Discovering IT Cosmetics

If you’re interested in beauty news, you probably heard that  L’Oréal group acquired the brand IT Cosmetics last July.

I understand it is a way for the group to strengthen its position in the United States, faced with stronger competition; like the Estée Lauder group for example, which just bought the brand Too Faced (at the moment, the beauty world looks a bit like a gigantic game of Monopoly, don’t you think? wink )

I came across an IT Cosmetics products stand during one of my treks to cosmetics stores in the United States (OK, I lied, I had a wish-list and I went to Ulta on purpose lol).
On my list, there were:

– the Your Skin But Better CC Cream SPF 50, a sun protective tinted cream,
– the Bye Bye Under Eye Anti-Aging Concealer, that I couldn’t help but buy in 2 versions, the classic and the ‘illumination’ version,
– and finally, the Bye Bye Pores Loose Powder: a setting and smoothing loose powder.

Before I give you my thoughts on these products, I would like to talk a bit more about the brand itself.

The IT Cosmetics brand, presentation:

IT Cosmetics is an American brand that exists since 2008 and it’s been very popular in the United States since its launch.

The co-founder, the former TV journalist Jamie Kern Lima, suffers from recurring skin problems (acne rosacea, hyper-pigmentation, etc.) that she had to cover every day under a very thick make-up to go on the air. Obviously, this layer of makeup didn’t really improve her skin condition, quite to the contrary. She decided to create a makeup line which would be able to cover everything she wanted to hide on her face but which would also treat and respect her skin condition. She worked with plastic surgeons to create IT Cosmetics.

IT Cosmetics offers more than 300 makeup and skin care products to fight against but also hide skin issues, as well as various makeup brushes and accessories. It’s clearly a hybrid brand, between skincare and make-up and you can feel it in the choice of products: the brand includes a very wide selection of products for the complexion.

The distribution of the brand IT Cosmetics is quite specific: its products are distributed on US teleshopping channels like QVC and TSC, which is how the brand became famous. Then, the brand developed itself and expanded its distribution, retailing its products in stores like ULTA or Sephora recently, as well as on its website.

Good to know as well, the brand is 100% cruelty-free. smile

IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream SPF50:

This CC Cream is between a tinted moisturizer and a foundation, with a rather high coverage and with a high SPF. For me, this SPF 50 was clearly the selling point here. It’s typically the product I apply if I know I will spend most of the day out.

The packaging is super practical, it’s a squeezy tube with a pump. It’s possible to measure the quantity of product you want to use and it’s ideal to carry in your travel bag. I really like it!

The brand claims it has an anti-age effect, as it contains many anti-aging ingredients, such as collagen, peptides, algae extracts, hyaluronic acid, antioxidants and vitamins A, B, C and E.
Personally, considering the huge amount of silicones that it also contains, I highly doubt that these ingredients can really penetrate deep into the skin so it didn’t really influence my decision to buy it. Let’s say that I rely more on my skincare products than I apply before and at best, this CC Cream won’t damage my skin. But clearly, I wouldn’t use it instead of my daily moisturizer!

The texture is quite creamy without being thick or greasy. However, you can feel that it contains a high solar filter (in addition, it’s a mineral filter, and those tend to leave a white cast on the skin) and it has to be massaged to blend it onto the skin. I usually apply it with my Beauty Blender, but it also applies very easily with the fingers. I use 1 pump for a natural effect and 2 pumps for a higher coverage.

It’s a satin finish, rather natural but you really need to set it with powder if like me, you have a rather oily skin.

The pigmentation is great. It’s rather a medium to full coverage.

For the shade, I chose Light, which corresponds well to my complexion because it’s quite neutral. There are 5 shades in total, which is a little short. I don’t think this product is super suitable for dark skin because it contains a mineral filter that tends to leave the skin looking a little “gray” on darker skin tones. I also must admit that I don’t think it’s the most photogenic tinted cream in the world. In “real life”, it looks OK, but in photo, it tends to make me look whiter. I guess it’s better if you know it. This is not the product I would choose for a heavily photographed event.

The lasting power is quite good, it lasts at least 8 hours on my skin. My T zone shines a little bit after a few hours but it doesn’t separate or enhance the texture of the skin. It doesn’t oxidize either.

In short, it’s a product I really like and I even think that it’s an ideal product for holidays for example, because it’s easy to carry in a makeup bag and the fact that it contains a strong SPF is super convenient.

The IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream SPF50 is available on the brand website for $38.

IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Anti-Aging Concealers (Classic & Illumination):

The IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Anti-Aging Concealer was the product I wanted the most in my list. It’s supposed to be a very high coverage product, which can be used on very dark circles, and on your face, to cover any blemishes.
I was so obsessed by it that when I saw that were 2 different versions: a classic and an illuminator, I couldn’t choose between the two and I bought them both! In the end, sadly, I’m not very convinced by this product and in addition, I find it difficult to see the difference between the two formulas. An epic #fail …  -_-

The packaging is the same for both products: a squeezy tube with a very fine end. It’s also practical and easy to carry in a makeup bag.

Like the CC Cream, the brand claims a skincare effect in these two products. Why not, but I confess that I didn’t use them long enough to notice a real difference on my eye contour. Both contain anti-aging skincare ingredients such as collagen, peptides, vitamins, hyaluronic acid, antioxidants and the illuminating version contains, in addition, some illuminating active ingredients (some Drops of Light Technology ™, whatever that is…)

The texture of the two products is similar. It’s rather creamy and thick. It’s also a bit greasy. I must imperatively powder them otherwise, they crease right away into my wrinkles!

For the application, I apply them with my Beauty Blender and I apply very little, about a pinhead for each eye. You really need the tiniest amount, a little goes a long way!

It’s a satin finish for both products. Very honestly, I can’t really see the difference between the classic version and the Illumination version. I don’t find it especially brighter than the other despite the illuminating ingredients in the formula. (I was pretty disappointed, as you can imagine …)

The pigmentation is really excellent. It actually provides a very, very high coverage! However, I find that the result is not very natural for dark circles. On the blemishes, it works very well but when I apply some on my eye contour, if I apply too much, it quickly looks like “plaster”. I prefer by far the fine texture of my Urban Decay Naked Skin concealers (they also have a high coverage).

The color range is quite short: only 4 shades in the 2 ranges. I choose the Medium shade in both versions, which is a light neutral color but sadly, it’s not the best match for me. I would have preferred these shades to be a little bit lighter to brighten my under eyes more (the Light shade was unfortunately too white on my skin, I looked like a reverse-panda lol).

The lasting power is quite good but you have to set them with powder, otherwise they will crease like crazy.

In a nutshell, I wasn’t blown away by these 2 products. Their texture is a little too thick for me, the colors weren’t the best match for my skin tone… Such a shame!

The IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Anti-Aging Concealers are available on the brand website for $24.

IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Loose Powder:

The IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Loose Powder is a setting, smoothing loose powder. I heard a lot of good things about the compact version but when I saw that it existed in a loose version, I had to get it! I prefer by far the loose powders for my daily makeup, they are lighter and less visible than compact powders, IMO.

It’s a transparent powder, it can be applied alone on the skin to blur the pores or on your face make-up to set it and mattify. It suits all skin colors because it’s completely transparent.

The packaging is classic, it’s a simple jar of powder with a puff. It’s quite small however, it contains only 7g of product, which is tiny! (In comparison, the Laura Mercier contains 29g and the RCMA 85g!!!)

This powder also contains skincare ingredients. First thing, it’s talc-free and contains silica (which smooths the pores) (however, be careful with the photos with flash, the silica has a whitening effect on the skin with the flashes of the cameras). It also contains anti-aging and moisturizing ingredients such as silk extracts, collagen and anti-oxidants.

It’s actually very effective to smooth the pores and it doesn’t dry the skin at all, nor enhance the texture of the skin, on the contrary, it even smooths it.

It is probably the finest powder I own, which is why the result is so natural, I guess. I apply it with a powder brush or a sponge if I really want a super matte effect.

It’s a matte finish, very natural but just to be clear, it’s not the most matifying powder I tried. But for my age, I think I prefer that. It don’t mind to touch it up a bit during the day. It gives a more natural effect  more “moisturizing” and smoothing, which I like.

Its lasting power is pretty decent. My skin remains matte for about 4-5 hours on my T zone and then I have to blot the shine and make a little touch up. But I would say, it’s the case with all my other powders, so nothing new.

In short, I love this powder. It’s really not cheap, I’m not gonna lie (it’s really a small amount of product) but I love the effect on my skin!

The IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Loose Powder retails for $24 on the brand website.

Finally, here are these 4 products on my face:

I used the two concealers on this look: the illumination version on my dark circles and the classic version on my blemishes.
For those who wonder, I’m wearing the ColourPop Ultra Satin Lip liquid lipstick in the shade Calypso (I love it!).

In summary:

Some products are great, I wasn’t convinced by some others. I still want to explore the rest of the range but I will probably wait to come across an IT Cosmetcis display in a store. wink

And you, do you know IT Cosmetics products? Which ones are your favorites?

Photo credit: bonnie-garner.com