Beauty Expert and Kosas Founder Sheena Yaitanes Wants Life to Be as Natural and Nourishing as Her Makeup Line

For Sheena Yaitanes, makeup was destiny. "My mom worked at beauty counters. I didn't know you could have just a cosmetics bag," she recalls with a laugh. "I had a rolling cart with drawers, and I learned every color and name." A child of Persian immigrants, Yaitanes was on track for med school, but the pull of that pushcart was too strong. After college, she got a job doing research in microbiology and genetics, earned an MBA, and, in 2015, launched her clean beauty line, Kosas. (Those premed studies paid off, though: She can translate an ingredient list like nobody's business.)

The brand's first product—long-lasting lipsticks that feel creamy, not tacky—was an instantaneous hit. Dewy blushes, tinted face oils, and liquid eye shadows followed, earning glowing reviews for their light-as-air finishes and natural formulas. Part of her secret sauce: nourishing botanicals, like antioxidant-rich rosehip-seed oil and hydrating shea butter. "They just work better," she says.

Performance is key in her style choices as well. "I am deeply committed to my personal comfort," she jokes of her penchant for body-skimming jeans, T-shirts, and sweats. To look good and feel good? Now that's a gift with purchase. Ahead, a few of the Yaitanes' favorite things that embrace both, from the elevated, but accessible dinnerware she uses regularly to the stylish hat that keeps her protected from the sun. The beauty must-haves on this list—after all, what does a makeup expert keep in said pushcart?—are just as noteworthy, especially the pretty pastel nail polish and the must-haves from her own brand.