10 Best Kosas Products Guaranteed to Elevate Your Makeup Bag
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Ask any Allure editor what their makeup routine looks like, and they'll probably mention one (or more) of the best Kosas products. The clean beauty darling is highly sought after for its richly pigmented formulas that look as good as they feel. (Seriously, scan any ingredient list and you'll find familiar skin-care ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, peptides, and squalane.) So, is it a surprise Kosas has picked up a slew of Allure Best of Beauty Awards over the years? Absolutely not.
Our Top Kosas Products:
- Best Kosas Product Overall: BB Burst, $38
- Bringing Baked Blushes Back: Blush is Life, $29
- The Do-It-All Eyeliner: Soulgazer Eyeliner, $24
- Lip Liner With a Hydrating Oomph: Hotliner Lip Liner, $22
- Foolproof Fluffed-Up Brows: Air Brow Tinted Eyebrow Gel, $24
- High-Shine Smooches: Wet Lip Oil Gloss, $22
- Dark Circles, Who?: Revealer Concealer, $30
- Photo Filter In A Bottle: Revealer Skin Improving Foundation, $42
- Glowy Sun Protection Galore: DreamBeam Sunscreen SPF 40, $40
- The Cheat Code to Blurred, Photo-Ready Looks: Cloud Set Setting Powder, $35
Quick refresher: Kosas has been around since 2015 and was founded by Sheena Yaitanes, who started the brand with just four lipsticks. Fast-forward nearly a decade later, the brand (still helmed by Yaitanes) has pumped out a full lineup of skin-loving makeup, plumping skin care, and active-friendly body care. It's safe to say we’ve tested everything the brand offers so it's only appropriate that we break down our favorite, must-have Kosas products for you to shop, pronto.
Frequently Asked Questions
Best Kosas Product Overall: BB Burst
Why it's worth it: The Kosas BB Burst gel cream is a prime example of the magic that happens when you fuse makeup and skin care, thus earning our top spot. Not only does BB burst provide buildable, sheer-to-medium coverage, but it also conceals and improves the look of multiple concerns including dryness, sagging, and sensitivity all at once. Need proof? This skin-friendly formulation is powered by moisture-attracting sodium PCA, irritation-neutralizing zinc oxide, and elasticity-boosting copper peptides.
Tester feedback: “This formula is the definition of weightless. If I don't apply it using a mirror, I truly question whether I put it on or not,” says Allure shopping director Shanna Shipin. “It can be a little tricky getting the undertones just so, but once you've found the perfect color, it's Second Skin City. Truly imperceptible coverage that blends easily—with just your fingers!—and wears ridiculously comfortably. It's my ideal summer skin tint.”
Key ingredients: sodium PCA, zinc oxide, saccharide isomerate, copper peptides | Shades: 24
Bringing Baked Blushes Back: Blush is Life
Why it's worth it: Give cream blushes their flowers but Kosas reminds us that powder blushes are not to be overlooked. Blush is Life has a soft-matte, marble-toned base that’s hit with just a touch of shimmer for a radiant flush. In true Kosas fashion, this skin-care-infused blush is spiked with hyaluronic acid and squalane to leave skin smooth to the touch.
Tester feedback: “Did Kosas read my mind when brainstorming names? My inclination is yes because blush has been my life for the past year or so, and it doesn't seem to be leaving anytime soon,” says commerce editor Sarah Han. “My preference has always been swayed towards cream blushes but Kosas has me giving powders a second chance. Blush is Life is light, airy, and definitely doesn't cake or settle into texture like other powder blushes tend to do. I happened to pick up Hype—a warm poppy pink that brightens my face instantly—in the office but I'm not stopping there—Butterflies and Euphoria, you're next.”
Key ingredients: hyaluronic acid, squalane | Shades: 8
The Do-It-All Eyeliner: Soulgazer Eyeliner
Why it's worth it: Kosas’s Soulgazer Eyeliner won’t budge, smudge, or fade but its gel-based formula practically begs for a grunge-inspired smokey eye moment. Available in 10 shades that include your classic black and soft lilac (hello, range!), this waterproof eyeliner has a slender build perfect for tight-lining and sharp cat eyes Despite its matte finish, Soulgazer is spiked with moisturizing hyaluronic acid for smoother-than-smooth application and a crease-free finish.
Tester feedback: “I use this eyeliner in a sort-of-unconventional way: I smudge it on my lower lash line and take an eye shadow brush to buff it out and create a smoky effect,” says shopping market editor Angela Trakoshis. “Then using my almond-shaped acrylics, I wing it out. There's no worry of smudging—even if I cry, it lasts.”
Key ingredients: hyaluronic acid | Shades: 10
Lip Liner With a Hydrating Oomph: Hotliner Lip Liner
Why it's worth it: While most lip liners can feel drying, the Kosas Hotliner is anything but that. Like its original formula, this lip liner is spiked with hydrating hyaluronic acid, but this new iteration has the added conditioning benefits of konjac root extract. After being discontinued in 2022, this creamy, demi-matte lip product was brought back in a reformulated range of eight nude and red-toned shades, and now it’s more hydrating and easier to wear than before.
Tester feedback: "I rarely use lip liner but Kosas' Hotliner currently has a chokehold on my lip routine; unlike other liners, this one doesn't begin to crack or feather when I touch up my lips throughout the day,” says commerce writer Jennifer Hussein. “It also gets bonus points for its slender build, perfect for my ludicrously overstuffed tote bag."
