Meet the Former News Anchor Who Started a Beauty Line

Jamie Kern Lima started her beauty company in a studio apartment.

ByABC News
April 13, 2016, 8:34 AM

— -- Jamie Kern Lima is a former beauty queen and "Baywatch" actress who is now bringing a fresh outlook to the cosmetic world.

Lima quit her job as a news anchor to co-found IT Cosmetics in 2008. She entered the beauty industry after searching in vain for a better product for her own troubled skin.

“I have hereditary rosacea and hyper pigmentation,” Lima, 38, told ABC News’ Juju Chang. “There is no cure for it, and every product I would find either wouldn't cover or products are so thick, they crease, they crack, they make you look older.”

She added: “I am like, ‘Okay, there has to be, you know, a better way.’”

Lima teamed up with plastic surgeons and dermatologists to create a beauty line for the everyday woman that claims to combat anti-aging with cutting-edge science.

She began the company in a studio apartment and then got her big break with a 10-minute spot on QVC. Lima stood out on the shopping network by taking off her own false eyebrows on live TV to demonstrate IT Cosmetics’ products.

“I think that it's one of the reasons our brand has exploded because we have an authentic mission to create products that really work,” Lima said.

Today, A-listers including Jennifer Lawrence, Emily Blunt and Meghan Trainor are fans of IT Cosmetics.

"I think that every woman deserves to look and feel her most beautiful and I think we forget that,” Lima said of her company’s mission.