ILIA Makeup Review

In a continual effort to explore clean beauty options, and through taking advantage of a recent sale at Sephora, I’ve stocked up on some items that I’ve had my eye on for a while. One of those items is the ILIA Discover Clean Color Makeup Set.

I’ve heard great things about their Limitless Lash Mascara, so when I saw that a mini of the mascara was included in this set, I jumped at the chance to try it, along with some other ILIA makeup products.

I’ll discuss my experience and thoughts on these ILIA products in this ILIA makeup review.

UPDATE: I’ve been enjoying ILIA makeup products so much that I’ve purchased more ILIA products such as their Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 Foundation. Scroll to the bottom of the post to read about my experience with this foundation.

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Ilia Discover Clean Color Makeup Set

I purchased ILIA Discover Clean Color Makeup Set, which is no longer available, as it was a limited-edition set. But all of the products in the set are still available at full size:

• Multi-Stick in At Last (dusty rose)
• Limitless Lash Mascara
• Tinted Lip Conditioner in Forever (mauve)
• Liquid Light Highlighter in Nova (soft gold)

While not part of the set, I also purchased their True Skin Serum Concealer after hearing great things about the performance of the product.

Let’s start with my impressions of the items in the set:

The stick has a soft buttery texture that melts into your skin upon application. This is thanks to sunflower seed oil, shea butter, and avocado oil in the formula.

The Multi-Stick shade included in the set is At Last (swatched above), a dusty rose which I think would work well for most skin tones.

I lightly swiped it against my hand above but you can create a deeper color if you apply additional pressure or multiple layers to your skin.

I love that once applied, the color is easily spreadable and very natural looking. This stick will be a new addition to my makeup bag since it is an easy grab-and-go product for both the cheeks and lips.

It can be applied to your cheeks with a buff brush or to your lips with a lip brush. I think the best way is to apply with your fingers directly to your face since it blends quickly and easily.

A 2019 Allure Best of Clean Beauty Award Winner, ILIA Limitless Lash Mascara lifts, curls, lengthens, and volumes with a blend of organic bee and carnauba waxes.

This mascara is gentle enough for use on sensitive eyes and conditions your lashes with shea butter and arginine (keratin).

I love the dual-sided brush that separates lashes really well without a lot of clumping.

Use the shorter section of the brush to curl and volumize your lashes, and then flip over to the longer side. Use this side to lengthen and separate your lashes.

The mascara is available in only one color: Soft Black. While I prefer to use a Black-Brown for my light lashes, I don’t mind the black color since there are so many other benefits to this mascara.

Once the formula has dried on your lashes, I love that you can touch your lashes, and they actually feel soft and don’t flake. The mascara is also easily removed with warm water.

For me, this mascara works well and provides an understated natural look. Yet it is buildable, so a glam look can also be achieved with this mascara.

ILIA Tinted Lip Conditioner

ILIA Tinted Lip Conditioner is a mix between a light lip color with a rich lip balm. It’s formulated with sunflower seed oil, cocoa seed butter, and orange peel wax.

The shade Forever is included in the set I purchased. This shade is described as Mauve.

While I found the color bit too deep and pigmented for my liking, I’m sure it will work much better for other skin tones

What I did love was the fact that the lip tint felt like a lip balm on my lips. Super moisturizing and hydrating.

Cruelty-free and gluten-free, and 85% organic, this lip conditioner is currently available in 12 shades. Choose from peachy neutrals to deeper berry shades.

Metallic is the first word that comes to mind. It leaves a bright and dewy finish. It is formulated with marine actives that firm and protect against free radicals and UV light.

The highlighter also contains mastic, which works to refine the texture of the skin, smoothing and evening the skin’s appearance.

Hydrolyzed algin, which is extracted from algae, helps to control oil and bacteria.

As you can see from the ingredient descriptions, the highlighter contains skincare ingredients that nourish your skin.

Nova is the shade I tried, which is a soft golden color. The color is luminous and glowy when applied above the cheekbones, but it also provides a beautiful hit of metallic color when applied to the eyelids.

You can also mix it in with your foundation for an all-over glow.

Liquid Light also comes in the shade Atomic, which is a pink pearl shade, and Astrid, a rosy gold shade. This product is vegan, cruelty-free, gluten-free, and silicone-free.

It contains stabilized vitamin C (yes!) to fight free radical damage, Albizia julibrissin bark extract to reduce the appearance of fine lines and puffiness, and mastic, a tree resin to refine and mattify the skin throughout the day.

The concealer comes in 12 colors (I use Chicory SC1). It helps to reduce the appearance of dark circles and other imperfections and brightens the skin under your eyes.

I love this concealer! The first reason that I love the concealer is the coverage.

I really wasn’t expecting very good coverage, but it covers my dark circles really well! I also love the color match that I found in the shade Chicory. Plus, it’s a lightweight formula.

The applicator is different in that it is rectangular and somewhat flat, making an application under your eyes quick and easy.

It wears well and doesn’t crack as much as other concealers that I’ve tried. And to top things off, the product ingredients read like it is a skincare product!

The concealer is vegan, silicone-free, and cruelty-free.

I’m so pleasantly surprised by the concealer and so glad I purchased it! After trying and loving the concealer, I saw that ILIA also has introduced True Skin Serum Foundation. Of course, I had to try ILIA Skin Tint, too!

This tinted SPF combines skincare, makeup, and sun protection into one product. The SPF contains non-nano zinc oxide, which will protect the skin from UVA, UVB, UVC, blue light, and infrared rays.

The ingredients read like an anti-aging skincare product. This foundation contains a blend of macro and micro hyaluronic acids, plant-based squalane (6%), and my holy grail skincare ingredient, niacinamide at 2%.

Niacinamide calms, protects, regulates sebum production, and more. As a result, this serum foundation will help soften fine lines and other imperfections. ILIA Skin Tint will also plump the skin and support the skin barrier thanks to hyaluronic acid.

It is packaged in a bottle with a dropper applicator. I make sure to shake the bottle well and then apply a few drops to my palm.

I apply the skin tint to my face with my fingers and then build the coverage with additional drops depending on where I need it. The skin tint applies as a lighter shade when it is wet and will deepen once dried.

This is an absolutely lovely lightweight foundation (shown above in 7 Diaz) that doubles as skincare. And it includes an SPF, so essentially, you have a 3-in-1 product.

The coverage is a little light for me, but I can build it up to light-medium if I use a few extra drops. The finish is beautiful, glowy, and so natural looking.

I think this would work best for those with normal to dry skin since the coverage is so dewy. Perfect for days when you want lightweight coverage plus SPF!

This award-winning clean serum skin tint comes in 18 shades, is silicone-free, fragrance-free, chemical screen-free, oil-free, non-comedogenic, and safe for sensitive skin.

ILIA Clean Beauty

ILIA was launched in Vancouver in 2011 by Sasha Plavsic with the goal of creating products that perform but are also formulated without unwanted ingredients.

The brand was named after the middle name of Sasha’s brother, Zachary, who joined the company in 2013 as a partner. The name has multiple meanings, one of which is organic and healthy, which fits the brand to a tee.

ILIA balances functionality with sustainability through the hybrid use of safe synthetics and clean ingredients. Natural and organic botanicals are used as a base and where needed for the best performance, safe synthetics are incorporated into their formulations.

They make an effort to be transparent about all of their ingredients and even view their products as makeup infused with skincare.

When it comes to packaging, they make an effort to be sustainable wherever possible. They use recycled aluminum, newly introduced glass components, and post-consumer recycled paper printed with vegetable-based dyes.

One thing that strikes me about the brand is the vibrant colors used in their products. When it comes to natural makeup, vibrant is not a word that comes to mind, but in the case of Ilia Beauty, it does.

ILIA Makeup Review: The Bottom Line

I am so pleasantly impressed with the ILIA beauty products that I’ve tried. I can’t wait to test more from the brand. My favorites so far are concealer and mascara and I am loving ILIA skin tint foundation.

The only product that didn’t work so well for me is the lip conditioner due to the shade not working with my skin tone.

Have you tried ILIA makeup? I’d love to hear if you’ve tried any of their clean beauty products!

Thanks for reading!

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