History

Lipstick can tell such a story. This particular story began 2 years ago when I decided to find out what the small print on the back on the box really meant. The answer I found wasn’t surprising but did raise more than a few concerns that pointed life in an entirely new, and unexpected direction.

My first experience was at age 13, with mom’s “nicely nude” lipstick. An ongoing love affair, taking me from explosions of matte colour, to a sheen so sticky, that the slightest breath of wind would capture my long hair against my lips, like a Venus fly trap.

To revive those lips between takes, I would turn to my waxy, petroleum friend that we’ve all turned to in times of need - lip balm.

Like an explorer in search of new land, I became obsessed with finding a lipstick that could condition, colour, perform and most importantly be made of only “the good stuff”.

There were a large selection of ‘natural’ cosmetic brands to investigate, though many contained ingredients with unwelcome substances like parabens, petro-chemicals, and synthetics. Others, were perfect in an organic formula, but stumbled in performance and colour selection. Finding a lipstick case that looked and felt like it could be a class above the rest also proved challenging, and kept me coming up empty handed.

The more I researched, the more I realized that what I wanted in a lip product was what other women wanted also. So, the story of ILIA Beauty begins...