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Category Archives: Pale Skin
Louis Vuitton S/S 2012 inspired by “pale girls who don’t see the sun”
I know this is primarily a beauty blog, but if you’re a fellow pale-skinned person, you probably know that finding clothes to flatter your skin tone can be just as difficult as finding make-up (I was recently admonished by a fellow blogger for wearing a cream-coloured dress, which is just Not Done when you’re pale), so I was pleased to read today that Louis Vuitton’s Spring/Summer collection was apparently made with us pale girls in mind!
The collection’s creator, Marc Jacobs, said the collection was inspired by “pale girls who don’t see the sun”:
“[It evokes] a poetic melancholy. Organzas that recall Death In Veniceand pale girls who don’t see the sun! They [the models in the show] have a cloud-like quality, almost dreamlike. The collection is fragile, but strong at the same time; it’s pretty and a little magical and removed.”
I say I’m “pleased”: Louis Vuitton is out of my budget, sadly, but some of the looks from that show, and other S/S 2012 shows, have already started to filter down to the high street, and I’m loving all of the pastel colours, and the profusion of mint green, which was practically made for us readheads. And isn’t it nice to see pale skin being presented in a positive way for once?
[source]
Products for Pale Skin: NARS Illuminator in ‘Orgasm’
It happened again last week.
I was out visiting family, and a casual acquaintance of theirs – a woman I’ve only met a few times – suddenly zeroed in on my pasty complexion.
“Are you feeling OK?” she asked, cutting across the conversation we’d all been having to address me. “Because, it’s just, you’re SO PALE! You really look ill!”
Embarrassed, I explained (with the help of the other people present, bless them, who agreed that my complexion looked the same as it always does) that I was feeling perfectly OK, thanks, but, like many other redheads, I have very pale skin, and that this is how it looks.
My questioner was not to be appeased, though.
“You really don’t look well at all,” she told me. And then, addressing the room at large, “She’d look a lot better with some colour in her cheeks.” (I was wearing my usual makeup, including blusher) at the time. “I’d like her better with some colour.”
Now, as some of you know, I am not ashamed of my pale skin. I firmly believe that pale skin can be just as beautiful as any other shade, and I am not going to apologise for the face I was born with. Or, as Lady Gaga might say, “I was born this way, baby!”
But.
With all of that said, there’s no denying that I was stung by this woman’s comments, as I always am when someone tells me that my natural skin colour is unattractive or, in this case, makes me look “ill”. I don’t expect any healthy person enjoys being told that, do they? Because saying someone “looks ill” is just another way of saying they look BAD. Unless you know a person very well (or they’ve told you that they actually ARE ill), I think it’s one of those things that are best left unsaid. Never ask someone if they’re pregnant unless you can see the baby crowning, and never tell someone they look ill unless the ambulance is on the way, or you’re sitting by their bedside. Some free Dollface advice for you, there.
Over the next few days, then, I found myself looking at myself even more critically than I normally do, and I had to acknowledge that while I don’t think I looked ill, I am certainly much paler at this time of year than I am during summer, say. This is something that always happens to me in winter. I wear sunblock all year round, but in Spring and Summer I find that my freckles will darken just from being in the sun, which gives me the appearance of “having a bit more colour” as my new friend would say. By January, however, I haven’t seen the sun for such a long time that my freckles fade completely and my face becomes almost paper white (er, not exactly, obviously, but you know what I mean) without so much of a hint of natural colour.
When that happens, my usual makeup just doesn’t cut it any more, so I dug around in my beauty box, and I came up with this:
NARS Iluminator, in ‘Orgasm’. As you may remember, I received this as part of a complimentary Glossybox a while back. After my initial experiments with it, though, I found I didn’t use it much, because it wasn’t particularly visible on my skin. That was back in August, though, and I’d had three weeks in the California sun, plus the “best” of the UK summer. Now that I’ve tried it again on my much paler face, I have to retract my original comments on this. Yes, it’s still very subtle. No, it doesn’t create the kind of difference that makes you go OMGLOVE! But, having been wearing it all over my face (with the exception of my forehead, which really doesn’t need to look any shinier, thanks, and is mostly hidden by my fringe anyway), I find that it does take the edge of my pallor, and gives me a slightly healthier “glow”, as much as I hate that word.
