dry complexions need extra TLC. I am a huge fan of cleansing oils for all skin types, but especially for dry skins (like my own).

Tatcha is world famous for it's amazing One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil. It dissolves makeup and gives you a beautiful cleanse, leaving your dry or sensitive skin feeling soothed and gorgeous. Tatcha's Dewy Skin Mist is a lightweight powerhouse moisture mist that you can use at any time of the day. It makes for a lovely step between cleansing and moisturizing, and also is a fabulous rescue product when skin feels tight or irritated.
Tatcha's Enriching Renewal Cream is dry skin's best friend. It deeply moisturizes and nourishes the skin, and also soothes it - dry skin tends to get quite sensitive, and this is the magic potion it craves.
Tatcha products are available online at Tatcha.com

When you buy skin care products try to get them all from one line. If you shop within a single brand you will be using products designed to work together synergistically.
You don't need to spend a fortune on skin care - shop within your budget, but start with cleanse, tone and mositurize.

Your Perfect Travel Skin Care Products Just Went On Sale!

I'm getting ready to head out in a few weeks on what (I think!) is the final Glam Italia Tour for 2016. 
That means restocking and repacking all my travel products.

If you read my post on 3 Reasons To Avoid London Heathrow Airport you will know that as well as risking contracting phlegm and saliva spread viruses (seriously - read the post. I am still grossed out by it!), there is the whole confiscation of beauty products issue, as in they confiscated mine.
I had a 12 hour overnight layover at Heathrow, and my suitcase was checked through from Rome to Los Angeles, so while I stayed at the Yotel at Heathrow, which was totally fantastic, I had to have everything I needed for an overnight in my carry on luggage. 

Read about the Yotel at Heathrow here

This was no big deal as I travel round and round the world with the exact same travel sized beauty products in the exact same see through travel beauty bags in my carry on luggage, and have done for years. If you've been reading this blog for a while then you already know that!

Disclaimer: Tatcha does not sponsor this blog, but I do have affiliate marketing with them. I have been using Tatcha skin care and traveling with their products for years, as evidenced on all my social media and in many posts on this blog


But Heathrow has different rules from every other country I have flown out of in the last 10+ years. At their version of TSA they hand out sandwich sized ziplock bags, and what ever liquids and creams (including concealer, lipstick, eye shadow paint pots, mascara, toothpaste) don't fit into the sandwich bag get confiscated.
Amongst other things they confiscated my much loved Tatcha skin care products. It was super annoying.

But, I just went on Tatcha.com to order new travel sized skin care products and found they are on sale!!
For years now I have been buying Tatcha's trial size discovery kits to travel with. They meet the travel size requirements, and are an affordable way to try out various Tatcha products.

When you travel your skin gets stressed. Flying dehydrates and stresses your skin. Being in a different climate, cleansing your skin with different water, just being away from home and all the things your skin is used to stresses your skin. So your skin needs extra special love and attention with extra special products when you travel. For years now I have traveled with Tatcha skin care products. (If you've been reading this blog for a while you will already know this!)
I always travel with Tatcha's Luminous Dewy Skin Mist. 

I spritz my skin with it during long flights, use it to soothe skin that has had too much sun, wind, feels dehydrated or just needs extra loving. It is one of my all time favorite skin care products.

Shop Now for the Dewy Skin Face Mist at Tatcha!

Another must have travel skin care product is Tatcha's Camellia Beauty Oil. 

This is a dry finish oil that seals moisture into your skin and leaves your skin ready for makeup. The gold flecks in the product give your skin a soft glow while the camellia oil soothes.
This one is the perfect travel companion because it doubles up as a body oil that doesn't get on your clothes, and is a hair oil. Three products in one!

While I was online re-ordering these products I saw that Tatcha has their Ritual Discovery Kit (a.k.a. my standard travel skin care kit!!) on sale!

