But it isn’t just new shades of the Multi-Stick that Ilia just launched. Also making its debut onto the makeup stage is an entirely new format: a limited-edition Multi-Stick Face Palette, to be exact.
“We looked at it like a painter’s palette and what was pleasing to the eye,” Plavsic says of how she chose the array of new and well-loved shades for the compact: In The Mood, Whisper, and In The City joined by Cosmic Dancer, Tenderly, and At Last. “I do believe these six shades will be our best sellers, which always makes it exciting to offer to our customer as an amuse-bouche before committing to the full size.”
I gave the new palette a try with a little reluctance if I’m being honest. I personally prefer the convenience of applying a stick directly to my cheek or lips and not needing to apply it with my fingers. But let’s be real — I blend it with my fingers anyway, so the difference is negligible. Although this formula looks amazing on bare skin, I decided to apply a light-coverage foundation first to see how it interacted. For my cheeks, I went with the warmest of the pink shades, peachy newcomer Whisper.
I was pleased to find that you really can’t pick up too much — the product in the pan is truly solid, not at all mushy — yet you don’t need much to create an apparent wash of color. Furthermore, the formula is buildable (just in case you want it to be more apparent), and it didn’t disturb or swoosh around the foundation underneath as I blended it.
Next, I used a smaller amount of classic color Cosmic Dancer, the champagne hue, to dab on my cheekbones as a highlighter. Although it has a pearliness to it, it’s anything but sparkly, and instead creates a dewy sheen. And even though the formula isn’t technically indicated for the eyes, I couldn’t resist rebelling and using the new bronze shade, In The City, on my lids for a hint of gleamy color.
I wanted to go with my favorite of the new shades, Dear Ruby, for my lips, but it didn’t make the palette cut, so I applied it the old-fashioned way. Although it’s quite wide, the original stick format is still very easy to use as lipstick. I tend to blot it on versus gliding it on — though either technique works — and then I spread the tint with my finger a bit for more evenness. Dear Ruby is decidedly not as your-lips-but-better-adjacent as some of the other, more subtle shades, but its semi-sheer, non-glossy finish strikes a balance between bold and understated.