Key ingredients: hyaluronic acid, konjac root extract | Shades: 8
More Kosas products we love:
Foolproof Fluffed-Up Brows: Air Brow Tinted Eyebrow Gel
Why it's worth it: The delightfully mousse-y Air Brow is a Best of Beauty Award winner for good reason. With each stroke, its lightly tinted formula grips every teensy hair, adding fullness and volume for a laminated look without any crunch. Meanwhile, hyaluronic acid, peptides, and castor oil (in tinted versions) soften and condition brow hairs.
Editor's tip: For dramatically fuller brows, pair this gel with Kosas's Brow Pop Nano, another Best of Beauty Award winner.
Key ingredients: hyaluronic acid, peptides, castor oil | Shades: 10 (including clear)
High-Shine Smooches: Wet Lip Oil Gloss
Why it's worth it: Usually, we wouldn't consider a lip gloss to be groundbreaking, but the Kosas Wet Lip Oil Gloss—which won a 2023 Allure Best of Beauty Award— has a pigmented, non-sticky formula that proves it’s above the rest. Its vinyl-like finish gives lips all the shine with no stickiness, and a powerhouse duo of hyaluronic acid and evening primrose oil plumps and conditions lips, leaving them silky-smooth even when the gloss has finally worn off.
Editor's tip: If you need a primer for your heavier lip products, we recommend swiping on a moisture-replenishing lip balm like the hyaluronic acid-infused Kosas LipFuel.
Key ingredients: hyaluronic acid, evening primrose oil | Shades: 11
Dark Circles, Who?: Revealer Concealer
Why it's worth it: Like a true skin-loving base product, Revealer Concealer features complexion-enhancing ingredients like anti-inflammatory caffeine, hydrating hyaluronic acid, and firming peptides. So, say goodbye to drying concealers that cake and crease throughout the day—this brightening concealer's multitude of skin-care benefits means your undereyes (and any other area you're spot-treating) will look glowy all day.
Tester feedback: Hussein says this is one of her go-to concealers for its medium coverage and radiant finish. "Its pigment is spot-on in terms of matching with my cool-toned, medium-light skin tone," she says. “All I need are a few swipes to brighten my unusually dark undereye bags and cover a few dark spots."
Key ingredients: hyaluronic acid, caffeine, peptides | Shades: 38
Photo Filter in a Bottle: Revealer Skin Improving Foundation
Why it's worth it: If you want more coverage beyond a concealer, our editors adore the Revealer Skin Improving Foundation—it's an Allure Best of Beauty Award winner, after all. “[Kosas’s Revealer Skin Improving Foundation] checked off all the boxes: blendable, lightweight, and gives off a subtle glow that can easily be toned down with some setting powder—without creasing up minutes later," associate special projects manager Talia Gutierrez gushed about the formula. “The finish and wear time lasted eight-plus hours and looked as If I had just applied it [the whole time.]” Because this complexion-boosting formula features squalane, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, and caffeine, it can address dryness, dark spots, and texture in one seamless application.
Key ingredients: squalane, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, caffeine, peptides, arnica, pro-vitamin B5 | Shades: 36
Glowy Sun Protection Galore: DreamBeam Sunscreen SPF 40
Why it's worth it: Before you take in the sun, guard your delicate skin against UV rays—while boosting your skin's natural glow—with the DreamBeam Sunscreen. Its 100% mineral-based formula provides broad-spectrum SPF 40 UV protection but the real stars are the hyaluronic acid- and-peptide-infused bronzy shades that make your skin shine bright like a diamond (bye-bye, highlighter). This silicone-free product won't pill or separate under your makeup, so it's a great luminance-boosting primer.
Key ingredients: zinc oxide (21.7%), allantoin, peptides, ceramides, hyaluronic acid | Shades: 2
The Cheat Code for a Blurred, Photo-Ready Looks: Cloud Set Setting Powder
Why it's worth it: The Cloud Set Setting Powder is like an IRL blurring filter for your skin. Just one swipe of one of its 10 shades is all you need to understand the hype around this featherweight pressed powder. This light-as-air formula features shine-reducing bamboo stem extract, texture-smoothing passionfruit leaf extract, and pore-minimizing Chinese peony. If you appreciate a more matte look, simply add a layer or two.
Key ingredients: bamboo extract, passionfruit leaf extract, Chinese peony extract | Shades: 10
How we test and review products
Before reviewing any makeup, we ask questions about a number of factors: What ingredients are in it? Does the brand offer a wide shade range inclusive of consumers with all skin tones and undertones? Is it safe for readers who have sensitive skin or wear contact lenses? Is it on the affordable side or more of a splurge? Is its packaging consciously designed or needlessly wasteful?
For our review of the best Kosas products, we enlisted the help of multiple editors, writers, contributors, and makeup artists to review the products. This ensures our testing base spans different skin tones, genders, and dermatological conditions. We considered each product’s performance across four primary categories: ingredients, wear and longevity, packaging, and inclusivity. For more on what's involved in our reporting, check out our complete reviews process and methodology page.
Our staff and testers
A beauty product is a personal purchase. You might be searching for a face cream to address persistent dryness or a new nail product to add to your Sunday self-care routine; you may simply be browsing around for the latest launches to hit the hair market. No matter what you seek or your individual needs and concerns, Allure wants to ensure that you love anything we recommend in our stories. We believe that having a diverse team of writers and editors—in addition to the wide range of outside testers and industry experts we regularly call upon—is essential to reaching that goal.
After all, can we really say a skin-care product is the "best" for people over 50 if the only testers we’ve solicited opinions from folks who have yet to hit 30? Can we honestly deem a high-end diffuser worthy of your hard-earned cash if it’s never been tested on curls? We're proud that our staff spans a wide range of ages, skin tones, hair textures, genders, and backgrounds, which means that we are able to fairly assess any beauty product that comes into the beauty closet.
Is your makeup bag looking a little sparse? We’ve got so many goodies to recommend:
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