Kosas Cosmetics

10-Minute Makeup Must-Haves: Kosas Tinted Face Oil

March 27th, 2019 by Karen 21 Comments

The 10-Minute Makeup Must-Haves series shows off some of *the best* makeup for speedy (but sensational!) skin, eyes, cheeks and lips.

Shake, shake, shake! Dot, dot, dot! Blend, blend, blend!

No, these are not the steps to the latest dance craze 💃 all the kids are doing. They’re what I do whenever I use Kosas Tinted Face Oil ($42 for a 1-oz. bottle).

I’m into speedy makeup at the moment, and this tinted face oil, which has a thin, somewhat runny consistency, is a minimalist’s dream come true.

Have you ever used MAC Face & Body? It feels just like that. Sorta slippery, sorta “melty.”

kosas tinted face oil before after — Left: no foundation. Middle: Wearing the shade Tone 06. Right: With all the other bells and whistles.

I dab a few drops on my face, blend it with fingers, and 30 seconds later — BOOP! — my skin’s fresh and dewy-looking, my pores look smoother, and the pigmented patches on my cheeks, along with the red areas around my nose, have disappeared. My skin looks naturally even and juuust disguised enough — no fake-looking mannequin skin. If you’re into “skin that looks like skin,” you’ll be into it.
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14 Days of Ravishing Red! — Day 1: Creamy Warm Red Lips With Kosas Thrillest Lipstick and NARS Holy Red Lip Liner

February 1st, 2018 by Karen 18 Comments

Are you ready for 14 Days of Ravishing Red? Stay tuned as we explore ravishing red ? lipsticks, lip liners and glosses every day on our way to ? Valentine’s.

“Warm it up, Kris!”

Oh, I’m about to. 🙂 Kosas Thrillest lipstick and NARS Holy Red lip liner both have the subtlest, least obnoxious yellowy orange undertones, but there’s no mistaking them for cool-toned colors. They’re definitely warm reds, but they aren’t as warm as some orange reds (MAC Lady Danger comes to mind).

I think opaque warm reds like these are vintage va-va-voom! — and I love this look, especially with bronzed lids and/or lash lines.

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A Rainy Day Minimalist Makeup Tutorial: Cheerful Pink Cheeks, Rosy Lips and Doe Eyes

January 25th, 2018 by Karen 18 Comments

For the record, it’s hard to look cute in a raincoat. (In case you were wondering.)

It’s rainy and gloomy here in NorCal today, but I’m not complaining, because the rain makes me feel alive! The world around me is thirsty, and it’s taking a much-needed shower and a big gulp of refreshing H2O. And when it’s done, the oak trees and the grass on the hill and the sidewalks and my car (haha) are all going to look fresh and new. 🙂

Or…maybe that’s just California Karen romanticizing the rain, since we haven’t had much of it this winter. I’m sure that if I lived someplace where it’s been pouring 24/7, I’d be like FRICKIN’ RAIN RUINING EVERY MINUTE AND EVERY SECOND OF MAH LIFE!!!

Weather like this calls for a dose of cheerful pink cheeks and bright rosy lips (it couldn’t hurt). Thanks to an illuminating primer, the skin is ever-so-dewy, and the dark blue liner plays off the pink. It’s strategically placed on the middle of the lower lash line for a doe-eyed effect, so you can give strangers a come-hither stare while you sashay by them in your raincoat.

Side note: #teamraincoat ALL THE WAY. Raincoats are the way to go (even if they are hard to look cute in), because they let you keep your hands free, and if there’s a kitten huddling in an rainy alley and you need to save her, you can carry her and comfort her with both hands.

See? Always looking ahead. ?????

When it’s raining, I like to keep my makeup on the minimal side, because you never know if you and your raincoat will get caught in a downpour, and I figure that if my face gets drenched in the rain, better for it to happen while I’m wearing minimal makeup than a full face of war paint… You know, less to clean up when I get wherever I need to go. *shrugs shoulders*

Here’s a breakdown of this look…

TOOLS (products I used are in italic):

Whatever you like to blend your foundation and cream with — a blending brush, BeautyBlender or your fingers
Q-tips
A brow gel (I used Hourglass Arch Brow Gel in Warm Brunette)
A waterproof Mascara (L’Oreal Voluminous Lash Paradise Waterproof)
A long-wearing dark blue pencil liner (Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Sabbath)
An under-eye concealer (I used MAC Studio Waterweight Concealer in a mix of NC20 and NW45)
A liquid foundation (Physicians Formula The Healthy Foundation in DW2)
An illuminating liquid primer (I like Physicians Formula Spotlight Illuminating Primer)
A creamy pink blush (Kosas Cosmetics Creme Blush in 8th Muse)
A matte rosy pink liquid lipstick (Physicians Formula The Healthy Lip Velvet Finish in Dose of Rose) — I chose a liquid matte lipstick because I didn’t want to wear anything that would stick to my hair

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What I Wore Wednesday, Vol. 8: Metallic Bronze Lids and Matte Beet Red Lips

April 12th, 2017 by Karen 16 Comments

Some might say that metallic bronze lids and beet red matte lips is a little too glam for hanging out with a toddler at home, but I went with it. 🙂

I got the inspiration for this look from one of my favorite makeup artists on Instagram, Katie Jane Hughes.

tom ford cheek eye palette warm kosas electra — Clockwise from the pencil at the upper left: NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Damned, Kosas Cosmetics Lipstick in Electra, Tom Ford Eye & Cheek Palette in Warm, Tom Ford Naked Bronze Cream Shadow, MAC Next to Nothing Foundation in Medium Plus, MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy, NARS Sun Lit Bronzer in Laguna

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Brand Spotlight: Kosas Cosmetics

March 6th, 2017 by Karen 27 Comments

Kosas Cosmetics Lipsticks, $24 each

I might be the poster girl for the antithesis of makeup minimalism (makeup maximumism?).

No, seriously, I carry like 12 lip products in my bag at any given time…or maybe 15, because I love ALL TEH COLORS, so it’s funny to me that I fell for Kosas Cosmetics, a line all about makeup minimalism.

Lipsticks ON POINT

Kosas, an up-and-coming luxury natural makeup line out of LA, is also the Sanscrit word for sheath. Their first products, a line of eight semi-matte lipsticks, launched last year in shades of pink, rose, red and plum ($24 each).

Girl, these lipsticks are totally and completely on point. ON. POINT. Based on these, I can’t wait to see what else this brand comes up with.

Hello, pretties!

It’s all about the basics

Founder Sheena Yaitanes, who happens to be a painter AND a chemist, said that she wanted to create a line of products edited all the way down to the basics — no unnecessary or redundant colors or chemicals.

Kosas Cosmetics Lipstick in Stardust

Flattery will get you everywhere…

Sheena drew upon her background in painting when she was working and experimenting to develop her lipstick colors. In painting, when you’re mixing up colors to paint skin, you use a lot of reds, blues and yellows, and Sheena purposefully picked these undertones for her lipsticks, which encompass some very flattering colors.