Pearly Perfection: ILIA's New Face Palette

When you think beach, ocean, mermaid — what season comes to mind? Certainly not fall and winter.

ILIA Beauty is hard launching their holiday sets and the theme is rather beachy, but the sparkly winter holiday aesthetic needed a refresh anyways.

A superficial glow isn’t enough, with Ilia’s new holiday collection, you can “Glow deeply”. And that glow isn’t inspired by crushed diamonds or twinkly lights, it’s a pearly iridescent nod to the sea.

The Ethereal Baked Face Palette ($58) features a highlighter, 2 blushes, and bronzer in 3 shade collections (light, medium, deep) wrapped up in a shell-shaped compact. 

They’ve isolated 3 beauty routine steps to add depth and dimension to your face. With key ingredients like edelweiss extract, winged kelp extract, and plant-based squalane, your skin is glowing with hydration.

Product offering aside, the concept dances between pairing the sea with holidays and still honoring Ilia’s earth-toned neutral aesthetic. The juxtaposition of abstract designs with stone and pearls creates the perfect blend.

Rather than feeling like a jarring winter holiday promo while we’re still in fall mode, it feels soothing — like swaying in the ocean.

Now, let’s dive into the “Glow deeply” notion. The beauty industry is desperately trying to be more real, more inclusive, and more authentic with the occasional fantasy sidequest. Here-in lies the double entendre of glowing deeply, embracing your natural beauty (a mainstay in Ilia’s brand ethos) and a dimensional radiance as deep as the sea.

In addition to the Ethereal Baked Face Palette, Ilia launched The Essentials Set, The Beauty of Balm Lip Set, and The Party Set all wrapped in red-hued subtly sea themed packaging. They’ve also partnered with chic lifestyle creators like Alana Hosn, to showcase how their holiday sets seamlessly integrate with Ilia’s existing product line.

But what caught our eye, seashells aside, was their focus on you.

This isn’t a new concept. Brands know consumers buy a lot of things for themselves, however it doesn’t hurt to remind them they deserve something special.

Sure, you can put exactly what you want on your holiday wishlist and your mother-in-law or good-intentioned boyfriend will still buy you the wrong shade or the alternative they swear is better. With beauty and skincare, it’s a personal purchase, you know your skin better than anyone, so why not give yourself exactly what you want?

If you’re thinking of gifting yourself something pearly, but still wading in the shallows… Ilia’s brand is more than skincare or beauty, they’ve always been clear on their commitment to sustainability and giving back — starting with their One Tree Planted partnership.

After launching the Ethereal Baked Face Palette, Ilia announced an additional partnership with Oceana, donating funds to “help protect and restore our world’s oceans” through the Deep Beauty holiday collection and Skin Tint sales.

Campaign & packaging art by Swedish artist Emma Larsson.

In addition to supporting environmental causes, Ilia products are sustainable by design. When you’ve used up all of that pearly radiance, you can pop out the product pan and continue using the compact to store small beauty items or recycle it.

Take a shimmery swim and shop the sets on iliabeauty.com and Sephora.