ILIA Shades of Us

Beauty brands are always talking about ‘shades’ in exactly the same way: light or dark, deep or fair, warm or cool… Shade-finding is the conversation the category has been stuck in for many years, treating women as tones to be matched.

In 2020, launching an expanded shade range was both crucial, and delicate. Brands were being scrutinized more than ever on how they approach messaging and representations of diversity.

With this campaign, we invited women to wax poetic on the colors in their skin and how they see themselves. Through their free association, we gave voice to the dimensionality and aliveness of skin. As they speak to their different hues, we can see how we all have a multitude of colors within our skin tone—and how many of these colors we share.