Il Makiage, the digital-first beauty company that recently became one of the fastest-growing brands in the US is now available in the UK.
Formed by the brother-sister duo and entrepreneurs Oran Holtzman and Shiran Holtzman-Erel, Il Makiage launched its first products in June 2018 and specialises in inclusive makeup without compromise.
In that time, its Woke Up Like This foundation has been reviewed more than 90,000 times making it the single most-reviewed beauty product online in the US – you can read our thoughts on it in our Il Makiage foundation review.
Il Makiage also offers a Try Before You Buy service across all of its bestselling products. Within this scheme, you have up to 60 days to try the foundation and concealers in the range. If you don’t like them, you can return them or exchange them for a different shade.
Below we’ve explained more about the brand, how the Il Makiage Try Before You Buy scheme works, and we’ve listed the best Il Makiage UK products.
FURTHER READING: Il Makiage foundation review: Is the Woke Up Like This foundation really worth the hype?
Shop the Il Makiage UK site
Il Makiage’s popularity and cult following are down to the way it uses technology to help people get a more personalised experience when buying makeup online. Since acquiring science startup NeoWize in 2019, Il Makiage UK has used advanced active machine learning algorithms to find your perfect foundation match and concealer pairing.
Il Makiage’s PowerMatch AI technology can pair you with one of 50 foundation shades and it has, to date, received over 90% accuracy without the use of photos or live selfies. We go into more detail further down in our Il Makiage foundation review.
Il Makiage also works a little differently from other makeup brands in that it lets you shop by product, or by “talent.” What the latter means is that instead of scrolling through pages of product shots, you can scroll through photos of makeup looks on real-world people.
Shop the Il Makiage UK site
In addition to its Woke Up Like This foundation and F*ck I’m Flawless concealer trials, in which Il Makiage lets you swap or return either product even if you’ve been using it for weeks, the brand offers a Try Before You Buy scheme.
Within this scheme, which is available in the UK as well as the US, you get to pick three, full-size Il Makiage products from its list of bestsellers. This includes its Mineral Blush, its Setting Spray, its primer and eyeshadows.
Simply click Try Before You Buy next to each product and it will be added to your checkout. The products themselves are free, but you do need to pay for shipping.
If you don’t want to keep any of the items, you can return them within 14 days of purchase. Or you can choose to buy them. The returns are paid for by Il Makiage but you won’t get your initial shipping costs back.
Try Before You Buy UK
Wondering where to get started with Il Makiage UK? Let us help you with our pick of the best products in its collection, starting with the Il Makiage foundation.
£36 | Buy now from Il Makiage
mamabella | mamabella Why we love it: The thought of buying a foundation online can be slightly daunting but Il Makiage’s PowerMatch algorithm can lead you to your perfect shade to match your skin tone. Instead of using a selfie, the PowerMatch quiz shows you a row of faces and asks you to select which most closely match your skin tone.
While this may seem like it’s less accurate, it actually is a pretty easy and quick way of doing it.
It also asks for details about your skin type – oily, combination etc – and the kind of coverage you’re after.
What’s great is that Il Makiage UK also recommends which concealer goes with your skin tone and shade and if the foundation (or concealer) turns up and it’s not quite right, Il Makiage will let you return the shade or swap it. Even if it’s been opened and used for more than a month!
We detail more about the quiz, as well as how to find out what your skin tone and type is on our guide to finding your perfect foundation match.
With 50 shades available for all skin tones: Light, medium, tan and deep, this foundation also comes with four undertones to match your skin: Neutral, pink, yellow, and olive.
Elsewhere, this foundation contains Vitamin E which is a great antioxidant and is great for anti-ageing.
It also has our favourite ingredient hyaluronic acid to keep skin plump and hydrated.
READ NEXT: Il Makiage foundation review
£36 | Buy now from Il Makiage
Il Makiage Why we love it: As you can read in our Il Makiage foundation review, Woke Up Like This can slide off the skin if you’re not using a strong enough primer or powder. Especially if you have an oily skin type like us.