I’ve moved this from “occasional use, only when I remember it” to “daily essential”. For now, at least. Next time I see that particular acquaintance, I may just let my pale flag fly!
Makeup for Pale Skin: Dainty Doll Blusher in 001 and 003
I promised a while back to show you some more of the products I was sent from the Dainty Doll by Nicola Roberts line, so today here are the two blushers I received: well, better late than never!
I was sent these in 001 (Hippy Shake) and 003 (Money Talks):
As you can see, the 001 shade is a very pale pink, while 003 is a light brown, with a hint of shimmer:
I have to confess that neither of these shades are ones I would have picked myself – one is too pink, the other too brown – so this in’t really a “review” as such, because I’ve only worn them to try the colours. I can’t really even call this a swatch post either, because both colours are so pale that it proved almost impossible to photograph them on my skin!
If you look veeeery closely, you can just about see them!
This, however, is by no means a criticism of these blushers, because, of course, the whole point of this line is that it’s intended to be worn on pale skin, and the very pale, sheer coverage is a good thing in that respect, as many of us pale-skinned girls really struggle to find products that aren’t too bold, or heavy. These, by comparison, are very light, and I was particularly keen on ‘Money Talks’ (003), which is the perfect pale-girl “bronzing” shade:
I wouldn’t wear it on the apples of my cheeks, but it’s a good colour for shading and contouring, and a quick swipe over the forehead and cheekbones will also help give you a bit of a glow. Unlike conventional bronzers, it’s not too dark, or too orange, and I’ll be doing a bit more experimenting with it in the summer, I think.
The pink colour, meanwhile, is very, very pink:
This doesn’t look good on me – it’s actually too pale, which is something I’m really not used to being able to say! I have quite a few freckles, however, which make my face a bit darker than it would be otherwise, and if I use this shade on my cheeks, it makes me look paler than I really am, and a bit ill! If you have one of those perfect, porcelain complexions I so envy, however – a true “doll face” – I think this could look gorgeous!
In this photo, you can’t really see the blusher at all: I’m wearing 001 on the apples of my cheeks, and 003 in the hollows under the cheekbones. The main issue I have with 001 shade is that because it’s so pale it sits on top of my freckles, and, in real life, looks quite “obvious”. As I said, though, on a very white complexion, I think it could give a lovely flushed look!
These cost £13.50 each, and are available at Harrods and Boots.
Dollface Reviews: Dainty Doll liquid foundation in 02 – Light
This week, my continuing search for foundation for pake skin led me back to the Dainty Doll line, by Nicola Roberts, and specifically to the new liquid foundation, which is £22 at Harrods.
I was sent this as a review sample, and the colour I received was shade 02, “light”, which is the second palest in the line. Now, at first I was a little worried about this, because I haven’t worn the second palest shade in a foundation line in my life. In fact,while my search for pale foundation has been a long and hard one, it’s also been pretty straightfoward: for instance, I never have to spend ages standing around at a beauty counter, swatching lots of different shades of foundation. I only need to try one – the palest – and if it doesn’t work, then I simply move on.
I fully expected shade 02 to be too dark for me, then, but of course, I was forgetting that this is a range designed specifically for people with pale skin, and that means that the lightest option may not be the best. So I gave it a go, and, much to my surprise, it was perfect.
I found it really hard to photograph this properly, because, well, it’s pale. Here are a couple of swatches, though:
Not the greatest pictures in the world, obviously, but basically this is pale, with yellowish undertones, and it is definitely pale enough for my skin, which is the thing I was most interested in. (I’d be really interested to see the palest version as a comparison!)
I was also really pleased with the consistency of this, which is your basic, mid-to-heavy coverage liquid foundation. Some of you may remember that the very first version of Dainty Doll’s foundation was a thick, cakey consistency, which was an absolute pain to apply: so much so that I gave up completely. This is much better, and while it’s still not the most blendable foundation I’ve ever tried, it’s a huge improvement, and the coverage is pretty good, too, and builds up well.
The finish is fairly matte, which means that the shininess in this photo is all my own, unfortunately:
Overall, I would recommend this for anyone who sturuggles to find foundation pale enough for them: and if you’re paler than me, I’d love to hear what you think of the lighter shade!
I have some other Dainty Doll products to swatch for you soon, so keep an eye out for those, too!
