Kosé Talk Show with Niu Er

Yesterday, I was invited to attend a Kosé Beauty Talk Show featuring Robin Niu, also known as "Niu Er"/牛尔老师. Niu Er is the popular beauty expert who appears regularly on the Nu Ren Wo Zhui Da/女人我最大 show in Taiwan.

The talk show was a great treat for Kosé customers who only had to purchase a S$30 ticket that was fully redeemable for Kosé products. There are only two sessions, with the second one being held later this afternoon at Sheraton Towers. Not surprisingly, both sessions were completely sold out. The audience yesterday comprised ladies of all ages, from their 20s to their 60s and even a few men!

The show was hosted by MediaCorp 93.3 DJ Chua Wei Ping. Beauty bloggers Clara and Chantana was also invited on stage to pose various questions to Niu Er for the first hour. When Niu Er first entered the room, he immediately won the hearts of the attendees by going around the room to shake everyone's hands. Stylishly togged out in all white and looking incredibly youthful, it was impossible to believe that he was actually 43 years old. He told the story of how when he went bungee jumping in New Zealand, the Kiwi bungee jumping company staff refused to believe his real age until he produced his passport. When they told him that he should thank his parents for his good genes, he replied, "No, I must thank myself because I put in all the hard work!"

As it turns out, Niu Er actually suffered from very bad skin in his early teens, to the point that his friend told him that his pores were so big, even ants could crawl into them. (Ewww!) At that time, there were no professional dermatologists around for him to consult on how to take care of his skin properly so he often picked at his skin, which only made the problem worse. It was only when he got into the beauty line that he learnt to take care of his skin properly by completely overhauling his diet and lifestyle.

The dedication of Niu Er to his beauty regime is unlikely to be matched by most women in Singapore. For example, he spends two hours every morning on his skincare routine and getting ready. The two hours is not spent entirely on touching his face. He puts on soothing classical music, takes his time to relax and get his spirits and confidence up, blows dry and styles his hair and drinks white fungus (白木耳) soup for breakfast. Unlike most ladies who just wash their faces and slap on moisturiser and maybe sunblock before heading out, he follows a comprehensive routine of patting, wiping and massaging. And he uses a machine that he bought in Japan for a daily enema. Now, if that isn't dedication to maintaining one's youthfulness, I don't know what is!

Niu Er spent quite a lot of time giving advice on how to detox the body and maintaining a healthy antioxidant-rich diet. He recommended eating a variety of berries and even showed us his packet of goji berries and a drink brewed from goji berries and ginseng. Given Singapore's hot weather, he advised taking not more than three to four pieces of ginseng a week to help improve blood circulation and restore 'qi'. He also recommended taking only Japanese ginseng, and not Korean or American ginseng, which are too heaty. He also highlighted that many Asians are lactose-intolerant and may experience skin inflammation because of milk in their diet.

In terms of skincare, Niu Er advocated against using facial scrubs on a weekly basis as he prefers the daily removal of dead skin cells and debris by using a cleansing lotion doused on a cotton pad. First, he patted the lotion on (50 pats in quick succession) and then gently wiped it off. For preventing blackheads, he recommended massaging a cleansing oil onto the nose area, sealing it in with a piece of cling-wrap for about 10 minutes before washing it off. Some blackheads may emerge after that, which can then be removed with tweezers without irritating the surrounding skin. After that, he applied the Seikkisei Lotion with a cotton pad, this time wiping it on and then gently patting it in 200 times. Next, he applied moisturiser by pouring it on the same cotton pad. His reasoning is that applying moisturiser with the fingertips tends to over-moisturise the oily areas and under-moisturise the dry patches. The cotton pad helps to deliver the moisturiser where it is needed in the appropriate amounts.

Niu Er also demonstrated lymphatic massage techniques around the collarbone, the stomach and groin for helping the body to detox and reduce water retention. Mag has done a comprehensive write-up of the massaging techniques, which you can read here.

Niu Er even went into the audience twice to show the attendees where exactly to press!

The DJ Chua Wei Ping grimacing as Niu Er massaged the acupuncture points in her armpit! He even jokingly said to her,"You think it's that easy to earn money?!"


Massaging the lower abdomen in a clockwise motion.

Massaging the calves in an up-down motion also helps reduce water retention and slims the calves.

Niu Er also demonstrated how to apply mascara and blush on Verlyn, who is also a beauty blogger. Niu Er had the audience in stitches when he described his encounter in a local department store with a SA at a beauty counter. She had stuck on false eyelashes with the glue in a visible white strip and no eyeshadow or eyeliner. He was horrified as the falsies looked like a hairy caterpillar stuck on her eyes, but was too polite to say anything. Niu Er said that he had already hauled $2500 worth of beauty products in Singapore, including a brand from Dubai.

He held a card just above the lashes to prevent the mascara from smearing onto the eyelid during the application process. For applying blush, he mushed the brush well into the blush until it was liberally coated with the blush powder. Then he tapped off he excess on tissue paper before applying the blush on the cheeks for a very natural finish. This was the technique that he learnt in a Japanese course that cost him 200,000yen!

All in all, it was a very enjoyable afternoon thanks to Niu Er's entertaining quips and informative tips. The session stretched beyond the alloted two hours with Niu Er demonstrating his skincare and makeup techniques on several members of the audience. Hopefully, Kosé will be able to bring him back in the future for more shows.

Mag, Chantana and I after the event :)