Ilia Beauty
Quick verdict: Ilia built the skin-first category, and the Super Serum Skin Tint is still the product every other clean brand is answering. The formulas perform, the ingredient reasoning is unusually honest, and it’s Leaping Bunny certified, which we confirmed in their directory. Two things temper it. Third-party certification stops at cruelty-free, and since February 2022 the brand has belonged to the family behind Clarins. Our rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Who they are
Sasha Plavsic started Ilia in 2011 after reading the label on her own lip balm and not liking the answer. The brand bootstrapped to roughly $100 million in sales by 2021, tripling from $30 million in 2019, which is the kind of run that attracts buyers.
In February 2022, Famille C, the private holding company of the Courtin-Clarins family, took a majority stake. Clarins itself holds a minority stake directly, alongside CEO Lynda Berkowitz and Plavsic, who stayed with the brand.
If that arrangement sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same family that controls Pai, which we also list and also disclose. Famille C isn’t a conglomerate rolling up brands to strip them, and Ilia has kept its formulas and its team. It’s still true that the profits now flow to one of the larger families in European cosmetics, and you won’t find that on the packaging.
What they get right
- Leaping Bunny certification, verified in the program’s own directory rather than taken off a badge.
- The formulas actually work. This is the part the ethics conversation tends to skip. Clean makeup spent years being a compromise, and the Super Serum Skin Tint is a large part of why it stopped being one.
- They’re honest about what “clean” means. Their own standard says plainly that clean isn’t a regulated term, that not every natural ingredient is good for skin, and not every synthetic is bad. After a few hundred brands implying the opposite, that reads as respect for the reader.
- A published exclusion list, more than 50 ingredients, alongside full ingredient disclosure on every product.
- Recycled aluminum and glass components, plus a takeback partnership with Pact Collective for empties, which is more than most of the category bothers with.
Where they fall short
Certification is the weak spot, and it’s the reason this scores where it does. Leaping Bunny covers animal testing. That’s the whole audited list. There’s no COSMOS, no organic certification, no B Corp. Compare that with Pai, under the same ownership, which holds four. Ilia’s standard is self-defined and self-policed, and however sensible it reads, self-policed is a different category of evidence.
Ownership costs it too. Half a point on our second criterion, applied the same way we apply it to Native, Schmidt’s and Well People.
And it isn’t cheap. A skin tint is $48, a mascara $29, an eye cream $46, a barrier cream $64. There’s no refill system to bring that down over time.
What they sell and what it costs
Skin tints, foundation, concealer, mascara, lip, blush, eye makeup, and a small skincare line. Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 is $48, Limitless Lash Mascara $29, Color Block Lipstick $29, Bright Start eye cream $46, Barrier Build cream $64. Brushes run $27 to $28, and most products have a $7 sample size, which is a smart way to test shade before committing.
Who it’s actually for
Anyone who wants clean makeup that behaves like good makeup, and who cares more about performance and ingredient transparency than about certification marks. The skin tint is the right entry point, and the $7 samples make shade-matching low risk.
If audited certification is what you’re buying, Pai holds four marks to Ilia’s one under the same owner, and Well People is cheaper with more certification behind it. If independent ownership matters to you, this isn’t it.
Deals and discounts
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Related reading
- The Best Natural Makeup Brands
- Toxic Skincare Ingredients Worth Avoiding
- Endocrine Disruptors in Cosmetics
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Ilia Beauty?
Famille C, the Courtin-Clarins family holding company, has held a majority stake since February 2022, and Clarins holds a minority stake directly. Founder Sasha Plavsic kept a stake and stayed on. It’s the same family behind Pai, which we also list.
Is Ilia Beauty cruelty-free?
Yes, and it’s certified rather than self-declared. Ilia appears in the Leaping Bunny program’s own directory, which is where we checked it. That covers animal testing specifically, not the rest of the brand’s clean claims.
Does Ilia meet a real clean standard?
By its own published standard, which is more transparent than most: full ingredient lists, an exclusion list of 50-plus ingredients, and a stated position that clean isn’t regulated and synthetics aren’t automatically worse. What’s missing is third-party verification of any of it beyond cruelty-free.
Is the Super Serum Skin Tint worth $48?
For most people who’ve been looking for coverage that doesn’t sit on the skin, yes. It’s the product that made skin-first makeup mainstream and it still outperforms most of what copied it. Try the $7 sample first, because shade matching is where this category goes wrong.
How does Ilia compare to Pai or Well People?
Ilia wins on performance and range. Both of the others win on certification: Pai holds COSMOS Organic, B Corp, Vegan Society and Leaping Bunny, and Well People is cheaper with more marks behind it. Pai shares Ilia’s ownership, so it isn’t the answer if independence is what you’re after.