Colette opened in Paris in 1997, a concept store that decided for a generation what was worth wanting, and it closed in December 2017. Colette Roussaux ran it, and getting a product onto those shelves was the dream of every young brand. Sasha Plavsic, the founder of ILIA, has said her early break came when she mailed a note and a product to Colette. After that, eyes were on her from the rest of the retailers.

That early break makes sense once you know where the brand came from. Plavsic grew up in Vancouver, studied typography in London and New York and worked as a branding executive in Los Angeles. ILIA started in 2011 after her mother told her to read the ingredients on her favorite lip balm, and she set out to make one that was, in the brand's words, safe, effective and natural. The name is her great-grandfather's, and her brother Zac is now her business partner. You can see the typographer in the packaging: plain white and four letters.

ILIA The Base Face Milk is the clearest version of that thinking. It is a vegan essence and lightweight moisturizer, fragrance-free and, the brand says, non-comedogenic and safe for sensitive skin, with hyaluronic acid, a barrier complex, microalgae and a cactus flower extract. It is not a grippy silicone primer. It is skin care that happens to sit under makeup, and Plavsic calls it her base for anything, morning and evening.

The trick is to use the milk as step two and then let the color stay light. Under the Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 it makes a two-step morning. Under the True Skin Serum Foundation it gives a steadier canvas. The Skin Blur concealer, the Skin Rewind stick and the True Skin Radiant Priming Serum each have a place, and the Soft Focus Finishing Powder and Blurring Blush finish the face without building it up.

The Multi-Stick is the clearest argument for buying one multi-use stick before three single-purpose ones. It works on lips and cheeks, and it is easy to blend with your fingers, which is how I would apply it in a cab.

The rest of the line fills out a bag the same way. Limitless Lash Mascara launched around 2017, according to Plavsic, and it is the one I would hand to a friend who wants a simple, clean lengthening formula. Thru Line Waterproof Eyeliner is for a morning that will end in rain or in tears. Balmy Tint Hydrating Lip Balm, Overglaze Hydrating Lip Gloss and Lip Sketch Hydrating Lipstick + Lip Liner Crayon are three levels of color, from a tint that hides in a pocket to a crayon that does the whole mouth.

Lightshift is the cream highlighter and Sunshift is the cream bronzer, both marked weightless and for 12 hours of wear. Use them after the milk and skin tint, in small dots, and blend with your fingertips before the skin cools.

A pairing I like: Balmy Tint on the lips, Multi-Stick on the cheeks in a similar shade, and the mascara alone. Five minutes, three sticks, no mirror required.

What I would skip: stacking a cream bronzer, a cream highlighter and a stick blush in one go on the first try. Add one at a time and stop when your face looks like your face.

An essence goes on best with your palms, pressed against the face, not rubbed. Warm hands help the liquid sink in, and pressing instead of dragging keeps the skin calm before makeup.

The milk is a milk, so if you like your prep more watery, these are the ones to compare. Augustinus Bader's The Essence, SK-II's Facial Treatment Pitera Essence and Natura Bissé's Diamond Cocoon Hydrating Essence are the three classic essences, and I would put them at the start of a night routine as well as a morning one.

If you want something that grips a little, the primers are a different job. Sisley Paris's Instant Éclat Illuminating Primer sits under makeup for a finished look, and Underglow Blurring Primer from London does the blurring job. Natasha Denona's HY-GEN is a hydrating primer serum, MAC's Faceglass is a skin gloss and primer, and AORA México's INICIA is an illuminating antipollution primer, which is how the brand describes it.

Go essence first, the milk second, and a primer only in the places where makeup slides, usually the T-zone. You do not need a primer all over.

What I would skip: a primer and a milk and an essence on a rushed morning. Choose one prep product and one tint, and leave the rest for the weekend.

The neck is where a skin tint has to agree, so match it there in natural light, not at the jaw under a bathroom bulb. A tint that looks right on the neck will look right everywhere.

Counter's Dew Skin Tinted Moisturizer is the dewy one, Sisley Paris's Phyto-Hydra Teint is the most luxurious, and Dior's Backstage Glow-Up Skin Tint has SPF 20. Laura Mercier makes two that are nothing alike: the Oil Free Blurred Matte Skin Tint with SPF 30 for oily skin, and the Light Revealer with SPF 25 for people who want a glow.

Peter Thomas Roth's Water Drench is an SPF 45 sheer tint with hyaluronic acid. U Beauty's The Super Tinted Hydrator and Gucci's Glow Skin Tinted Moisturizer with hyaluronic acid and bakuchiol are the two I would save for a special morning.

Apply the milk, let it settle for a minute, then press a pea of skin tint out from the center of the face. You will use less than you think.

What I would skip: a matte tint over dry patches in winter. Switch to a dew formula and you will look a lot less tired.

The milk is a quiet product for people who have stopped wanting makeup to do everything. It is skin care first, tint second, and the brand has been saying that since Plavsic read the back of her lip balm in 2011.

So I would buy the milk, one skin tint and one multi-stick, and wear them for a week. If your skin looks like your skin, only better, you have found the routine. Colette is long gone, but the note still works: be polite, be clear, send the good thing. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together The ILIA Skin Tint and Six Lip Tints and ILIA Foundation Guide.