Blurred Lines: Sasha Plavsic On Skin-First Beauty, Vancouver Roots & ILIA’s New Serum Concealer

What if your concealer acted more like skincare than makeup? That’s the thinking behind ILIA Beauty’s new Skin Blur Hydrating Serum Concealer—a featherweight complexion launch designed to blur, brighten, hydrate, and improve skin over time. In this Q&A, founder Sasha Plavsic opens up about Vancouver’s lasting influence on ILIA’s effortless beauty philosophy, why “clean” doesn’t have to mean all-natural, and how the brand is redefining what complexion products can do for skin long after the makeup comes off. —Noa Nichol

 ILIA was founded in Vancouver, and you still call the city home today. How does the “West Coast” philosophy of effortless, skin-first beauty continue to influence your product development, especially with the new Skin Blur Hydrating Serum Concealer? 

Growing up in Vancouver, I was surrounded by this constant dialogue between nature and city life – the ocean, the mountains, and this understated sense of beauty that never felt overworked. That balance really shaped how I think about ILIA. I wanted to create something that felt just as effortless, honest and transparent. Products that make your skin better, that move with you, and that reflect the kind of natural beauty I grew up around. 

Most serum-based products lean heavily into a dewy finish, but you’ve described Skin Blur as having a “blurred versus dewy” finish. What was the technical challenge in creating a formula that provides 12-hour hydration while maintaining an airbrushed, soft-canvas effect? 

Skin Blur Serum Concealer was created to deliver a finish that looks like skin and works like skincare. Skin Blur is a soft, featherweight concealer that melts into skin for a crease-resistant, blurred 12 hour wear. It is infused with powdered microspheres that diffuses skin, delivering a flawless, natural blurred finish. We made sure to focus on the “works like skincare” element of the formula with clinically proven key skincare ingredients like Matrixyl™ 3000 Glyx, caffeine, and sea fennel, designed to keep the skin hydrated and plump at first use—and over time. 

For me, I’ve always had a more delicate undereye area, so a product that was buildable, yet offers a soft featherweight, self-setting finish without settling into fine lines was key. 

You’ve stated that ILIA creates “makeup that makes your skin better.” With ingredients like the Matrixyl™ 3000 Glyx peptide complex and sea fennel in this new concealer, how are you pushing the boundaries of how much a complexion product can actually reinforce the skin barrier over time? 

At ILIA, we believe makeup and skincare are one, so using ingredients like Matrixyl™ 3000 Glyx peptides and sea fennel made sense. Matrixyl™ 3000 is a potent peptide complex that reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles for a firmer, fuller appearance. Sea Fennel Extract is a sustainably-sourced retinol alternative that visibly brightens, firms and smooths. It’s not enough for us to have a product perform upon application—it needs to make your skin better over time, as well. When clinically tested, 96% of users said that Skin Blur made their under eyes look less puffy after 12 hours, 98% of users agreed that it reduced the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles after 21 days and 100% felt Skin Blur had reinforced their skin barrier after 28 days. 

ILIA hosted The Complexion Residency, an immersive pop-up experience in Vancouver this past April, to celebrate this launch. Why was it important for you to bring The Complexion Residency to your hometown? 

Community has always been at the heart of ILIA, and creating opportunities to connect with people in person continues to be an incredibly important part of how we operate. ILIA was born from a belief that high-performance beauty and skin-conscious formulas could coexist, and so much of that philosophy was shaped by my experiences growing up in Vancouver. A city with a deep appreciation for wellness, nature, individuality and understated beauty. 

As the brand has grown, there has always been an undeniable connection between ILIA and the Canadian community: there’s a real curiosity around thoughtful products, ingredient integrity and effortless routines that fit into everyday life. Bringing The Complexion Gallery to Vancouver in this way feels especially meaningful because it’s a chance to celebrate our Canadian roots, connect directly with our community, and invite people to experience the formulas firsthand. We’ve always believed that our products speak for themselves, which is why getting them into people’s hands and creating tangible, real-world experiences remains such an integral part of our strategy. 

As a proud Canadian and founder who still lives in Vancouver today, activating with IRL experiences, exciting brand partnerships and community events is always on our roadmap. Canada is not an add-on market for us; it is part of the brand’s foundation and long-term growth strategy. We don’t see brand growth as something that lives 

purely online. For us, real connection happens when people can experience the formulas firsthand, understand the texture, see the performance on their own skin, and engage with the brand in a tangible way – and we are excited to continue to do that in Canada for years to come. 

ILIA has a very specific stance that “clean” doesn’t mean “all-natural,” and you openly use safe synthetics. How do you navigate the often-confusing “clean beauty” marketing landscape to educate your customers on why a harmony of natural and synthetic ingredients is best for performance? 

At ILIA, we’ve never viewed clean beauty as a trend or a marketing label. We see it as a responsibility to create products that are both safe and truly effective. For us, clean beauty is thoughtful beauty – and in saying that, we believe that not every natural ingredient is good for the skin, nor is every synthetic ingredient bad. It’s about approaching formulation with nuance, transparency and intention, rather than trend-based messaging. 

Our north star is makeup that makes your skin better and we design formulas to change your skin for the better over time. We formulate with carefully selected actives, skin-supportive botanicals and high-performing ingredients that work in harmony to protect the skin barrier, improve texture and deliver results without compromising on wear, finish or experience. That balance is incredibly important to us because consumers should never have to choose between efficacy, safety and beautiful product performance. 

You’ve made a point to avoid fragrance in the majority of your products, especially for complexion. As someone who designs for sensitive skin, how does eliminating fragrance impact the overall “sensory” experience you want users to have with ILIA? 

Fragrance can be one of the most common causes of skin irritation, especially for people with reactive or compromised skin barriers. 

At ILIA, we intentionally focus on creating a sensorial experience through formulation innovation rather than fragrance. To us, it’s about the entire experience of how a product feels, performs, and wears on the skin. Texture, payoff, finish, blendability and how your skin looks and feels after application and over time, all contribute to that emotional connection with a product. When a product melts seamlessly into the skin, leaves your complexion looking healthy and radiant, and feels comfortable on application and over time, that creates a much more meaningful sensorial experience. 

As a pioneer in clean beauty, you’ve watched the category explode since you started the brand. How do you ensure ILIA stays ahead of the curve in a market that is now saturated with “clean” competitors? 

When we first launched the brand, “clean beauty” wasn’t a defined category, so we focused on creating products that worked and, in turn, pioneered the category to what it is today. Our approach was simply to formulate with intention choosing ingredients based on safety, efficacy, and harmony. That thinking continues to guide us today, grounded in transparency and in the belief that thoughtful choices lead to better outcomes. 

You’ve mentioned that bare skin looks healthier after 21 days of using this formula. What is your ultimate goal for the “ILIA face”—is it about the makeup itself, or the confidence a user has when they take the makeup off? 

At ILIA, we see skincare and makeup as one and design formulas that change your skin for the better over time. Our guiding force is creating makeup that makes your skin better, allowing you to be confident with or without makeup on.