New to Kosas? Our discovery guide to 7 of its hero beauty products

There are so many beauty brands competing for our hard-earned cash that discovering a new one can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming.

Kosas is a US beauty brand built around the idea that makeup and skincare don't have to sit in completely separate categories. It describes its approach as "100% makeup, 100% skincare", creating colour cosmetics that deliver the finish and staying power you'd expect from makeup while incorporating ingredients normally associated with skincare.

So you’ll spot hyaluronic acid, squalane, peptides, caffeine and panthenol across the range. Plus, the brand says its products undergo independent clinical and safety testing and are formulated with different skin sensitivities in mind.

Thankfully, it’s not about replacing makeup with barely-there tinted skincare. Kosas still makes proper colour cosmetics, from blushers and powders to brow products and concealers, with the added skincare element running through many of the formulas.

The range has grown considerably, covering everything from complexion products and blush to lips, brows and skincare. If you're completely new to Kosas, these seven products provide a good introduction to what the brand is all about.

Kosas Cloud Set Baked Setting & Smoothing Powder, £34

Cloud Set is Kosas' take on the traditional pressed setting powder. This talc-free powder helps with unwanted shine, smooths the appearance of pores and sets makeup without creating the heavy, powdery finish that can sometimes make skin look a bit dull.

It's a baked formula rather than a conventional pressed powder, aiming to give skin a softly blurred finish. If you tend to avoid setting powder because you associate it with a dry or cakey finish, Cloud Set is intended to be a lighter alternative.

Kosas Blush Is Life, £28

This rather dramatically named blusher combines two shades in each baked compact.

Rather than having to choose between the two, you sweep them together to create the finished colour. The formula contains squalane and hyaluronic acid and gives buildable colour with a smooth, radiant finish.

There is a raft of colours to choose from, too, from softer everyday colours to brighter options

Kosas Cloud Set Loose Setting & Blurring Powder, £35

If you prefer loose powder, there's also the Cloud Set Loose Setting & Blurring Powder.

Like its baked counterpart, the emphasis is on setting makeup and controlling shine without making your complexion look excessively powdered. The talc-free formula uses an ultra-fine powder to blur the appearance of pores and fine lines while absorbing excess oil.

Kosas Brow Pop, £20

The Brow Pop is Kosas' classic eyebrow pencil and a straightforward option if you like to fill and shape your brows rather than simply brush them into place.

The dual-ended design combines a pencil for filling and defining with a spoolie brush at the other end, so you can soften and blend. There's a good choice of shades too, which is particularly useful with brow products where getting the undertone right is important if you don't want brows to have the dreaded drawn-on look.

Kosas Revealer Extra Bright, £28

Revealer Extra Bright is a colour corrector for the eye area that aims to neutralise dark circles and make tired-looking eyes appear brighter.

Kosas has added ingredients including caffeine, hyaluronic acid, squalane, panthenol and peptides to tackle the appearance of darkness and puffiness. You can wear it alone for a fresher-looking eye area or underneath concealer when you want additional coverage.

Kosas Air Brow, £20

If a brow gel is more your thing, the Air Brow adds texture, colour and hold while keeping the hairs flexible.

The tinted formula contains ingredients including panthenol and biotinoyl tripeptide-1 and helps brows appear fuller and more defined. Check out the clear version if you already have naturally full brows or want to groom the hairs into place without adding extra colour.

Air Brow can be used by itself for a quick everyday brow or paired with a pencil in areas where you want a little more definition.

Kosas Brow Pop Nano, £21

The £21 Brow Pop Nano takes the idea behind the original Brow Pop but shrinks the pencil tip down for much more detailed work.

Its ultra-fine point allows you to create small, hair-like strokes, so it’s useful for filling gaps or defining areas such as the front and tail of the brow without leaving a large block of colour.

Like Brow Pop, it has a spoolie at the opposite end for brushing the brows and blending the finished result. If you prefer brows to look as though individual hairs have been added rather than pencilled in, Nano is the more precision-focused of the two.

Is Kosas worth discovering?

If you're new to Kosas, the items in the range should feel pretty familiar. These are products most of us already have in our makeup bags: powder, blusher, brow pencils and gels. The difference is the amount of skincare thinking Kosas brings to them, from hyaluronic acid and squalane to peptides and panthenol.

Admirably, Kosas also says it excludes more than 2,700 ingredients from its formulas, including talc, parabens, phthalates and synthetic fragrance. If you fancy changing up your go-tos for a little variety then I’m confident you wouldn’t be disappointed with the brand.