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MAKE IT HAPPEN

Sheena Zadeh-Daly, founder of Kosas

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Zadeh-Daly founded Kosas in 2015 with a simple goal: to create makeup that looks good and does the skin good. "I’ve always wanted to formulate products that are good for your skin and are high-performing," she says of her cosmetics that double as skincare.

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Thankfully, Zadeh-Daly knew a thing or two about high-performing ingredients. She earned a degree in biology at U.C. Irvine, which allowed her to take a hands-on approach in creating Kosas. "All that time I spent playing with different formulas in my garage and at my kitchen table eventually evolved into the brand it is today."

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Today, the brand is a leader in the clean beauty space, a soon-to-be trend that Zadeh-Daly stumbled upon.

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"It was never my intention to create a clean beauty brand, but when I was in the testing phases of developing formulas it just so happened that the best ingredients were also clean," she says.

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Below, we chat with her about her journey.

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Q&A

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What has been the greatest lesson in building your brand?
That it’s more work than you could ever anticipate. When a lot of people start a brand, I think they go into it with the mindset that it will purely be an artistic endeavor of self-expression, but there are so many other logistical moving parts that go into building a brand that are far from glamorous and continually challenging.

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How did studying biology inform your product development process?
It was about learning the language of science. Each compound has a specific name assigned to it, so when you read a product ingredient it quite literally tells you its exact composition. As I began formulating, I was able to understand this language or scientific code, and it ultimately helped me to create better makeup products.

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What is your guiding principle when developing a new product?
When developing products, we need to achieve two things: the finish has to look really alive, and we only use skincare actives that have a lot of data and research behind them. Some products are also inspired by the things going on in my life. Glow I.V. Vitamin-Infused Skin Enhancer was born from my love of vitamin drips. Whenever I’m stressed or need self-care, my go-to treatment is an IV drip. I started to notice how healthy and glowing my skin looked and decided to bottle it.

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Your ultimate, favorite-of-all-time beauty product?
Concealer is my top beauty product of all time. It’s so versatile–I can do my entire complexion look with just concealer if I needed.

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Sheena Zadeh-Daly wearing the Mazur Jacket.

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Do you remember the first product you fell in love with, from when you first started using makeup?
Yes! It was Givenchy’s Prisme Libre pressed powder that I got when I was 11. I just remember thinking it was the most magical and beautiful thing I had ever seen. 

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What are the hero products of your morning and nighttime routine?
For morning, it’s the Kosas Plump + Juicy Vegan Collagen Spray-On Serum. It has completely changed my skin and has all these powerful skincare actives that soothe, smooth, plump, and hydrate my skin without over-moisturizing. 

The most important part of my nighttime routine is double cleansing. I have to make sure I’m removing all of the makeup and residue off my face before I get in bed. I use Emma Lewisham Cleansing Oil and Circumference Cleansing Gel and love it both!

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What’s the makeup hack that changed your life?
Overlining my lips and brows to bring some drama to my features and really make them pop. I could only do my lips and brows and nothing else, and I immediately look and feel put together. Also, super important—always fill in your brows in the direction of hair growth! 

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SHOP THE LOOK

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