ILIA Base Face Milk Essence + Lightweight Moisturizer

What the experts use it for.

The concerns the experts tie this product to, in their own words. Paid and founder takes don't count.

Redness1 expert

“This one does a good job to reduce the look of facial redness.”

Sincerely Miss Ash, watch at 7:17

Irritated or reactive skin1 expert

“It calms, it soothes, and it moisturizes the skin.”

Sincerely Miss Ash, watch at 7:17

Skin barrier support1 expert

“And there's also a lot of fatty acids and lipids in here to keep your skin barrier nice and strong.”

Sincerely Miss Ash, watch at 3:10

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored

Sincerely Miss Ash

196k subs

~Yay

"This one does a good job to reduce the look of facial redness. It calms, it soothes, and it moisturizes the skin. There's hyaluronic acid, microalgae, prickly pear, and fatty acids in here as well. [...] I like to use this when my skin is drier, so this is one that I tend to use quite a bit in my morning routine before my serums because of how thin and lightweight it is. [...] I love the Ilia brand [...] and it's one of my absolute favorites."

All 5 takes from Sincerely Miss Ash

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"The reason why I really like this is because it contains four weights of hyaluronic acids. So again, your hctin, this is going to hydrate and plump the skin. There's also microalgae and prickly pear in here which actually helps to nourish the skin. And there's also a lot of fatty acids and lipids in here to keep your skin barrier nice and strong. And I really like this especially if my skin is feeling a little tight, more on the drier side."

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"For skin flooding this is the new Ilia Base Face Milk Essence + Lightweight Moisturizer. I'm not ready to review this yet but so far I'm really enjoying it and this provides a lot of hydration. This is beautiful."

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"This is very, very hydrating, very moisturizing on the skin. It's calming, it's soothing and it's exceptional for all skin types. This is going to be great for the winter months. I've already bought another one so yes, I will be continuing with this because it's that good. [...] It's fragrance-free and it's just wonderful. I put this into the palm of my hand and then I place it all over my face, my neck and my chest. I slather it everywhere."

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"There's fatty acids, there's lipids and sterols to really help protect and maintain a healthy skin barrier. There's hyaluronic acid in here which helps to hydrate in those deeper layers of your skin, but there is also microalgae and prickly pear which can help to hydrate the skin as well and give that comfort that we need when our skin is in a compromised state. [...] I really love this."

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"This one does a good job to reduce the look of facial redness. It calms, it soothes, and it moisturizes the skin. There's hyaluronic acid, microalgae, prickly pear, and fatty acids in here as well. [...] I like to use this when my skin is drier, so this is one that I tend to use quite a bit in my morning routine before my serums because of how thin and lightweight it is. [...] I love the Ilia brand [...] and it's one of my absolute favorites."

Alexandra Anele

1.45M subs

~Mixed

"I don't know if I like that ILIA Base Face Milk Essence + Lightweight Moisturizer just saying I think it's kind of unnecessary and I think it's like adding a little too much underneath my eyes."

No BS Beauty

89k subs

~Yay

"It's a lightweight like toner type essence, [...] fragrance-free with squalane, [allantoin], and argan oil in it. It looks pretty nice and I've heard some comments from lots of you saying you really enjoy it. The smaller size is 1 oz for 28 bucks, but they also have a full size. [...] 1 oz isn't very much and it'll go quite fast."

All 2 takes from No BS Beauty

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"It's a milky fragrance-free essence with squalane, argan oil, fatty acids, [allantoin]. They have a full size, which is really expensive, I thought 58 bucks, or they have the smaller size. I think that's what I'm going to end up getting is probably the smaller size. It's 1 oz versus the 5 ounce because I'd like to try it first. [...] 60 bucks ends up being a little bit of money. Although a lot of these are in that price range, but getting on sale helps."

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"It's a lightweight like toner type essence, [...] fragrance-free with squalane, [allantoin], and argan oil in it. It looks pretty nice and I've heard some comments from lots of you saying you really enjoy it. The smaller size is 1 oz for 28 bucks, but they also have a full size. [...] 1 oz isn't very much and it'll go quite fast."

Allie Glines

829k subs

~Yay

"The Ilia The Base face milk also won an award and it's fabulous. It's a little more lightweight than the Rhode one, which is more rich. If I had to choose between the two, my heart is with Rhode, but this is also a great one that I [...] really love and I think it deserves an award as well."

All 3 takes from Allie Glines

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"It's sinking in really beautifully and it leaves like a buttery finish to the top of the skin that feels really nice. [...] My skin feels like immediately hydrated I really like that so far. I really like the texture. I am definitely impressed with how this went on and immediately like my skin looks and feels so refreshed which is really nice."

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"The Ilia The Base face milk also won an award and it's fabulous. It's a little more lightweight than the Rhode one, which is more rich. If I had to choose between the two, my heart is with Rhode, but this is also a great one that I [...] really love and I think it deserves an award as well."

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"It's been a while since I've tried a new Ilia product besides the face milk, which I really like."

AliceintheRabbitHole

59k subs

~Mixed

"It's also worth pointing out that [...] the box itself calls this a lightweight moisture product, so at what point have you moved from a milky toner into simply a lightweight moisturizer, an emulsion. [...] I see why it's viral, it really is a nice product, but I also think that maybe people should know that you can also just stack moisturizers instead."

What the evidence says.

Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

Alpha hydroxy acids

Alpha hydroxy acids loosen the bonds holding dead cells at the surface. The evidence supports smoother texture and more even tone over time, and they can leave skin more sensitive to sun.

Source: NIH, National Library of Medicine

Humectants and emollients

Ingredients like these draw water into the surface layers and slow how fast it leaves. The evidence is for comfort, softness and hydration rather than for changing the structure of the skin.

Source: DermNet

Frequently asked.

What is ILIA Base Face Milk Essence + Lightweight Moisturizer?

A lightweight, fragrance-free milky essence from ILIA that also works as a light moisturizer, designed to hydrate skin and layer under other skincare.

Is ILIA Base Face Milk Essence + Lightweight Moisturizer worth it?

The gurus mostly approve it, but with enough reservations to keep it in the middle at a Guru Score of 70%.

What is ILIA Base Face Milk Essence + Lightweight Moisturizer's Guru Score?

ILIA Base Face Milk Essence + Lightweight Moisturizer holds a Guru Score of 70%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 5 expert reviewers we have collected.

What is ILIA Base Face Milk Essence + Lightweight Moisturizer good for, according to the experts?

In their reviews, experts say ILIA Base Face Milk Essence + Lightweight Moisturizer is good for redness (1 expert), irritated or reactive skin (1 expert) and skin barrier support (1 expert).