The problem when buying a primer, though, is that if the ingredients clash between the primer and foundation, it can cause pilling, cakiness and more. You can read more about this in our guide on: What does primer do?
To get around this, Il Makiage has developed a primer that’s designed to work perfectly with its foundation. The ingredients play nicely together, and this means that it helps create a flawless base. It has a silicone base, meaning it glides on easily and helps to blur pores.
This can also help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and stops the foundation, concealer or any other makeup product from settling into the creases in your face. It also helps the foundation last much longer. You may not get a full day’s worth of coverage if you have oily skin, but you may at least get through the work day before having to remove, or top up.
Buy now from Il Makiage
£20 | Buy now from Il Makiage
Il Makiage Why we love it: We know using matte lipsticks and creams can very often lead to dry cracked lips. This is far from comfortable, and not very attractive.
That’s where this Il Makiage lip cream comes in.
Reviews of the Il Makiage UK Infinity Long-Wear Matte Lip Cream consistently score five stars and its cream formula is much loved by all, including our editor Victoria.
With 27 shades to choose from – across the spectrum of purple, pink, orange, red, and brown – there’s likely a perfect shade for any occasion. If you’re not sure which colour will suit you, head on over to our What colour lipstick suits me? guide.
Each colour in this Il Makiage Lip Cream range has a vibrant and high-impact burst of colour and is extremely long-lasting. It’s also non-drying and non-sticky, giving you full coverage with an opaque look that doesn’t transfer.
FURTHER READING: What colour lipstick suits me?
Buy now from Il Makiage
£29 | Buy now from Il Makiage
Why we love it: One of Il Makiage’s bestsellers is its Mineral Baked Blush.
Available in eight shades, each one is rich in pigments and pearls to emphasise and light up the cheeks. It’s not an overpowering blush and it has been designed to give you a natural, fresh, lively flush of colour that lasts the whole day.
If you do prefer a more intense glow, this can be applied wet or dry. Using it wet brings out its colour and the pearl effect that you get from this blusher could easily mean this blusher can double up as a natural everyday highlighter.
The mineral blusher is slowly baked on terracotta tiles, which is what apparently makes it so blendable and streak-free. Also, because it’s finely ground, you could even blend this into your foundation to give you a light pink touch.
It contains jojoba oil to add softness and moisture to your cheeks and the addition of Vitamin E in this baked blush gives you environmental protection.
Buy now from Il Makiage
£24 | Buy now from Il Makiage
Il Makiage Why we love it: Another one to add to your complexion collection is the F*ck I’m Flawless concealer from Il Makiage UK.
By taking a simple quiz – very similar to the brand’s foundation quiz – Il Makiage will match you with the perfect concealer. What’s more, if you take the Power Match foundation quiz, Il Makiage will automatically suggest what it thinks will be your best concealer match.
Whether you’re looking for a concealer that highlights or conceals, this concealer is available in 30 shades for four skin types: light, medium, tan and deep along with four undertones: yellow, pink, orange and neutral.
Despite being lightweight, this concealer promises to instantly cover under-eye dark circles, blemishes, dark spots and hyperpigmentation. It can also be used during contouring. You can find out more in our beginner’s guide to face contouring.
Just like with its foundation, if you’re not happy with the match of this concealer, you have 60 days to return to exchange or money back.
FURTHER READING: Best concealer: Discover which concealer is best for your skin
Below we’ll be detailing new launches and giving updates on Il Makiage UK products as and when they come in.
August 2021
In the Summer of 2021, Il Makiage acquired an AI-powered computational imaging startup called Voyage81 for $40 million. It is believed that the technology and expertise from the Israeli firm will expand Il Makiage’s own Powermatch tools to help people find their perfect foundation match the first time.
In particular, Voyage81 uses deep AI-based computational imaging to capture 30 channels of hyperspectral information on the body using just your smartphone camera. It can map and analyse your skin and hair features, spot facial blood flows, and generate melanin and haemoglobin maps.
Victoria is founder and editor-in-chief of mamabella, freelance journalist and Mum. She has a passion for empowering people to feel beautiful whatever their age, size, skin type and budget
