Francisco Costa

Are expensive beauty oils worth it? (Spoiler: It depends)



Are expensive beauty oils worth it? Costa Brazil Kaya Anti-Aging Face Oil

If there’s one thing this year has proved, it’s the importance of the human touch. Not being able to hug, enjoy a massage or simply shake hands has been, for many, beyond brutal. And for good reason. Skin-on-skin contact is scientifically proven to boost our emotions, releasing powerful feel-good hormones. According to Tiffany Field of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami, so-called ‘skin hunger’ actually weakens our immune systems, effectively allowing the stress hormone cortisol to run riot.

The next best thing then, according to Field, might be self-administered touch. (more…)



Positive beauty: Costa Brazil by Francisco Costa



Costa Brazil Francisco Costa sustainable beauty brand

I’m liking the sound of Costa Brazil, the new sustainable beauty brand by – who’d have guessed? – Francisco Costa.

If you remember, he was ousted as women’s creative director of Calvin Klein to make way for Raf, but this art-meets-beauty concept (partly inspired by artist Piero Manzoni) has apparently been on his mind for a while. “The last three years at Calvin were nothing but brutal. I felt liberated to do something new, and I already had this in mind. It switched the energy positively,” he told Vogue.com.

Core to Costa Brazil is a super-ingredient, Breu, a sweet-smelling resin that comes from the Almacega tree (more…)