Beauty news: ILIA Beauty arrives in New Zealand

The range of ILIA Beauty organic products recently made its official entry into the New Zealand market, a fact that will have many a natural beauty fan jumping with joy! Its local home is in Auckland at the wonderful Glamorpuss Cosmetics and Parlour in Hawkes Bay, and I was lucky enough to try some of the products at the time of the launch.

For those of you that haven’t heard of it - I admit I was in that camp a few weeks ago - ILIA Beauty is a prestige line of natural and organic lip, cheek and eye products that combine “superior colour performance and nourishing organics” in one. Founder Sasha Plavsic has a background in branding and marketing for fashion labels in London, New York and Southern California, but also was passionate about organics and found the market lacking when it came to great makeup. Back in 2009 she says that it became clear to her that organic makeup “was in need of its own “re-branding” – new, contemporary colors, superior packaging and product performance,” and with this in mind, she set about producing safe beauty products that women can love for their look, and trust for their quality.

All ILIA products are made with up to 85 per cent certified organic ingredients and have major multitasking properties judging by the play that I’ve had with them and reviews that I’ve read online. The 23 lip/cheek pieces can be used on their own or mixed and layered to create custom colours and formulations, and I fell instantly in love with the versatile lip conditioners that can be slicked on for a subtle tint of color or layered for increased intensity. Each one is created with up to 85% certified organic, bioactive botanicals including Jojoba oil, Cocoa Butter and Vitamin E, while fresh pomegranate delivers natural antioxidants for protection against free radicals. The result is pure lip care - free of synthetic preservatives, fillers and petro-chemicals - and I say hallelujah to that. The lipsticks are also totally beautiful to use and have great pigment (meaning a little will go a long way) and I’m dying to get my hands on one of their lipstick crayons, which sound amazing too.

Founder Sasha recently said, “Somebody said to me that because it's organic it's good for you, and it doesn't matter if it doesn't work as well as the mainstream stuff … I intend to change their mind”, and I think she will be well on the way.