Ilia beauty lipstick crayon review

When I have decided to start using natural beauty products (that was about 6 years ago) make-up was one of the hardest things to give up. I like bright colours and pretty packaging and at the time there weren't that many brands that did natural make-up, let alone did it in the way that was appealing to me.

Ilia has got it right every single time. They have great formulations, products look great and the selection of colours is just beautiful. Every time I wear one of their lipsticks I get questions like: what it is I am using and where can they get it (I even had a case of bathroom envy, I thought poor girl was going to break her neck trying to look at the name on the tube of  my lipstick).

Ever since Ilia came into my life I never even looked at a lipstick counter in a department store. But there was one product that I was secretly wishing that I could have, it was Clinique chubby stick. Somehow having a lipstick in a shape of crayon was just hugely desirable to me (no I never got it, I have been pretty good in sticking with natural products)

You can imagine how over the moon I was when I heard the news about the latest Ilia launch. It has finally arrived and as soon as I opened the package it went on my lips.

Ilia beauty lipstick crayon in Karma Chameleon. Obviously I love the packaging. Shaped like a fat crayon, twists up at the bottom to bring the product out. The ingredient list seems to be shorter and a little different from the other lipsticks.

Helianthus Annus (Sunflower) Seed Oil*, Trisostearyl Citrate, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnuaba) Wax*, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil*, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil*, Rosa Canina (Rose Hip) Fruit Oil*, Carica (Papya) Seed Oil. May Contain: Mica, Titanium Dioxide (CI77891), Red 7 (CI15858), Iron Oxide (CI77499, CI77492, CI77491). *Certified Organic Ingredients. Ingrédients Certifiés Biologiques.

My lips felt very comfortably moisturised. It is a matte finish more similar to their lipstick rather than the lip conditioners, but it still has a little bit of the lip balm shine so lips do not look dehydrated.
Karma chameleon is a coral colour. It is very similar to Shell Shock but it is more pigmented, shell shock tends to look a little pink on my lips, karma chameleon stays coral.

It looks most intense for the first hour and then it just stays the same. I find that I do need to reapply after eating if I used a napkin, otherwise it seems to hold up pretty well. Even when wiped off there is still a little colour (not as much as when I use wild child or crimson and clover, but that might be because red colours are stronger).

If you are trying to choose between Shell Shock and this, I would say go for Karma chameleon (unless you prefer a more subtle effect as it does look very bright).

I have read a lot of blogs and books about greening up your make-up and there seems to be a theme: Change the products that you use most and don't worry too much about a bright lippy that you use for special occasions. The thing is with ranges like Ilia available I think you really should make the change, honestly the way they look and feel on your lips I wouldn't swap them for anything else.