Ilia Beauty Lipstick Crayon Review & Swatches – Dress You Up, Iko Iko & Come Undone

Ilia Beauty first launched in Canada. They are focused on sourcing certified organic bio-active botanicals and creating products that are as effective as their conventional counterparts.

There’s a huge range of colours in their collection, including more high impact, trend driven colours. I was drawn to their lipstick crayons. Don’t ask me why. I’ve been hoping to find more companies who also make them but I haven’t had much luck.

They describe their Lipstick Crayon as:

‘Packed with healing oils of Coconut, Sesame and Cranberry Seed.’

Each product has up to 85% bioactive organic ingredients. This technically means they don’t have official certification and when you read the ingredients below, you’ll notice that some are not certified organic. These lip crayons are vegan. Read my post on which products contain beeswax here. Keep in mind they use small amounts of synthetic dyes.

These expire 12 months after opening and they are $24.00 US for 0.08oz or 2.2g. You can buy at Mecca Cosmetica for $35.00 AUS. Ilia does not ship directly to Australia.

Ingredients:

I love the functionality of a twist up crayon. These tubes are made from recycled aluminum, with the logo printed on the side. The colour is displayed on the twist up mechanism, as well as the being printed on the bottom. The lid pulls off and you can wind up product as needed.

As a side note: they’re probably one of my favourite products to photogragh so far. The way the aluminium gives a sheen under light looks so gorgeous.

The texture is thin and not sticky. It is emollient enough to fill out fine lines. I would assume that their lipsticks are thicker and more moisturising. The sweet vanilla smell is not overpowering and does not linger.

This is not a completely opaque lip product, but still has decent medium coverage, that can either be sheered out or built up to high coverage.

Swatches:

Dress You Up, Iko Iko & Come Undone

Dress You Up

‘Our first true mauve that will suite most skin tones. This rose-berry hue is just enough color to take your lips from a day to night look’

This one was my first Ilia purchase. The mauve is over taken by the berry pink when I apply this to my lips. As a spring colour, it’s perfect and it livens up my skin. I don’t like it applied too heavily though, because it then it sits on top of my lips and looks too unnatural. It is quite similar to the RMS Beauty Lip2Cheek in Modest, but with more mauve.

Ilia Lipstick Crayon Dress You Up – 1 layer

Ilia Lipstick Crayon Dress You Up – 2 layers

Ilia Lipstick Crayon Dress You Up – Light and heavy swatch

Iko Iko

Brighten and blend with our other shades for a sheer bronze shimmer. “Talk-in’ ’bout, Hey now! Hey now! Hey now!…”

I adore how warm this coppery bronze wears. I don’t have any other colours like this. The golden micro shimmer is so fine, it gives a gorgeous sheen. I do think this changes the formula slightly though, as it feels the thinnest of the three.

Come Undone

A quiet nude with a motto of less is more. Come Undone is the perfect compliment to a sultry eye, offering a subtle tone of color.

Surprisingly, there is enough warmth in this nude, so it doesn’t wash me out. It’s also not too light and the formula glides on. It’s less brown, so it does feel more of true nude. Ilia have created a lot of nudes, so I am glad to have found one that suits.

PROS:

Moisturizing
Fragrance is light and goes away
Natural looking when used with a light hand
Vegan
Slightly more expensive, but not exorbitantly priced
Packaging is travel friendly
Packaging also means you don’t waste product when sharpening
Not pigmented enough to be an opaque lipstick, which makes it more wearable
Not a thick formula

CONS:

I would prefer it to be completely unscented
Smaller amount of product than conventional lipsticks
Use of synthetic dyes.
Not quite pigmented enough to be an opaque lipstick, which if that is what you’re expecting, you’ll be disappointed

Final Word:

Comfortable, sheerer than a completely opaque lipstick, these crayons are easy to apply. The colours are not so bright that it’s unwearable during the day. You can still build them up for more impact and they never feel too thick. The scent is noticeable but not so strong that it affects me.

The surprise colours for me are Iko Iko and Come Undone. I thought having a bronze colour on my lips would look ridiculous, but it’s so wearable and flattering for my skin tone. I thought Come Undone would be too light, yet it works perfectly and still has warm undertones. It’s not brown either, so it feels like a true nude.