CosRX is a Korean skincare brand that needs to land in your skincare routine stat!
Image: Carolina Bonetti
Carolina Bonetti here, your editor, and as a self proclaimed goop connoisseur getting a box of skincare to try for two weeks was the equivalent of all my favorite holidays rolled into one.
CosRX is a Korean skincare brand that meets affordability and results in a middle ground your skin and bank account won’t be able to resist. I really enjoyed trying all of their products but what stood out to me is what I’ll call, the secret weapon: COSRX’s retinol. It’s like the fairy godmother of skincare. Fine lines? Reduced. Skin tone? More even. Texture? Poof, gone. Plus, can we talk about their packaging? Sleek, easy to use, and it looks so beautiful on display. They really nailed the design of the bottles as well. My skin type is normal to dry sensitive skin, I am always hunting for better ways to keep my skin very well hydrated. With summer looming over our shoulders now is the time to put hydration back into your skin if you’ve been letting it slide.
CosRX’s new 6 peptide Skin Booster Serum product is stellar. I’m by no means the first person to rave about this beauty product, it’s been viral on TikTok and already has a cult following developing much like their snail mucin product which has been hailed as a holy grail for dewy, healthy skin. I think their new 6 peptide might outsell the snail mucin and thats saying alot.
My overall impression of the prodcuts was how well the products hydrated my skin. I was also a huge fan of their weekly B12 peel they sent over, you’ll find the full break down of everything I tried below.
The 6 Peptide Skin Booster Serum
This viral TikTok darling is absolutely worth the hype. At an impressive $9 it needs to make it into your beauty routine asap. I also personally loved how lightweight this was and that was also scentless. I will be keeping this in my personal beauty routine moving forward. It’s ability to hydrate my skin was A++ level. Pro-Tip: layer your favorite serum over top of this and your skin will give you that dewy super hydrated look and feel all day long. During the course of these past two weeks I religiously layered their Hyaluronic Acid 3 serum over it and the results were immediate (for me). Obviously, results may vary but I truly saw dewy and plump skin that lasted all day while I worked.
BENEFITS
• Boosts overall skin condition such as pores and sebum, firmness, fine lines, skin texture, skin tone and soothing • Makes your skin soft and smooth with skin tone and texture after use • Non sticky, lightweight texture to absorb quickly
TARGETS
Those that • Have complex skin concerns • want to improve overall skin condition at once • want first step skin booster to pair with other products • want light and non sticky serum
The Niacinamide 15 Serum
Here shines the winner for Glamour Magazines 2023 Beauty and Wellness awards as well as Oprah’s 2023 beauty awards. Retails for $25.
Total acne care with 15% niacinamide
Highly concentrated serum that combines the maximum concentration of niacinamide with optimal ratios of synergistic ingredients for total acne control. It retails for $25 which is a steal when compared to price points of other brands that also work.
The Vitamin C 13 Serum
Retailing at just $21.00 for 13% Vitamin C this is basically free. Do your skin a favor and click add to cart. A gentle vitamin C serum that is suitable on sensitive skin to use daily! Regular use will fade blemishes, dark spots and freckles and improve overall tone. I did use this everyday! It didn’t irritate my skin like alot of Vitamin C’s can with sensitive skin it was gentle and had great results over the two week period I tried it. Plus April 4th is national Vitamin C Day, so when could it ever be a better time to snag this for your skincare routine?
The AHA BHA PHA LHA 35 Peel
This has quickly (immediately) become a favorite weekly ritual. You’ll find this product under their exfoliants and peels on the website. Retailing for $19 this 10 minute exfoliation peel to be used once a week gives your skin immediate results. Lets face it, even if you have oily skin we all need exfoliation and the way this peel went about it, was joy to my skin. It’s the kind of peel you layer on dry, set a 10 minute timer and then return to wash it off and continue with your skincare routine like normal. The difference I saw was an immediate change from the dull skin I was dealing with from ignoring it for awhile. This peel right here kicked off my two week experimentation and I couldn’t have been happier to have started with this product.
