One could say Gina Comminello, owner of Flaunt You! Cosmetics and The Look, a “beauty destination” salon, got into the beauty industry by pure raw talent. In her early 20s, after she’d dropped out of college, Comminello got her first job at a beauty counter in Denver’s long-closed department store May D&F by simply walking in. “I told them I needed a job, they asked doing what, I said I don’t know, and they suggested cosmetics,” Comminello says. “I had never worn cosmetics. I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup growing up, nor did I really have interest in it because my mother took great care of my skin. I started at the self-service Revlon counter.”
One month later, Dior hired her as a national makeup artist: “I went to my first fashion show under Christian Dior. I was hooked and applied makeup on everyone I could.” Next on her résumé: Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent.
But things in the makeup department, she noticed, weren’t quite right. “Why should our foundations match bottles and swatches, rather than our skin?” Comminello asked. “And why don’t we have a refillable compact for eyeshadows so you can replace one color at a time?”
Twenty-two years ago, she started a cosmetics line, now called Flaunt You! Cosmetics, to tackle these issues. It was one of the first companies, in Denver at least, to custom blend cosmetics (foundation, blush, bronzer, lipsticks, and lip glosses). “Our foundation takes 30 minutes to create,” she says. “You sit down with me and we talk about what you like and don’t like in your current foundation. Once we have a color match, we add things like sunscreen and BB cream to create the finish and skin benefits you want.” The line, in addition to custom products, features items for the whole face. To apply them like a pro, schedule a makeup lesson with Comminello, where she’ll share tricks (like how doing your eye makeup before the rest of your face keeps things clean).
“I’m about empowering women,” she says. “People say that Flaunt You! is just makeup, but it’s not. I don’t believe in hiding behind makeup, but using it to enhance your natural beauty. To embrace your beauty is a wonderful thing—it’s like a superpower. The ‘you’ in Flaunt You! stands for Your Own Uniqueness. That’s the company name for a reason.”
Flaunt You! Cosmetics
Available at THE LOOK Hair, Makeup, Skin (75 S. Madison St., Suite 100), THE LOOK Beauty Bus, Salon Utopia (300 Josephine St., Suite 110), and soon other area locations.