This is the perfect set to try out Tatcha products - you won't even believe the difference in your skin. It is also the perfect skin care travel set. 
You get their cleansing oil to dissolve makeup and clean away the day without stripping your skin, the enzyme powder which gently exfoliates your skin keeping it polished, smooth and luminous, the nourishing brightening serum - one of the greatest serums ever made. Your skin will love you for it! And their anti-aging moisturizer, tailored to your skin type.

This kit is normally $99 - do you see why I was so upset that Heathrow airport took mine?? But right now it is on sale for $59.
This is an absolutely smoking deal! I'm ordering an extra couple of kits while the price is down.

Shop Now for the Ritual Discovery Kit at Tatcha!

If you have already tried Tatcha products you need to know about this other special on their website at the moment. The Toumei Duo, which is a full size Polished Enzyme Powder ($65) and a full size Radiant Deep Brightening Serum ($185) on sale for $195

Limited Edition Toumei Brightening Duo only $195 at Tatcha.com! (Value of $250) Includes Brightening Serum and Enzyme Powder based on skin type. (Valid until September 29th)

Another bonus right now is free shipping anywhere in the USA.
Win, win, win! The deals are only available for a short time, so you do need to take advantage of them now.
Make sure you either leave me a comment or tag me on your social media (@Corinnamakeup) to let me know how much you are loving these products!

Get FREE shipping on all U.S. orders at Tatcha!

Summer Beauty Essentials ~ 7 Skin Care Must Haves

Summer is the season of skin.
There is no other season when it is more important that your skin is radiant and glowing. Summer requires you to either go bare skinned, or at least trick your makeup to look like you are going bare skinned.
Summer is also all about travel, and nothing is guaranteed to jack your skin up quite like travel does, so you need to have a game-plan in place.

Here are 7 must have summer beauty essential skin care products.

Your first thought has to be the climate you are traveling to, or how your home climate is changing.
The oil cleansers that I swear by in dry climates often don't cut it in humid places. There is every chance that your normal moisturizer either won't be enough or will be too much over the summer months, or at your summer travel destination. Before you travel, or before you invest in new products for home, factor in the humidity or lack of, and buy your skin care in travel sizes.

Cleansers

If you are going somewhere  humid you may need a foaming cleanser or a wash formula. If you are going somewhere hot and dry an oil cleanser or a milk cleanser may be your saving grace.
Not sure which direction to go? 

Try Innisfree Green Tea Cleansing Water at only $12 it's a steal.



Tatcha Luminous Dewy Skin Mist

Greatest thing ever! I take this on the plane with me to spritz on when my skin feels dry.
In dry places it can boost your moisturizer, in humid places sometimes its all I use. It's a lifesaver.

Sunscreen.

The most important thing that you can do for your skin is wear sunscreen every day. Broad spectrum, (UVA and UVB protection) with a high SPF. It's non negotiable.

Try Kiehls Super Fluid SPF 50 available at Nordstrom

An Exfoliator.

Hot weather and extra sunscreen can make your skin get congested and make the texture feel thick. 

Help it stay clear and smooth with a gentle exfoliator or enzyme mask/peel. 

A Dry Oil

I am obsessed with facial oils for intense moisture, the nourishing properties they have and for how they make the skin glow. But when you are on a beach vacation or somewhere humid adding an oil into your skin care regimen can leave you feeling downright greasy. And who needs that? 

So when I travel I always have Tatcha's travel sized dry finish Camelia Oil with me. (Not only does it make your skin look phenomenal it also soothes and calms it  it after a day at the beach. Makeup glides on over top and doesn't slip away due to the dry finish.

Sheet Masks

Whether you are dry and need hydration or whether you are oily and need help clearing your skin, there's a sheet mask for you. Use them once per week all summer and your skin will be gorgeous!
Memebox has a limited time offer of their Summer Mask Bundle. 11 hydrating sheet masks for only $18! If this is sold out when you go to their website, go to their masks section and pick and choose what you need based on your skin concern.

