Lilah B. Overview

If you browse Instagram at all you've seen these cute little Lilah B. pebbles everywhere. Lilah B. believes in a minimalist collection, using less products to achieve the same thing. Their products are multi-purpose and the philosophy of the company is With less, you are more. I can relate to some degree as the years go on I find myself wanting less and less of a complex makeup routine. I want high quality products that are easy to use with a routine I can complete in five minutes. I used to love doing really complex eyeshadow looks and perfecting my gel flick eyeliner. Now I just want a neutral shade slapped on my eyelids with some eyeliner, mascara, blush and topped off with a natural highlighter. Plus light foundation obviously. I've really been into creamy textures lately for makeup as they are so easy to use and look very natural. I actually find that as I get older I want less makeup because heavy makeup makes me look older. Not to mention it melts off here in Texas in about two hours. So rant over and onto these pretty pebbles.

I've got four Lilah B. products to talk about, two of them are the same just different shades. I actually started with the Glisten + Glow Face Illuminator as I adore creamy highlighters. Details per Lilah B.:

A multi-purpose complexion must-have. Exclusively packaged in our iconic stone compact in lilah b.’s signature metallic bronze finish. Awaken and revitalize a dull complexion with this luxurious whipped formula. As part of an overall beauty routine, healthy, radiant skin becomes instantly attainable when worn alone or as an all-over base for our Flawless Finish foundation. Impart an uplifting glow as a brow highlighter, illuminate and sculpt cheekbones, contour a nose or define a cupid’s bow with a natural-looking candlelit luminosity.

Key Ingredients + Benefits

-Black Currant Seed Oil Extract and Sunflower Oil Concentrate: effectively reduces inflammation and stimulate repair to replenish natural skin radiance
-Carotenoids, Plant Sterols and Essential Fatty Acids: helps strengthen skin’s complexion and visibly improve brightness and vitality
-Brown Sea Algae: contains skin firming properties to help improve texture and tone

Glisten + Glow is a shimmering champagne shade with a dry touch creamy texture. This is one that sets down or has a more velvety power like finish in the end. It won't stay moist and transfer/slide around your face all day. I love this type of cream texture. The shade is very natural, it does have some larger micro glitter particles that I thought would be too much glitter (I don't do even micro glitter anymore) for me, but on application to the skin it's actually very natural and I can't tell. You can use this as a makeup base to add a little luminescence all over or on the basic highlight areas like browbone, cheekbone, nose or cupids bow. It's a large pan & there's plenty of it so no reason to be shy. I love the weighty metallic bronze case. It's super luxurious and sleek. The pebbles slide open to expose the product then they click shut with a magnetic hold. This champagne gives you that easy candlelit glow.

Top to Bottom-Lilah B. Glisten + Glow Sheer then Heavy, Kjaer Weis Radiance, Natasha Denona Light, Zoeva Strobe Gel Halo, Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Beauty Highlighter Wand:

I grabbed two shades of the Divine Duo Lip & Cheek-b. dazzling & b. lovely. The Divine Duo is your multi-purpose lip and cheek tint. Details per Lilah B.:

Double your pleasure with our multi-purpose, creamy lip and cheek duo with a luxurious matte finish. Long-wearing yet creamy and moisturizing, our innovative formulation provides blendable and buildable color – perfect for day and night. Apply as a cream eyeshadow for the ultimate multitasker.

Key Ingredients + Benefits

-Coconut Oil: smooths and moisturizes
-Aloe: contains soothing and moisturizing properties
-Agar: leaves skin hydrated and glowing

These are housed in a smaller white pebble compact. The texture is thin and creamy but it doesn't have too much of an oily texture. It's not a velvety matte texture like the highlighter either, but it sets down to some degree so it stays put and doesn't slide around your face. These are insanely pigmented. You only need a little bit. This is the perfect kind of cream blush texture for me. Creamy enough to blend & they set down enough to stay put. I don't like ones that are too oily textured, dewy or glossy.

Now I always find that the duo lip and cheek products never work for me. If they're the perfect drier texture for my cheeks than they're too dry and matte for my lips. If they're perfect and hydrating for my lips then they're too moist for me as a blush. The Divine Duo's are the first for me. I love them as cream blushes but I found them too drying for my lips. They give a pigmented semi-matte stain to the lips. If you like a matte or semi-matte lipstick or lip tint you'll love these. I'm over matte and I like glossy sheer lipsticks at this point in my life. You could cover this with a balm or gloss to make it hydrating but I am solidly a one lip product only girl now. So these are really only cream blushes for me.

b. lovely is a medium to deep warm pink nude. It is incredibly pigmented and you only need a bit. This gives a nice warm natural flush to the cheeks. b. dazzling is a shimmering pink champagne. This is very pigmented and more frosty than Glisten + Glow. I actually like the pinker tone of this better than the more yellow/beige tone of Glisten + Glow. b. dazzling suits my skin tone better. It's the perfect highlight shade that just melts right into my skin for a natural glow. This is way too frosty and light for me to wear on my lips. It's not my kind of lip shade. I actually use b. lovely on the cheeks and b. dazzling as the highlight so I wear them together. What I'm waiting for is Lilah B. to make a nude pink shade that's lighter in tone than b. lovely. That would be my dream blush shade (hint hint).