The AHA BHA PHA LHA 35 PEEL dramatically smooths skin texture and congested pores with a powerful multi-acid blend. This pro-formula gently exfoliates and minimize pores and reveals the look of a more even, radiant complexion.
The Retinol 0.3 Cream
This easily became a nighttime favorite. Retailing for $29 it is still a super affordable option for retinol and the results were on par with brands that charge you upwards of $100 for a little retinol. This beauty product really works best if you’re older. I’m in my 30’s so I’m hedging slowly into more lines than I’d like to see which is why retinol has now become a part of my skincare. However, I don’t think this necessarily translates to age as everyone’s skin ages differently, so before you buy it I’d say be honest with yourself about your skin. If you are in your early 20’s you usually have very plump skin with no lines and you don’t need this quite yet. Do your research, some products are meant to be added into your skincare routine as you get older. Details for their retinol below:
BENEFITS
• Diminish the look of fine lines & deep wrinkles • Skin Firming & Smoother • Even skin texture & tone • Improve the appearance of pores
TARGETS
• Deep wrinkles & fine lines • Loss of elasticity • Sign of aging • Uneven Texture & Tone • Pore-related Skin Conditions
Image: Carolina Bonetti
CosRX is sold in the US, but you can also head over to their website for some of the best deals and to see what an incredible range of products they have.
Over the years, Lewis Hamilton has made several friends belonging to different sporting backgrounds. Among them is Miles Chamley-Watson, a fencer who is currently gearing up for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Hamilton follows Watson’s career, and in an interview spoke about the possibility of following in his footsteps someday.
Hamilton was talking to CNN when he revealed his Olympic ambition. However, he isn’t looking at representing his country in the sport he excels the most – motorsports. Maybe because it isn’t a part of the Games, or maybe because the seven-time World Champion has other dreams.
Known to be an avid surfer, the interviewer asked Hamilton if surfing would be his choice to which the 39-year-old replied, “No, I’m not good enough to be surfing. But maybe I don’t know, maybe I’ll do an Olympic sport someday.”
Lewis on going to the Paris Olympics:
“I would really love to. So I have a really good friend, Miles Chamley-Watson, who’s competing in the fencing. We support each other all the time. We talk pretty much every day. So I know how hard he’s been working. 1/2@mchamley_watsonpic.twitter.com/6RTiixINCX
The F1 summer break will coincide with the Olympics in Paris, and Hamilton has an itch to support his friend Watson in the Games. They speak to and support each other almost every day, which is why Hamilton also knows how hard Watson has worked.
Still, he likely won’t pay a visit to watch the 34-year-old compete. “I am aware of me being at certain events…I know how much extra pressure sometimes it brings. So I haven’t yet committed to it.”
Talking about Olympic participation, however, it is difficult to imagine Hamilton competing in any sport other than racing or perhaps surfing.
The story of how Lewis Hamilton got into surfing
A lover of the ocean and water, Hamilton learned the art of surfing from two legends of the sport- Kelly Slater and Kai Lenny. However, they didn’t pique the Briton’s interest. The credit for that goes to his ex-girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, who introduced him to the sport in 2010.
I’ve really found a love for surfing over the last few years. It’s become one of my favorite sports next to sky diving. I want to encourage all of you out there to try that thing that you’ve always wanted. Most importantly, don’t give up on it, stick to it and keep practicing ♂️ pic.twitter.com/mMzLsEWm9m
Hamilton’s first few lessons came at the Wadi Adventure wave pool in Abu Dhabi. By the time 2015 arrived, the Surfing bug had bitten the Brit and he would pair up with the likes of Slater and Lenny to go Surfing.
He has since been an avid surfer, picking up his board every chance he gets. Having narrowly escaped death during one of his outings, the future Ferrari driver shows no signs of stopping. As he puts it, Hamilton is always most comfortable when pushing himself to the limit.
MLB’s Freddie Freeman and his family are in the midst of a difficult time.
The Dodgers first baseman and his wife Chelsea Freeman shared that their 3-year-old son Maximus was rushed to the emergency room as he was experiencing severe pain that made it difficult for him to sit or stand.
“Please say a prayer for Maximus,” Chelsea wrote on her Instagram Story July 24, per Us Weekly. “Dr says he developed transient synovitis from the viral infection he had at All-Star Week. Day 3 of not being able to sit, stand or walk.”
Transient synovitis is a “temporary inflammation of the hip can cause limping and pain in the hip and leg,” according to Kids Health.
The 33-year-old also put out a plea out to her fans, asking if they had “any tips to help toddlers take/keep down medicine?”
“He is usually good at taking medicine,” she explained about Maximus, “but he keeps spitting it out.”
There have been all kinds of iterations of the Joker over the years. Some veered more towards the exaggerated mobster route, like Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton’s Batman; there was Heath Ledger’s nihilistic terrorist in The Dark Knight; Jared Leto’s eccentric tattooed gang leader in Suicide Squad. But in Joker, Joaquin Phoenix gave us a totally different conception of who Batman’s arch-nemesis might be – a lonely, disenfranchised failed comedian whose inner turmoil spills over into violent acts that bring out the darkness festering in Gotham City. In Todd Phillips’ film, Arthur Fleck wasn’t a villain, let alone a maniacal schemer – more a mercurial, unpredictable force moving through the world in his own unique way.
And so, in Joker: Folie À Deux – the much-anticipated sort-of-sequel that sends Fleck to Arkham, where he’ll strike up a music-fuelled relationship with Lady Gaga’s Harley ‘Lee’ Quinzel – we’ll be venturing further into Arthur Fleck’s psyche. But, in keeping with the previous film, it won’t see the Joker become Gotham’s Clown Prince Of Crime. “We would never do that,” Phillips explains to Empire in the world-exclusive Joker: Folie À Deux cover feature. “Because Arthur clearly is not a criminal mastermind. He was never that.” While Fleck isn’t angling to become a criminal figurehead in Arkham, the world is watching him. “Arthur has become this symbol to people,” Phillips says. “This unwilling, unwitting symbol now paying for the crimes of the first film, but at the same time finding the only thing he ever wanted, which was love. That’s always what he’s been about, even though he’s been pushed and pulled in all these directions. So we tried to just make the most pure version of that.”
That purity of character exploration dovetails with Folie À Deux’s most unexpected stylistic swing – that Fleck (and Gaga’s Lee) will break into song. It comes from the notion in the first film that, in Phillips’ words, Fleck “has music in him”. Cue Phoenix singing showtunes, as channelled through Arthur. “It was important to protect that with poor phrasing and occasional bum notes,” the actor tells Empire. “Arthur grew up hearing his mother play these songs on the radio. He’s not a singer, and he shouldn’t sound like a professional singer. He should sound like somebody that’s taking a shower and just bursts out into song.”
He was, however, performing opposite the professional singer, Lady Gaga. “I do seem to remember her spitting up coffee the first time I sang, so that felt good, that was exciting, and made me feel confident,” he jokes. Together, they found a creative harmony. “Gaga was always very encouraging of just, ‘Go with what you feel, it’s fine’,” says Phoenix. “For somebody who’s not a performer in that way, it can be… uncomfortable to do that, but also very exciting.” Prepare for one hell of a cinematic duet.
Read Empire’s world-exclusive cover feature on Joker: Folie À Deux – speaking to Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Todd Phillips and more about the making of their rule-breaking sequel – in the September 2024 issue, on sale Thursday 1 August. Pre-order a copy online here. Joker: Folie À Deux comes to UK cinemas on 4 October.
