KOSAS

KOSAS is an American cosmetics brand founded in 2015 and based in Los Angeles [6]. It was started by Sheena Yaitanes, who built the first products in her own kitchen before the brand reached a wider market. From the outset KOSAS positioned itself at the meeting point of makeup and skincare, summed up in its tagline "100% Makeup. 100% Skincare."

The company sits within the wave of clean-beauty labels that emerged in the mid-2010s, and it sells directly to consumers as well as through retailers including Sephora, Credo and The Detox Market. Its makeup is built around skin-care actives, and the brand frames its products as everyday wear that is meant to improve the look of bare skin rather than mask it.

KOSAS was launched in 2015 as a Los Angeles-based, cruelty-free beauty brand by Sheena Yaitanes. Yaitanes grew up in Orange County, California, and the brand began at her kitchen table; according to a WWD feature, her artistry "helped fuel the launch of Kosas, blending skin care and makeup to create products free of harsh chemicals" [6]. That blend of color cosmetics and skincare has remained the company's defining idea.

KOSAS describes its mission as evolving "beauty's mindset towards revealing, expressing and feeling comfy in your skin." The company frames its range as "good makeup, not no makeup" — easy, lightweight formulas that it says are clinically proven to improve the skin even when worn bare [2]. The products are marketed as made for sensitive skin and built around what the brand calls a clean, minimal-ingredient approach.

The label has been tied to a broader shift toward a pared-back look. A Refinery29 review connected KOSAS to "the aesthetic trend of using less makeup — or at least, looking like you're wearing less makeup," describing the overall direction as "less bare face, more tinted skin care."

KOSAS spans face, cheek, lip, brow and eye makeup alongside a skincare and suncare sub-range, body products, and tools. Its formulas draw on ingredients more commonly associated with skincare, among them hyaluronic acid, peptides, caffeine, squalane, ceramides and niacinamide.

The brand's best-known product is the Revealer Concealer, designed, as Refinery29 put it, "as an eye cream in a concealer." According to the same review, the concealer has "won awards," become "a noted staple in so many TikTok tutorials," and topped "Sephora's best-seller list, right up there with the ubiquitous Nars creamy" [7]. KOSAS later extended the line with the Revealer Skin-Improving Foundation SPF 25, which folds in niacinamide, squalane, peptides and a reef-safe mineral sunscreen; the Refinery29 reviewer preferred it to a Charlotte Tilbury foundation, calling it "more lightweight" [7]. Other named products include the Glow I.V. Vitamin-Infused Skin Enhancer.

On safety, the company says the Revealer Concealer is "dermatologist-tested and clinically tested to be non-comedogenic, hypoallergenic and non-irritating," and that all of its products undergo "rigorous, independent clinical and safety testing" [3].

KOSAS markets itself as a clean brand, and the cruelty-free positioning dates to its 2015 launch [6]. The company states that it bans "over 2,700 ingredients" and adheres to "the EU, Sephora and Credo clean standards" [5]. Its published exclusion list covers parabens, talc, phthalates, formaldehyde, sulfates, synthetic fragrance, petrolatum and mineral oil, aluminium and cyclic silicones, among others. The brand also labels formulations as vegan and describes its SPF as reef-safe [5]. These are the company's own stated standards; no third-party certifications such as Leaping Bunny are cited.

KOSAS has been covered in beauty and trade press, including a WWD feature on founder Sheena Yaitanes and a Refinery29 review of the Revealer foundation [7]. The Revealer Concealer in particular has been noted as a Sephora best-seller and a recurring presence in TikTok makeup tutorials [7].

In 2020, KOSAS faced criticism when its Tinted Face Oil launched with a limited shade range. The range was subsequently expanded from 10 to 16 shades, and the founder worked with makeup artists from the Black Beauty Roster on shade inclusivity [7].

KOSAS remains active. It sells directly to consumers and through retailers including Sephora, Credo and The Detox Market [6], and recent activity includes the launch and review of the Revealer Skin-Improving Foundation SPF 25, alongside the continued best-seller status of the Revealer Concealer [7].