Eye Gels

These are the greatest thing when you are feeling or looking tired, or when you need an under-eye booster. The morning after the night before they will soothe and de-puff your hungover eyes, they totally revitalize you after a long flight, and after a day at the beach they add in just the right amount of moisture so that makeup will go on evenly and look pretty.
I travel with individual packs of Elisha Coy Snail Hydrogel Eye Patches that I order online from Memebox. They are super convenient to travel with!

8 Travel Beauty Essentials

Summertime is all about heading out on vacation.
I'm packing at the moment for a month in Italy leading two Glam Italia Tours (make sure you follow us on Instagram!) so it seemed like a really good time to talk about Travel beauty Essentials.

Travel is tough on your skin.
Air travel is tough on your skin.
Just being in a different climate or in a place with different water can be really tough on your skin.
No one wants to deal with crazy breakouts (hello humidity!) or look dried out like the crypt keeper while they are on vacation. Especially me! So I have 8 beauty essentials that travel with me everywhere I go in the world as well as here in America, to make sure my skin looks great, which in turn makes me feel great!

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Remember too that especially for summer travel you really don't want to be cavorting around with a full face of makeup on, trying to cover up breakouts.

1. Tatcha Luminous Dewy Skin Mist

This is one of my all time favorite skin care products and is just the absolute greatest thing to have with you when you are flying, especially on long haul/international flights. In fact it is the holy grail of travel skin care products!
I don't wear makeup when I fly (just brows and a bold lip) because quite apart from the fact that makeup looks hellacious when you land, your skin is fighting enough battles at 38,000 feet in hours of regurgitated air - it doesn't need to battle foundation as well.
When you have bare skin, even if that means cleansing your face after takeoff, you can pamper, or at least hydrate your skin by spritzing this gorgeous mist during the flight.I swear you can feel your skin relax every time you do!
The full size bottle is allowable in your cabin baggage, but many of the Tatcha products including the Dewy Skin Mist also come in travel size.

2. Tatcha Indigo Soothing Silk Hand Cream

I got my hands on the Indigo collection from Tatcha a few years ago when winter weather was tearing up my skin. The Indigo collection are healing products, and to this day I still travel with a travel sized tube of Tatcha's Indigo Soothing Silk Hand Cream. In flight it keeps my hands and cuticles from getting dried out and nasty, and the tube is small enough to keep in my handbag while I'm out and about.

Nuxe Reve de Miel Nourishing Lip Balm.

I have tried so many lip balms, but this one I keep coming back to. 
It's nice and heavy, doesn't dry out or strip your lip, and softens and moisturizes like no other!

Fly in comfort with Lufthansa

Eye Gels

Have you ever had a good look at people deplaning from a long international flight? They always look beaten up around the eyes. The same goes for when you've spent time out in hot weather, be it pool-side, at the ocean, on a boat - you name it.
I am a huge fan of eye gels. I use them on the plane (if people around me are sleeping), sometimes I will slip them on and then put my sleeping mask over top. I use them while I am away too.
What they do is super hydrate the under eye area, depuff, revitalize, and make the under eye look refreshed. I'm not sure that they say they take out the blue/grey under your eyes, but I am convinced that they do. Maybe they get the blood circulating through the area or maybe the nutrients just reflect off something glorious, but either way they are wonderful!
I buy my eye gels online at Memebox. They are very inexpensive and worth their weight in gold!

Facial Oil

I treat myself to Tatcha's Camellia Facial Oil when I travel.
It comes in travel size, so you don't have to break the bank to get it.
I use it during the flight and also every day while I'm away. It super hydrates and nourishes the skin, so your complexion looks luminous, but it also has a dry finish, so you don't look slimy. It is fantastic!

Oribe Dry Texturing Spray

Have you ever smelled Oribe products??? They smell heavenly.
Have you ever smelled hair after a long haul flight??  Quite apart from the fact that your hair looks lank and flat after a long flight, 8 hours plus in that stale, over-circulated air makes your hair smell. It's gross. Especially gross when you are standing in long lines of humans waiting to go through passport control. Especially gross when you are going to be met with a big, long hug on the other side of customs and immigration.
So I always pack the travel size of Oribe Dry Texturing spray in my hand luggage. It works like a dry shampoo to give your hairdo some body, and it smells so fabulous you won't be worried about anyone burying their face in your hair.

Stila Aqua Glow Gel Bronzer

This one is a recent addition to my travel arsenal, but it is fantastic!
When you deplane after a long flight your skin has a nasty grey hue to it. No one (who hasn't flown first class) looks fantastic after a long flight, everyone looks hellish.
If you try to put color back into your complexion with a bronzing powder it sits on top of that ashen skin and looks orange. 

Last year I started using Stila's Aqua Glow Perfecting Bronzer gel and I totally love it! You just put a tiny amount in the general area of the apples of your cheeks and buff it out with your finger. Run a little across your forehead where the sun would hit you and you instantly look lovely.
The great thing is that you don't have to get all perfect with it. It's really sheer and buildable, and just looks like gorgeous skin. The color is lovely too, and it doesn't get streaky or turn orange.


2. Sheet Masks

This is one of my not-so-secret travel beauty secrets! When I arrive at my hotel or vacation rental I take 20 minutes of quiet time with a sheet mask. (of course you cleanse your skin first!). Sheet masks infuse your skin with nutrients, are soothing and cooling and hydrating, leaving your skin luminous and glowing every after a trans-world flight. 
If I'm going somewhere humid I know my skin is going to break out or give me some form of grief, so I pack some sheet masks that deal with black heads or breakouts. If I'm going somewhere beachy I know I need some extra hydrating. If I get too much sun or sand has left my skin feeling gritty or sensitive I use an aloe based sheet mask.
They are very inexpensive - only a couple of dollars each, and they are slim and lie flat in your suitcase so they take up no room at all, making them your perfect travel companion! I order mine online at Memebox, and always add a few into every order I place. (And I place lots of orders at Memebox!)

Mother's Day Gift Ideas From Tatcha

Japanese luxury skin care brand Tatcha makes the perfect Mother's Day gift sets!

Every year I treat myself to a Tatcha gift set for Mother's day, and then that gift set becomes my travel skin care for the summer.

No one knows how to make a gift set feel special quite like Tatcha does. From the exquisite packaging to the stories about each product, printed on vellum, to the beautiful products themselves, every detail is taken into consideration, and everything about these gift sets is honed to perfection.

For me opening my Tatcha set on Mother's Day is a ritual.
I take my time and luxuriate in each step of opening the box, opening the Tatcha seal on their signature purple tissue paper and then unwrapping each item inside. It's fabulous.

This year the Tatcha Mother's Day Gift Set is a beauty set designed to pamper mom from top to toe on her special day.

The Set contains: Indigo Soothing Silk Handcream, and Indigo Soothing Silk Body Butter. Indigo is famous for it's healing and soothing properties. (The ancient samurai would wear a layer of cotton soaked in indigo next to their skin under their uniforms, so that if they were cut with a sword in battle the indigo would immediately initiate the healing process.)
Also included in the set are the Luminous Deep Hydration Lifting Mask, which is a very luxurious sheet mask that makes your skin glow from within, and a travel sized Ageless Enriching Renewal Cream, Tatcha's world famous antioxidant rich deep moisturizing cream. The set is rounded out with a Japanese Kimono stationery set.

Tatcha makes several different gift sets, check them out here

If you want to pad your gift a little with some extra products, or if you want to take advantage of the free shipping and try some Tatcha products for yourself either in full size or travel size, my favorites are:

Luminous dewy Skin Mist

Gold Camellia Beauty Oil  ( my favorite dry finish facial oil!)

Luminous Deep Hydration Firming Serum - the holy grail of serums.

If you don't spoil your mother with this gorgeous Limited Edition gift set, buy it for yourself! After all gorgeous, you deserve to be spoilt...