Top to Bottom-Charlotte Tilbury Formentera, Lilah B. b. lovely Heavy then Light, Estee Lauder x Victoria Beckham Blonde Mink, Cle de Peau Cream Blush  #4, Decorte Cream Blush Be350:

The most recent Lilah B. item I grabbed is the Marvelous Matte Creme Foundation in b. classic. Sephora describes b. classic as a medium with neutral undertones. I would say that's pretty accurate. This is going to be for your NC 25-30 people. Probably best as a NC25-27 range as the true NC30 skin tones might find this a touch too light for them. Details per Lilah B.:

An innovative, whipped, creamy foundation that provides full coverage. Infused with nutrient-rich ingredients to soften and hydrate skin. Blendable and buildable, it helps improve skin texture by smoothing, concealing and evening out skin tone. This lightweight, creamy formula feels like a liquid but transforms to a powder matte finish giving you a natural, flawless looking complexion. Perfect for all skin types.

Key Ingredients + Benefits

-Rosehip Seed Oil: helps strengthen the complexion and visibly improves brightness and vitality
-Aloe Vera Extract: nourishes and hydrates the skin
-Avocado Oil: provides skin with deep moisture and a protective barrier

Directions To apply using a brush, swipe brush into the foundation and buff into skin starting in center of face and working out. To apply using a sponge, swipe sponge into the foundation and press into skin starting in center of face and working out. Layer for desired coverage.

The cream foundation is housed in the typical white pebble the same size as the Glisten + Glow. This is kind of like a full coverage cream stick foundation only in a compact. It has the same feel as far as coverage and weight as a full coverage stick. It does have that slightly whipped texture and it is buildable. I wouldn't really go with light coverage for this. I would say it goes from medium to full for a range. It's a higher coverage foundation in general. This needs a stiff brush to apply it well. I found the foundation blended into the skin much better with a stiff brush than with your fingers. I didn't test a Beauty Blender but that would probably make this look really good as well. When I applied it with my fingers I noticed it could look more cakey and didn't have that flawless finish I got from using a stiff brush. I say stiff because this is a thick foundation, it needs a stiffer brush to really pick it up well, a floppy brush will not grab as much product. That being said only grab a hint of product. Start light and work it in, then go for more. A little goes a long way with this one, don't overdo it first round. This worked better with a few layers built up rather than one heavier layer. At least for me.

The heavier cream texture will blend into the skin well when applied right. I went too heavy the first time and it was cakey and settled in my pores. I also used my fingers that first time. This foundation will set down to a more semi-matte finish. It's not full on matte as the rosehip & avocado oil keep this from being too matte and drying. While playing with this I noticed whether I liked it or not depended on things like how I applied it, what primer I used and oddly what the weather was like. I first tried this when it was about 100% humidity and 90 degrees outside & I used my fingers to apply it. It looked so heavy, settled into my pores, it broke down mid-day and got oily in my t zone. I hated it and thought this is going back.

Now I am not a heavy, full coverage or matte foundation lover at all. So keep that in mind. My preference is for liquid foundations with light to medium coverage that gives a more dewy finish. I tried it with a brush in the same weather and while it was a bit better it still got oily in the t zone and I wasn't into it. I pulled it out again this week now that's it's not humid and in the 60s and it was so much better for me. It didn't break down or get oily in the t zone anymore. I could see the more semi-matte finish it was designed to have. I tried this over different primers this week and found that if I wore it over a mineral sunscreen it actually got too dry for me (mineral sunscreens dry me out by the end of the day). I wore it over a chemical sunscreen today and it was the best it had been to date.

Today is the first day I enjoyed this foundation at all, it seemed to work better for me. That being said I had to work really hard to get it to work well for me. Most of it is my weather, it's hot and humid most the year here in Texas. In the winter when I could wear this I tend to need a dewier more hydrating foundation to balance the drier air. That in combination with my preference for lighter, more liquid and dewier foundations means this wasn't a foundation I loved. I think this one is going to be a personal preference whether it works for you or not. A matte full coverage cream foundation is not for everyone. That being said it's better than a lot of other ones in that same category I've tried. I really want to see a liquid foundation from Lilah B.

Overall I like a lot of things about Lilah B. The luxury pebble cases are to die for. Truly killer packaging. I do wish they made them refillable as they are a pricier line. The cases are so heavyweight and they'll last forever so it would be nice to just refill a pan and waste less on the packaging. Plus I hate buying really pricey makeup just to toss the outer package. Most of the time these natural makeup brands go bad quicker and it's nice to toss the inner pan and refill it with a fresh cheaper refill.

I love the natural skin loving ingredients they use. Avocado, coconut, black currant & rosehip oils, aloe, algae, carotenoids. Very nice. I would love to see the shade range expand mostly with my dream nude pink blush and see b. dazzling as a large sized pan in that stunning bronze case. Maybe there can be a Glisten + Glow sister one day in the same shade as b. dazzling because it's the perfect highlighter shade. I liked the line overall and look forward to seeing what else Lilah B. comes up with as I do need more pebbles.

Top to Bottom-Lilah B. Foundation b. classic, Highlighter, B dazzling, B lovely: