Meet The Woman Whose Skin Problems Inspired A Multi-Million Dollar Beauty Brand

Jamie Kern Lima was at her wit's end when she co-created IT Cosmetics.

Her eyebrows had fallen out by the age of 30 and she had spent years scouring stores for a product to cover up her relentless rosacea.

That's when the idea for IT Cosmetics was born and after securing a highly coveted spot on QVC, the 38-year-old former news anchor quit her job, decided to take matters into her own hands and she hasn't looked back since.

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Kern Lima set out to create a line of products women with all skin types could actually rely on and after recording a video where she wipes off her eyebrows and draws them back on with an eyebrow pencil, the whole world was hooked.

Since then, she appears on QVC over 250 times a year, taking off her make-up on live TV to show women everywhere that even though she has a skin condition, she is still beautiful.

Here she gives us the low-down on why she started IT Cosmetics, the best beauty advice she's ever been given and the one make-up mistake no girl should ever make.

Why did you enter into the world of cosmetics?

Nothing I had ever tried, even at the highest price points, ever worked for me. Nothing would cover my Rosacea and if it did, it took layers of makeup and would crease, crack, and make me look ten years older. I knew that what I wanted to create had to be different from what has ever been done. Partnering with plastic surgeons and dermatologists, experts in skin rejuvenation and aesthetics, we look at makeup completely differently. We start each product as skincare first and we infuse color and coverage into it after. Most of our customers don’t have any skin issues at all, but they use IT Cosmetics because they can achieve coverage without it looking like they’re wearing makeup and the thing.

What's the best beauty advice you've ever been given?

My mother taught me that every woman is beautiful and deserves to feel her most beautiful. It has shaped my entire life. I remove my makeup live on TV in the US over 250+ shows a year mainly to be brave, to show my rosacea and hyper-pigmentation and to hopefully inspire women to know that if they do have a skin issue, whether it’s hyper-pigmentation or redness or anything else, so do I and so do so many of us and we are all in this together. It’s never about coverage or covering issues, but rather it’s about feeling beautiful and finding products that truly give you your most beautiful skin and help you look and feel like your most beautiful you.

If there was one product you could only wear for the rest of your life, what would it be?

The product I get the most life-changing stories about would be either Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer or our CC+ Cream – so if I have to choose one, it’s our Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream because it truly is everything your skin needs – complete skin care, full coverage, and SPF 50+ Physical Only Sunscreen – all in one step. Because of my rosacea and hyper-pigmentation, I feel like I’ve spent most of my life trying every foundation and concealer out there and they almost all crease and crack and make us look older, especially if you need coverage. Our CC+ cream gives you full coverage but is developed to make your skin look younger instead of older, so it’s really so different than anything else out there.

What's in you make-up bag right now and what are your travel essentials?
I used to spend hundreds of dollars on face and eye creams (and then my husband would apply them to his elbows and drive me crazy) but now I am obsessed with IT Cosmetics Confidence in a Cream and so that’s what I use every day and night, especially as I travel (which is about 90% right now for work). It breathes life back into my skin and gives it back the hydration that it desperately needs after long days of travel.

What beauty trends do you think are going to be big this year?

Great skin, symmetrical brows, pink lips and cheeks and long lush lashes. And one fun trend happening this year is pastels. Soft pinks and blues are big. Those can be fun adds to your beauty routines especially for lips.

What's the biggest beauty fail anyone can make?

Not doing your brows. Your eyebrows are the only feature on your face that give you your frame of symmetry and symmetry is what equates to beauty in the human eye. Just doing your brows, even if it is the only thing you do each day, instantly makes you your most beautiful you, because it’s your frame of symmetry, and hence it’s your beauty. Choosing a brow pencil that matches your hair color, adheres to skin, and looks like real hair is key.

Which celebrity do you think always gets it right?

Jaimie Alexander, Jennifer Lawrence, Alison Sweeney, Zendaya, Nina Dobrev, Leslie Mann, Bella Hadid are amazing. I love seeing all of the celebrities at their best on the red carpets, completely glamorous and camera ready but the women who I think always get it right are the real women I see every day, who embrace their beauty and radiant confidence. Whether it’s a woman I run into at the supermarket who has an effortless radiance to her skin even after a long day of work or a grandmother walking her grandchild around our neighbourhood on a stroller with a perfect red lip, I love seeing real women in their element.

What's coming up for IT Cosmetics?

We are so excited to expand with Sephora in Australia and Southeast Asia and as a company we are on a mission to raise the bar in beauty, even if we’ve set it ourselves. The latest launches of Confidence in a Cream and the amazing SUPERHERO™Elastic Stretch Volumizing Mascara is just the beginning in 2016.