In the ever evolving beauty universe there’s always a new trend on the horizon and clean beauty seems to be the movement of the moment. With the plethora of information available on the web, the beauty community is better educated than they’ve ever been and brands have started responding to the demand for better ingredients. The Ilia True Skin Serum Foundation ticks all the boxes required of “clean makeup”.
Ilia’s mission to create cosmetics using only healthy ingredients has landed them in the category of clean makeup brands, and they’re known for their high quality products and sustainable packaging.
- Ilia True Skin Serum Foundation Overview
- Ilia True Skin Serum Foundation Review
- Cruelty Free and Vegan Status
- Where to Buy the Ilia True Skin Serum Foundation
- Final Thoughts
Ilia True Skin Serum Foundation Overview
The Ilia True Skin Serum Foundation retails for $54 and contains 1 fluid oz of product. The foundation is housed in a frosted glass bottle with a pump and there are 18 shades in the line.
Ilia True Skin Serum Foundation Review
Claims
Ilia describes the True Skin Serum as a light to medium coverage clean foundation with a velvety finish, that’s supposed to blur imperfections and leave the skin looking like skin.
Consistency
The foundation has a thinner consistency than a standard foundation but it’s not runny. It blends out very quickly and sinks easily into the skin.
The foundation feels hydrating, like it’s adding extra moisture to the skin which is interesting considering how thin the formula is. It’s got more of a serum texture than the cream texture of other hydrating coverage products like the It Cosmetics CC Cream.
Considering the inclusion of squalane, and several essential oils (rosehip, jojoba and marula), the consistency of the formula makes sense, and it’s reflected in the way the foundation blends and in level of moisture that’s left on the skin. I give the foundation a few minutes to settle in before I apply a light layer of powder and it does feel pretty weightless once it dries down.
Finish
What drew me to purchase the True Skin Serum Foundation was seeing it demoed in one of Lisa Eldridge’s videos. I’ve got a weakness for glowy foundations and I was impressed by how radiant this one seemed.
There’s a definite glow to the finish that becomes very apparent as the foundation blends out. As it dries, the radiance does diminish a bit and you’re left with a very skin like appearance. Even when viewed up close, you wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell that you’re wearing anything on your skin. I’d say the brand’s claim of “skin that looks like skin” is pretty accurate, the foundation looks virtually undetectable once blended out.
Despite it’s initial appearance, this foundation isn’t that radiant once set. Though it’s by no means matte, I wouldn’t really classify it as a glowy foundation, which speaks to the brand’s description of a “velvety finish”. It’s not in the same category as say, Chanel Vitalumiere Moisture Rich or It Cosmetics Bye Bye Foundation.
Coverage
The foundation provides a pretty minimal level of coverage. You can build it up somewhat, but it really won’t to much more than slightly even out your skin tone.
I applied it with a brush for maximum coverage and I noticed that I needed to add concealer to camouflage the redness around my nose (and there wasn’t all that much redness to begin with). I’m really not one who needs my foundation to be super high coverage, I generally stick to light-medium coverage products, but I’m not completely satisfied with the way my skin looks when I wear this foundation.
If you’re looking for just a slight tint to your skin than you’ll probably like this foundation, but if you’re looking to cover even a moderate level of discoloration this may not be enough.
Shade Range
The True Skin Serum Foundation comes in 18 shades which range from fair to deep. It’s not the most comprehensive shade range and there are only two fair shades and three deep shades, however, since the product is very sheer I think each shade should be able to work on a range of skin tones.
From what I could tell from the swatches, most of the shades seem to lean pretty warm so if you’ve got very cool undertones you may struggle to find a suitable shade.
I wear the shade SF3.5 Corsica and it adds a slightly deeper tint to my NC30 skin but works very well once blended out.
Cruelty Free and Vegan Status
Ilia is a Leaping Bunny certified cruelty free brand and the True Skin Serum Foundation is vegan. Their products are also free of gluten, talc, and parabens.
Where to Buy the Ilia True Skin Serum Foundation
- Sephora – Free shipping on orders over $50 and free returns.
- Ilia Beauty – Free shipping on orders over $50 and free returns. Limited international shipping available.
- Credo Beauty – Free shipping on orders over $50.
- The Detox Market – Free shipping on orders over $80. International shipping available.
- Space NK – Free shipping on orders over $75 and free returns.
Regardless of where you choose to purchase from, make sure to check if Rakuten (ebates) is offering cash back. Sephora offers cash back for anywhere from 2% to 8% so it?s definitely worth looking into. If you haven?t signed up for Rakuten yet, you can do so?here, it only takes a minute and then you?ll earn cash back every time you shop through their link. They also have an extension which I recommend installing, that activates cash back on all eligible websites with one click and it also scans for coupons.?
Final Thoughts
The True Skin Serum Foundation didn’t really live up to my expectations in terms of coverage and glow. I like that the texture is thin and weightless, I like that it looks natural on the skin, but I didn’t think it did enough to even out my skin and I was expecting a more dewy finish. If you’re looking for a sheer, very natural looking foundation with good ingredients you may really enjoy this.
Pros
- Weightless feel on the skin once set
- Skin like finish looks very natural
- Healthy ingredients
Cons
- Minimal coverage
- May be too hydrating for oily skin
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Bye now,
