BEAUTY | STYLE | MAGIC

Born in high heels wearing lipstick, Lauren started playing with makeup when other kids were playing with dolls and hot wheels. Fascinated by color, texture, self-expression and transformation, Lauren tested looks on schoolmates, family members and herself when no one else was around. In her formative years, Lauren stayed up late to study the classics – Mademoiselle, Cosmo, Glamour, Vogue and more. The only middle school student in the history of her hometown to have a subscription to W magazine, she read the oversized glossy cover to cover monthly when it arrived. Never a slave to labels or a blind follower of trends, Lauren firmly believed in personal style and bold individuality.

Despite her interests that were deemed non-academic, Lauren graduated 7th in her high school class and moved from NY to DC, where she graduated from American University summa cum laude with a BA in Communications and a BA in Spanish Studies. She got both degrees taking all back-to-back honors classes two days a week to fit in more shifts at bebe in the Georgetown Park mall, where she served as part stylist and part therapist to repeat customers mostly looking for a new pair of black pants and the self-confidence to pair with them.

After eight glorious months abroad where Lauren got to see European fashion firsthand (the good, the bad and the criminal), Lauren moved back to NYC to work in advertising at McCann-Erickson. After launching the multi-media DTC campaigns for Yasmin, Yaz and Mirena, she made the jump over to the publishing side where she successfully managed beauty and fashion accounts at her beloved Cosmopolitan magazine.

Always wanting a bigger beauty role, after several exciting years as a Fun Fearless Female at Cosmo, Lauren moved to Shape to join the Fit & Fabulous. At Shape, Lauren served in a managerial role as the Executive Beauty & Fashion Director and Brand Development Director. Lauren oversaw national beauty business and within her first year and a half, it surpassed endemic business to become Shape’s largest advertising category ($10+ million annual revenue) via multi-touchpoint strategic partnerships. This put Shape on the beauty map not only in the active lifestyle category but also for the beauty/fashion competitive set. Additionally, Lauren secured opportunities to extend the brand beyond its pages by managing the development and production of Shape-branded iPhone apps, workout DVDs, and home fitness accessories (think zebra-print yoga mats). In February 2010, timed for release on Valentine’s Day weekend, Lauren conceptualized and spearheaded SHAPEbride – the first-ever synchronized launch of a magazine, website and iPhone app -- bringing in $2.3 million from 20+ new advertisers ranging from luxury bridal fashion and jewelry to retail and tourism.

After seven years in publishing and with an even greater desire to make the world more beautiful, in early 2010 Lauren decided to move on to pursue her passion on her own two… 5” Louboutins.

Lauren formed Lauren Cosenza Beauty LLC for her consulting and artistry work, and since 2007 has a registered trademark on DIVAlicious® and since 2015, BEAUTYfull®.

Lauren was the original member of the Cosmopolitan Beauty Brains & Blogs blogger panel and created all editorial and branded makeup looks for Cosmopolitan's first and long-standing beauty tutorial series in addition to being featured in Cosmo videos and sponsored brand content.

Lauren served as Style Ambassador for Glamour, hosting videos and events and representing the magazine on TV segments touting the latest trends in beauty and fashion.

Lauren was featured in-book, online and in video for beauty and fashion brand integrations in addition to hosting events and curating the SELF Virtual Trunk Show as the SELF Style Curator. Lauren traveled for SELF and also hosted weekly brainstorm sessions with the team in NYC as an official consultant for the title.

As the Victoria’s Secret Beauty Expert,  Lauren was honored to serve for years doing makeup plus all on-camera videos and press backstage at the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Lauren also represented VS beauty at the Victoria’s Secret VIP NYFW suites and other major editorial and national consumer events. Lauren designed the facecharts and custom looks for VS beauty collections and provided VS-branded tips for magazines, websites and blogs.

Lauren partnered with teenVOGUE as the teenVOGUE Beauty + Style Expert, hosting beauty and fashion events in NYC and other cities. Lauren also consulted in-office to build beauty strategy and brand partnerships.

Lauren has written beauty and fashion columns plus creative directed and been featured in beauty and style brand partnerships for Latinamagazine.

Lauren was selected as a core contributor to launch L’Oreal’s Makeup.com(one of its four original Beauty Squad members).

Lauren was a featured beauty expert for Daily Glow and Everyday Health Beauty where she shared the latest and greatest products on-site and via live twitter chats.

Lauren served as the Bustle (and BDGMedia) Creative Director of Beauty, crafting and executing a comprehensive beauty and overall brand strategy. As major beauty wins amassed, beauty revenue doubled from the year prior. Using beauty as the foundation, Lauren crafted strategies for the fashion and motherhood verticals as well.

Lauren hosted videos for clients such as Aveeno, Brides, Clarisonic, Cosmopolitan, CoverGirl, Dior, Glamour, Lancôme, Latina, Matrix, MoroccanOil, Neutrogena, Nivea, Olay, Redken, Rimmel, Sally Hansen, SELF, Style Coalition, Victoria’s Secret, Zoya and many more – in addition to appearing on TV segments offering personal beauty and style tips.

Lauren traveled to major US cities with top brands to host fashion shows, disperse beauty and fashion tips and debut lines and collections.

Lauren was showcased on the front page of the New York Times Style sectionfor her take on fashion and NYC nightlife. Lauren is a member of Summit Series (since 2009) and also was a memeber of MAC Pro (since 2008) and Cosmetic Executive Women (since 2004).

In her limited free time, Lauren worked for years as a volunteer in New York City shelters teaching the next generation of young women (and men) about inner-beauty and its outward expression, plus donated time when requested to makeover programs for breast cancer survivors and women with MS.

Today Lauren runs a #calienteasfuck premium hot sauce company with her husband and their two little kids. Nico crafted a delicious and addictive product line and Lauren built a culture and a community around a condiment. What started in Brooklyn as a small passion project quickly became a full and rapidly-growing operation, in which she serves as Co-Founder and Head of Brand for Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce.

Señor Lechuga has gotten ink and air from GQ, Men's Health, Cosmopolitan (10+ times), Goop, Martha Stewart, Forbes, Bustle, Hola, Hot Ones, Telemundo, The Joe Rogan Experience and many more. 

Señor Lechuga partnerships include The Joe Rogan Collection crafted with Joe Rogan, Season 16 and 26 of HOT ONES, being chosen as THE FIRE in the Shake Shack x Game of Thrones Fire + Ice collaboration (Shake Shack's then-biggest collab ever), collab salsa macha with celebrity chef Claudette Zepeda, the most premium truffle hot sauce on the market using all REAL truffles with Half Face Blades and many more.

Beyond food and beverage (across DTC, retail, food service and fine dining), Señor Lechuga projects span celebrity, feature film, television, gaming, beauty, fashion, fitness, wellness, lifestyle and print. 

Lauren also currently advises for Wizard Wellness, serves as brand architect for ego death capital and consults for select brands in beauty, wellness and beyond.

A product junkie, insatiable style seeker and semi-dedicated wellness optimizer,  Lauren believes in the beauty and magic of the work. Leading with creative instinct, brand vision and an original and often unexpected POV, rooted in innovation and disruption, Lauren looks outside of categories for inspiration. She finds power in not creating for performance and metrics but creating for immediate impact and long-term connection.

VISION | INSTINCT | STRATEGY