Want Flawless, Gorgeous Looking Skin? Add Oil. ~ Beauty Tip Of The week #38

So how is your skin doing right now?
If yours is anything like mine it's starting to feel the effects of the colder weather. Cold weather stresses our skin out. It makes it sensitive and irritated, it dries our skin out.
The holiday season adds to this, because we are running around more, going to parties and events (alcohol + tiredness), going out at night shopping (stress + cold weather) and even though the holidays are tons of fun, they are exhausting.
If you are traveling there is another layer of chaos to add in to your equation, and it becomes super visible on your skin.

I couldn't figure out what was up with my skin. My foundation started looking really flat and lifeless, and nothing seemed to be working. I tried a bunch of different things before I realized what was up - I wasn't using a facial oil.

When I talk about facial oils people freak out

The old way of thinking was that facial oils would give us acne. They don't.

The new breed of super facial oils work magic on the skin.

Plenty of them are super antioxidants. They are incredibly nourishing and hydrating. They prevent water loss, sensitivities and irritation.

Facial Oils make your makeup look gorgeous!

From the makeup point of view facial oil make the skin look smooth and glowing. A couple of drops of a really good facial oil before your moisturizer will make your foundation glide on beautifully and smoothly, and give you the most gorgeous, healthy looking skin.

Which Oil Should You Use?

There are lots of different oils to choose from.

Personally I adore products with Camellia Oil. I am a firm believer that the most effective lip balms are the ones that contain camellia oil. My all time favorite face oil has a camellia oil base too.

I use Tatcha's Camellia Beauty Oil. It calms your skin when it is feeling sensitive or irritated, it hydrates it when it feels dry. This is one of those products that gives you an instant result - you see the difference immediately, and know you just did something very right for your complexion!

It also contains 24 karat gold which gives your skin a really sensual glow.

Tatcha Camellia Beauty Oil even comes in a travel size, which is perfect to take onboard your flight with you, and if you are a little nervous about adding an oil to your skin care regimen, is perfect as a trial product.

Check it out at tatcha.com

Camellia Beauty Oil

The 6 Best Red Lipsticks For The Holidays

A red lip is the perfect accessory for the holidays!

It's bright, it's fun and with one quick swipe can turn your look from boring to bold.

photo by Kelly Cappelli
Makeup by Corinna Cooke

A well defined brow paired with a kick-ass red lip is classic. 
It's also a quick and easy look to pull off. 
A red lip makes such a statement on it's own that you can scale back the rest of your makeup, keeping the eye and cheek simple and letting the lip do all the work for you.

My favorite red lip look for the holiday season is a rich, matte lip paired with glowing, luminous skin. 
Check out 6 of my favorite matte reds for the holidays:

The 6  Best Red Lips For The Holidays

Tatcha Kyoto Red is a geisha inspired red that is universally flattering - it looks great on everyone. And it packs a serious punch.

It's a matte lip with a silk finish.

Tatcha Kyoto Red

Lipstick Queen Velvet Rope Matte Lipstick in Black Tie.

Lipstick Queen Velvet Rope lipstick in Black Tie

This gorgeous, lightweight matte lipstick

Tom Ford Lip Color in Cherry Lush

Tom Ford Lip Color in Cherry Lush

Tom Ford believes the lip is the focus of the face and has the power to define your whole look. No wonder his lipsticks are so luscious!

Nars Pure Matte Lipstick in Vesuvio

Nars Pure Matte Lips are super pigmented and very long wearing, which is ideal when you are going bold - you don't want to be wearing a lipstick formula that requires a lot of maintenance and upkeep.

MAC Lipstick in Ruby Woo

MAC Lipstick in Ruby Woo

Ruby Woo is a timeless, iconic red lipstick that will never go out of fashion. 

Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution in Red Carpet Red

Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Red Carpet Red

One of my all time favorite red lipsticks, Red Carpet Red hasn't been around very long, but will become another of the iconic red lips. It's wonderful.