Click here to buy this from Harrods.
Dollface Reviews: Soltan Invisible Dry-Touch Transparent Suncare Spray SPF 50
I’ve written here a few times now about my sun-screen buying woes, but, well, it looks like I’m going to do it again. Sorry.
Because my skin is so pale, I don’t go out without first of all slathering myself with a high SPF sunscreen. Now, this can be a bit of a pain, because here in the UK, most high factor sunscreens tend to be of the thick, white, gloopy variety: they take ages to rub in, they leave your skin looking shiny, greasy, and even whiter than it was to start with, the smell is strong enough to knock you out, and, just to top it all off, they almost always end up staining your clothes, and let me tell you, that stuff almost NEVER comes out. Oh, and you’ll generally pay something in the region of £15 per bottle for this.
For this reason, I normally buy my sunscreen in the U.S. This summer, for instance, I bought two cans of Walgreens’ own brand dry spray, for about $10. It was SPF70, and it was the kind of clear spray which dispenses as a “mist” and dries instantly: all you have to do is depress the pump, wave it over your body for a few seconds, and you’re done. I love it, and there are always lots of different brands that come in the same kind of format, for the same kind of price.
This stuff is almost impossible to find in the U.K. I’ve purchased various cans of sunscreen which looked and sounded like the stuff I buy abroad… but which actually contained a product which was white and runny, rather than clear and dry. And it’s always cost me around £15 per can, too. Most of the time I just try to stock up when I’m in the US, and bring enough home with me to last the rest of the year, but unfortunately my habit of maxing out my luggage allowance meant that this year I just didn’t have any space for sunscreen.
Enter Soltan Invisible Dry-Touch Transparent Suncare Spray.
Soltan, as you probably know, is Boots’ own brand sunscreen, and I’ve used it quite a bit over the years. A couple of weeks ago, however, I noticed Boots were selling the “Soltan Invisible” variation of it for just £5.99 per bottle, so I jumped at the chance to try it out.
First, the good stuff:
1. It’s clear.
2. It’s “dry touch”, which means minimal rubbing-in, and no greasy skin afterwards.
3. It doesn’t have an overpowering smell.
4. It goes up to SPF50, which is normally high enough for a UK summer.
5. It’s currently reduced to £5.99 per bottle.
As for the “bad stuff”, well, there’s only really one thing I don’t like about this, and that’s the pump action spray. There are actually a few different brands in the UK which sell similar clear-spray sunscreens, and I’ve found the same issue with all of them, which is that the pump dispenser is generally quite stiff, and impossible to use with one hand: I find I have to brace the bottom of the bottle against something in order to depress the pump and dispense the product, so, rather than spraying it directly onto the skin, I normally end up having to spray it into my hands and then rub it into the skin from there. The American brands I use, by contrast, come in a aerosol-style can, with a pump which can be depressed with one finger, allowing you to just “mist” it over your skin, with no rubbing-in required.
That said, however, this is definitely one of the better sunscreens I’ve found on this side of the Atlantic, and while there are other brands which offer clear-spray in the same kind of bottle, this is also by far the cheapest, at the current price of £5.99, which makes me tempted to stock up before it goes back to the usual price of £11.99.
One further word about this: it claims to be water-resistant, which is a claim I haven’t been able to put to the test, as the water in the UK is far too cold to make me ever want to swim out of doors! I have, however, used it on a couple of the hottest days we’ve had since I bought it, when I was out in the sun all day, and I didn’t get even the tiniest hint of sunburn, so it does seem to work well in that regard, although obviously, as it’s a clear spray, you will have to be a little more careful when you’re applying it to make sure you don’t miss a bit!
This is still reduced at Boots, and you can click here to buy it.
Dollface Reviews: Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Alabaster (Foundation for pale skin)
Some of you may remember me talking about Bobbi Brown’s Long Lasting Foundation last month, and wondering if the ‘Alabaster’ shade might be a good match for my pale skin. Well, this month I decided it was time to stop wondering and find out: the Bobbi Brown corrector I use had reached critical levels, and while I was replacing it, why, a bottle of the Natural Finish Foundation just so happened to slip into my online shopping cart along with it. Fancy that!
