Hi friends!
You know I loveee testing out a new mascara. Well I’d been curious to try something out from Ilia Beauty for a long time now, ever since they showed up in Sephora. If you’re not familiar, Ilia is a natural beauty brand that infuses skincare benefits into their makeup; they offer high-performing, good-for-your-skin products with vivid, punchy color. I’d read nothing but rave reviews on Instagram about their first mascara launch – the Ilia Limitless Lash Mascara, which won both an Allure Best of Beauty Award, and a Glamour Beauty Award. So I decided to give it a go myself after my Bobbi Brown Smokey Eyes ran out.
I’ve been testing out this mascara now for a few weeks, so I’m ready to give you my unadulterated thoughts. Here we go!
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PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Introducing a clean mascara that goes above and beyond the expectations of any natural mascara. Buildable and flake-free, ILIA Limitless Lash Mascara lifts, curls, lengthens and adds just the right amount of volume for fuller, healthy-looking lashes. This lightweight and nourishing formula is made with a blend of organic bee and carnauba waxes to weightlessly condition each lash, while still keeping them lifted throughout the day. After testing over 100 brushes, we landed on a dual-sided brush that easily builds in volume and separates with precision. Gentle enough for sensitive eyes, ILIA Limitless Lash Mascara is complete with organic shea butter and fortifying arginine (keratin) to help boost and enhance lash condition in a classic black finish. Best part..it’s easy to remove with warm water at the end of the day.
25% Organic, 99% Natural, Cruelty Free, Gluten Free
HOW TO USE THE ILIA LIMITLESS LASH MASCARA
Use the shorter section of the dual-sided brush to curl and create volume, then the longer side to build length and separate with precision. One coat lifts and extends lashes with a natural effect, while additional coats build to create a more dramatic appearance. For lashes that are naturally extra straight, use an eyelash curler before application. At the end of the day, simply remove with warm water.
– *Ilia website
MY THOUGHTS ON PACKAGING
The packaging here is really sleek, chic and a joy to hold. The tube has a soft pewtery-gold color with just the company name on it – very understated but lovely. The cap has that pleasing soft-click when you open and close it so you know the product inside is secure from drying out too quickly. There’s also a satisfying “pop” when you pull the brush out of the tube that tells you it’s being scrapped of excess product. There’s nothing worse than an overloaded mascara brush!
RATING: 5 / 5 ⭐️
MY THOUGHTS ON APPLICATION AND BRUSH
Honestly at first, I had very mixed feelings about this mascara – not about the formula, but about the plastic brush. It has this interesting dual-sided brush with longer comb-like bristles on one side, and shorter tapered bristles on the other. I kept poking myself in the eye the first few times I used it, which was not cool at all!
Here’s the thing: if you want denser, more volumized lashes turn the brush all the way with the longer, comb-like bristles pointing well away from you. Then you will not run the risk of poking yourself in the eye. Ta-da! If you want length and separation, use the comb-like bristles and don’t place it too close to your eye like I did.
Now that I’ve gotten the hang of the brush, I absolutely love this mascara! It builds up very quickly and has an intensely black formula that immediately gives amazing definition to your eyes. I do the opposite of what is stated in the ‘HOW TO USE’ section on Ilia’s website – I use the comb-like bristles first, and then turn it around and use the short tapered side to build volume. It works for me!
RATING: 4 / 5 ⭐️
Read this: Maybelline Snapscara Review
Dual-sided brush with comb-like bristles on right side, and short tapered bristles on left side.
MY THOUGHTS ON VOLUME AND THICKNESS
You can get amazing volume with this mascara in very little time. Like I mentioned above, if you use the shorter tapered side you can achieve lovely dense, dramatic lashes with just a few strokes. Nobody wants to stand there wiggling their mascara wand for what seems like eternity! You won’t have to worry about that with this formula.
RATING: 5 / 5 ⭐️
MY THOUGHTS ON LENGTH AND SEPARATION
Same idea as above. You can achieve amazing length with very little effort. The comb side coats lashes quickly and lengthens them really well. And since the brush isn’t too overloaded with product, you won’t get too many of those annoying blobs that you have to brush through in a panic before they set.
RATING: 5 / 5 ⭐️
Read this: The Best Drugstore Mascaras & Eyeshadows 2019
MY THOUGHTS ON WEAR
I haven’t noticed much, if any, smudging or flaking with this formula. It wears quite well on me throughout a full day’s wear (that’s about 10 – 12 hours typically). I haven’t had it long enough to tell you how long a tube lasts before it needs to be thrown out or replaced though. The standard shelf-life of most mascaras is about 3-4 months.
RATING: 5 / 5 ⭐️
MY THOUGHTS ON PRICE
This sits pretty firmly in what I refer to as the “mid-market” range – $28.00 for 0.25 oz/ 8 g. (For reference, Maybelline Total Temptation Mascara contains 0.27 oz of product for just a few bucks at Target. It also thickens and lengthens the lashes quite well.) Although I usually prefer buying my mascaras from the drugstore, I still absolutely love the effect that the Ilia Limitless Lash Mascara gives me. I don’t mind spending a little extra cash every now and then for a product that I really like using and that delivers on its claims.
RATING: 4 / 5 ⭐️
Wearing the mascara on my top lashes here. It’s difficult to get a shot that highlights lashes only, so this is the best I could do!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Despite some initial fumbling with the brush and the subsequent eye-poking that occurred, I’ve grown to totally love this mascara. It gives me volume, length and seriously black lashes – all I could ever want from a mascara! You just have to get the hang of using the brush correctly.
You can shop the *Ilia Limitless Lash Mascara here.
What’s your go-to mascara of the moment? I’d love to know!
xo, Erica
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This sounds like a really nice mascara. I’ve been using e.l.f. and it flakes really bad.
It is! A little frustrating at first, not gonna lie, but once I got over the hump it’s absolutely lovely and exactly what I want from a mascara. I just decluttered one from Ardell that flaked really bad; I got no patience for that!
My goto mascara at the moment is IT Cosmetics Superhero but they really need to work on their packaging. There is no popping when you pull the wand out & there is always way too much product on it. 😭 Your lashes look lovely with this one on!
Thank you! I’ve heard amazing things about the Superhero but haven’t tried it yet myself. My mom actually hated it though! I think it smudged all over for her, but she definitely has oilier eyelids than me. I hate when good products have bad packaging!
It smudges all over my hands & face during application & under my eyes while I’m wearing it but I can’t give it up because of how pretty it makes my lashes. 😭
Oh wow, that’s dedication!
LOL, I know… 🙁 I wish I could find another mascara that makes my lashes just as long & luscious but not such a mess.
If I were you, I’d either splurge and go for the Hourglass Caution Mascara or maybe try the Kokie Volume + Length for cheaper. It’s not the easiest brand to find but I believe they’re still carried at Walmart, but you can double-check that online.
Kokie is sold at my Walmart! Thanks for the recs, I’ll probably check both them both out sometime in 2020. 🙂
Yay! Lemme know how it goes!
Nice review! I’ve been wanting to try this mascara for awhile and will buy it soon!
Thanks so much for stopping by! It’s an amazing product, I highly recommend.