I wouldn’t say that I’ve completely converted to clean beauty products, BUT I have been paying more attention to the ingredients in skincare and makeup products that I’ve been buying over the past year. I honestly learned about Ilia Beauty from an Instagram ad, and we all know that if you express any interest in an ad, Instagram shows it to us AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN! And I was so intrigued by how natural the products looked, the videos on their page and the brand in general I figured I’d give them a shot and order a few products to try out.
So I ordered the Ilia True Skin Serum Foundation (Shade: Salina SF5), Ilia NightLite Bronzing Powder in Novelty and Ilia Natural Brightening Eye Primer. (I’ve since ordered many more products and have updated this post to include reviews of all of them.)
If you watched my Ilia Beauty First Impressions IGTV, then you heard my initial thoughts from the very first time I tried these products! Now I’ve been using them for a little over a month and have more thoughts and ordered more to try and review!
Ilia Beauty First Impressions: Is it Worth it?
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First off, here’s a little background on the brand…Ilia is a skincare-powered makeup company that has safe, potent formulas that protect and revive you skin. All of their products are clean, cruelty free and talc free and a ton are vegan too! They focus in making your skin look and feel alive. Many of their products are multi-use, designed for easy application on the go and are simple to use!
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While I initially only ordered a few products, I’ve since tried MANY more so I’ve updated this post to include first impressions and full reviews of everything!
True Skin Serum Foundation
- Light coverage with a natural finish and great for everyday use. It looks like your skin, but better! Also feels like nothing on your skin, it melts right in.
- It’s best applied with your fingers. You should only need 1 or 2 pumps for your entire face, warm it up by rubbing your fingers together, then apply it to your face and neck, it should melt right in. I tried it with both a brush and sponge and it went on so much smoother and I used less product when I applied it with my fingers.
- I’ve tried 3 different shades depending on the time of year and how tan I am – Salina SF5, Tavarua SF2 & Bowen SF4.
- RECOMMEND!
True Skin Serum Concealer
- Great coverage, but still looks natural. Not thick or heavy. Blends really nicely into the skin and doesn’t crease.
- This concealer paired with the True Serum foundation is the perfect amount of coverage for me for my everyday look.
- Unlike the foundation I like applying this with a fluffy concealer brush.
- I’ve tried 3 different shades depending on the time of year and how tan I am – Chicory SC1, Suma SC1.5 & Lotus SC2.5.
- RECOMMEND!
Natural Brightening Eye Primer
- Claims to illuminate the eye area while keeping natural oils at bay and keeping your shadow and liner on longer. While I don’t think that it doesn’t do that I just don’t think it’s anything special. I’ve never had an issue with eye makeup staying on so primer isn’t part of my daily routine, but maybe if it was I’d feel differently about this product.
- Don’t recommend!
Limitless Lash Mascara
- Absolutely LOVE this mascara! I haven’t used another one since I bought this over 7 months ago.
- Love that the brush has a short side of bristles to curl and create volume and a long side of bristles to lift, lengthen and separate!
- The formula is buildable and doesn’t shed through the day, but comes off easily at night.
- RECOMMEND!
Daylite Highlighting Powder
- It’s buttery soft, illuminating and just slightly shimmery!
- I’ve only tried the shade, Starstruck, but definitely want to try Decades also. Starstruck is more of a rose gold, while Decades seems to be more gold.
- RECOMMEND!
Nightlite Bronzer Powder
- Like the highlighting powder this one is buttery soft too!
- It blends so nicely and never looks overdone!
- I’ve tried both shades! Drawn In is great for the Winter & Novelty is great for the Summer.
- RECOMMEND!
Essential Brow Gel
- Claims to thicken, fill and sculpt brows which I definitely think it does, but I’ve just come to the conclusion that I’m not really a colored brow gel person. I think they always look great when other people use them, but I prefer to use a pencil and clear brow gel. Check out my step-by-step eyebrow tutorial here!
- It’s not for me, but I recommend if you like colored brow gel!
Illuminator
- I’m not usually into multi-use sticks, but I really like this one and love that I can apply it on the go.
- Tried shade: Stella by Starlight, it’s a really pretty rose gold shade that works on me no matter how tan I am!
- One thing I don’t like is that the formula is harder then I’d like so it’s hard to smoothly apply. I’ve tried to warm it up on my skin prior to sliding it along my cheekbone, but it’s still pretty hard. I think warming it up with a blow dryer might make it apply better, but overall I wish it was just slightly softer.
- Don’t recommend!
Hoping to try the Liquid Light Serum Highlighter, Color Haze Multi-Use Pigment & Liquid Powder Chromatic Eye Tint next!! If you want me to try something else from Ilia or if you want a First Impressions post on another brand leave me a comment!
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