It arrived a couple of weeks ago, and I’m just going to answer the critical question right away: YES. It’s a perfect match for my skin. I hardly ever get to say that, so this is kind of a big deal for me. I’d actually been worried that it would be TOO pale: I already use Bobbi Brown concealer/corrector in the shade up from this, which is Porcelain/Porcelain Bisque. It’s very pale as it is, so I wondered if Alabaster might turn out to be one of those pure white shades that are really only useful for editorial looks, or mixing in with existing foundation to lighten it. I needn’t have worried, though, because as I said above, it’s pretty much perfect:
This was really hard to photograph, so apologies for the quality of these swatches. The first one is the “right out of the bottle” product, the second shows – or tries to show – it once it’s been blended in. As you can see (or, er, can’t see), it blends in so well it’s almost indistinguishable from the surrounding skin. What you may or may not also notice from these photos is the yellow undertones. I’d worried a bit about this, too, as my skin is pink toned, but it’s actually worked out really well for me: yellow is great at cancelling out dark shadows under the eyes and other areas of discolouration, so it’s helped with that, while not being yellow enough to make me look sallow.
For the benefit of my pale skinned friends, I did a couple of comparison shots with some of my other foundations:
L-R: Bobbi Brown, Dainty Doll in Ivory, Lancome Renergie Lift Foundation in Porcelain, Revlon ColorStay in 110 Ivory, Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation in RF120. (Some of these are swatched here.)
And swatched:
These have all come out a little darker than they are in real life, with the exception of the Dainty Doll, which is pretty true to colour. As you can see, though, this isn’t quite as pale as Dainty Doll but it is paler than the other three, and the difference is much more pronounced in real life. I was actually wearing it in yesterday’s photos , so I won’t bore you with more photos of my face, but if you’ve arrived at this post via a Google search and want to see what it looks like on, you can see it here.
Enough about the colour, though, what about the foundation itself? Well, in that respect, it’s very true to its name: a natural finish. The bottle has a pump dispenser, and when I first used it, I didn’t think I was going to like it, as it’s runnier and lighter than I’m used to: lately I’ve been using my own mixture of Revlon ColorStay combined with Illamasqua 105 (a pure white) to make it pale enough to wear. Those are both heavy duty, thick coverage foundations, and, in comparison, this is more of a medium coverage, although it does layer up nicely. What I noticed as soon as I started to apply it, however, is that it truly does have a natural finish: it basically seems to melt into the skin, so you don’t look like you’re wearing foundation – there’s none of that “caked on” look, and it doesn’t settle into fine lines either. I was really impressed with how natural it looks on, and that, combined with the great colour match has really made a difference to me – I feel like my foundation looks much less like “makeup”, and more like skin, which obviously a big point in this product’s favour.
My one small criticism of this would be that it’s not quite as matte a finish as I usually like. My personal preference is for very matte foundations, and my usual ColorStay/Illamasqua combination really soaks up any excess oil on the t-zone. I don’t normally have to use powder with Revlon, but I have been having to use it with this from time to time, depending on just how shiny my skin decides it wants to be of a morning. This is a small price to pay for such an otherwise fantastic foundation, though: to be honest, I can’t really think of a good reason for me to want to switch from this, although, in the interests of “research” I’ll probably try some of the other foundations from the Bobbi Brown line too, as they all come in this Alabaster shade.
This is £29 at Bobbi Brown. Expensive, yes, but worth every penny for the colour match alone…
Beauty Wish List: Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Alabaster
My foundation supplies are starting to run a little low, so I’ve been looking around for my next purchase, and think I may have found it: Bobbi Brown’s Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Alabaster – a shade paler than pale!
This particular shades is actually available across all of Bobbi Brown’s foundations (I picked this one to add to my Wish List because it has a matt finish, and promises to soak up moisture – perfect for my shiny t-zone!), and is the main reason for my interest in this product. I’ve written before about the difficulty of finding foundation pale enough for my skin, but this shade is designed with us palefaces in mind. In fact, my only concern is that it may actually be too pale: I have a Bobbi Brown concealer in Porcelain, which is the next shade up (and used to be the palest Bobbi Brown offered. It’s actually about to run out too. Why must all of my products choose to die simultaneously?), and it’s very pale itself, so I’m both very impressed that the brand has thought to release a shade even paler than that, and a little worried that it might be pure white!
I don’t have a Bobbi Brown counter near me, unfortunately, so it may take me a bit of time to get round to testing this. Anyone else tried it and care to give me your opinion?
(Click here to buy it for £29)
Dollface Reviews: Max Factor Xperience Weightless Foundation in Light Ivory
As I’ve mentioned more than a few times here, I have real problems finding foundation that’s a good match for my pale skin, so when Max Factor offered to send me a sample of their new Xperience Weightless Foundation last week, I didn’t hold out a whole lot of hope that it would be pale enough for me.
Well, I guess this is a good lesson for me that when it comes to foundation, it’s worth trying everything, because when it arrived, I was actually really impressed by how pale it was:
Dollface Reviews: Lancome Rénergie Lift Makeup in Lifting Porcelain
I’ve been promising a review of Lancome’s Rénergie Lift Makeup ever since I bought it, way back in June, so I figured it was time I actually got around to it.
This foundation was a bit of an impulse buy. I spotted it in the duty free section of Sanford airport on my way back from Florida this summer, and was drawn in by two things:
1. The colour. I got the lightest shade available, which is number 10, ‘Lifting Porcelain’. I could tell right away that it would be a good match for my skin, and because it’s so unusual to find foundation pale enough for me, it was worth buying for that reason alone.
2. The ‘lifting’ bit. This claims to not only even out your skin and cover imperfections, just like every other foundation on the market, but to also “to visibly lift slackening skin and blur lines and wrinkles for 12 hours”.
Well, that was all I needed to convince me: I bought it with the last of my dollars, and for the past two months, I’ve been alternating it with my Revlon ColorStay, using Revlon on the days when only the thickest coverage will do, and this when I feel I can get away with something a little lighter.
Rénergie offers mid-level coverage, although it layers up quite nicely in areas where you feel you need a little extra. It’s a lightweight texture, which goes on smoothly and evenly, and is just really nice to apply. I posted a swatch on my post about foundation for pale skin, but just in case you missed it, here it is again:
Dollface Reviews: Hylexin eye cream for serious dark circles by Bremenn Research Labs
Ever wondered who actually buys all of those expensive skin creams you see in Sephora et al? The ones which carry too-good-to-be-true style claims on their boxes about how they’ll get rid of your dark circles, or make you look 16 again overnight?
Yeah, that would be me.
In my defence, I don’t buy all of them. I have, however, more than once been described as the “ad man’s dream”, and this means that I will linger too long in front of those stands, looking at the shiny rows of products and thinking to myself, “Well, if it works, it’ll be a bargain, really!”
This is how I came to find myself standing in line at Sephora this summer, waiting to purchase a tube of Bremenn Research Labs Hylexin: the new wonder cream for dark circles under the eyes. Well, that and the fact that I was desperate. Totally desperate, people. As long-time readers will know, the last year or so has been a never ending battle between me and the dark circles under my eyes. Actually, the phrase “dark circles” doesn’t really do justice to what I have. They’re more like dark canyons, which people could get lost in for days. They make me look ill and exhausted, and by the time my summer holiday rolled around, I was ready to try just about anything.
I have to back up a bit here, though: earlier this year, as you may remember, I’d had some success with Nivea’s Aqua Sensation Anti-Shadow Eye Cream, which I’d been pretty pleased with for the price, although it hadn’t totally shifted the circles. It had long since run out, though, and by the time I reached the bottom of the jar, I’d started to find it much less effective than it initially had been. It was clear that something much stronger was required in my fight against dark circles, and as I wandered around Sephora, carefully avoiding all the mirrors so I wouldn’t have to see my vampire-face looking back at me under those harsh lights (Pretty sure they do that to convince you to buy more makeup, by the way. It totally works.), it became clear to me that the “something” I needed was going to be Hylexin.
Now, this costs $59, which is a lot for me to spend on an eye cream, and an indication of how much I wanted it to work. Before leaving on my trip, I had actually done quite a bit of reading about this product, and had discovered mixed reviews of it: those who loved it seemed to REALLY love it, while those who hated it said it did absolutely nothing whatsoever for their dark circles. On balance, however, I’d found more positive reviews than negative ones, which was why I decided to take the plunge. Oh, and the fact that there was actually a photo of my under-eye are on the box helped too:
