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Tag Archives: foundation
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: 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:
Perricone MD No Foundation Foundation
As soon as I heard the phrase “No Foundation Foundation”, I started getting excited. I mean, this is basically The Dream, isn’t it? Foundation that doesn’t actually look like foundation? Flawless skin, without heavy coverage? Count me in…
And don’t get me wrong: I love my heavy coverage. My skin isn’t naturally flawless, so Revlon Colorstay is currently my best friend, but there’s no getting away from the fact that thick coverage comes at a price, and often that price involves foundation falling into the lines under the eyes, or just generally looking like thick foundation (and actually, it can sometimes make your skin look worse, rather than better, especially in direct sunlight).
Perricone MD’s No Foundation Foundation, however, is designed to be the answer to all of that, so when the company offered to send me some to try, I jumped at the chance. Here’s what they have to say about the product:
Created to keep skin looking dewy and flawless, this unique formula delivers many benefits of a traditional foundation without the heavy matte finish, which emphasizes the tiniest skin imperfections. No Foundation Foundation is a multi-purpose product that provides natural translucent coverage, corrects skin undertones, instantly smoothes fine lines and boosts skin’s natural moisture throughout the day, all the while delivering antioxidant benefits.
When it arrived, the first thing I noticed was the medicinal appearance of the bottle – perhaps unsurprising, given the name of the company, and the fact that it was developed by a skin doctor. The pump dispenser comes separately, and screws onto the top of the bottle, allowing you to get the right amount onto your skin. Because the coverage is supposed to be translucent, it comes in “one universal shade”, and this turned out to be problematic for me, because I don’t think there IS one universal skin shade, and this one turned out to be too dark for my skin:
Dollface Reviews: Revlon ColorStay Makeup in 110 (Ivory)
I mentioned Revlon’s ColorStay Makeup in my roundup of foundations for pale skin last week, but as this is the foundation I’ve been reaching for most often recently I figured a “proper” review was in order, too!
I picked this up last month, having heard lots of people raving about how good it was, and having also been impressed by the paleness of the lightest shade which is 110 – Ivory. As I mentioned in my foundation roundup, I’m not 100% happy with the shade, and while it looked like a perfect match in Walgreens, there are times when I feel it’s just a touch too dark for me, which is disappointing, because if they released this in a lighter shade it would instantly achieve Holy Grail status for me, that’s how much I like it.
There are two different versions of this: one for normal/dry skin and one for oily/combination skin. I have lots of problems with shine on the t-zone, so I went for the latter, and it’s been fantastic: in fact, I rarely need to use powder with it because it soaks up the excess oil on my forehead, and heaves a matt, but not powdery finish. So far, so good.
Coverage, meanwhile, is full and thick, so if you’re looking for something light, this probably won’t be for you. It’s not quite as easy to apply as some lighter products: I mostly use my fingers (yes, I know, it’s shocking, but it’s what I prefer!) or a foundation brush, and it does require a bit of blending, and extra attention to the areas around the nose and eyes where foundation can tend to gather. It also smells pretty bad: I’m not quite sure how to describe it, but it’s fairly strong, and a bit medicinal. You do get used it, but I was a bit put off when I first used it!
Once applied, however, this is thick enough to cover any redness, and most small blemishes, however unlike some other very thick foundations I’ve tried, it doesn’t look caked on, and it doesn’t crease around the eyes: it’s called “colorstay” for a reason and I’ve been really impressed by how well it lasts, and how fresh it still looks by the end of the day. I normally find that foundation will have started to wear off (or slide off) by the time I go to bed at night, but this does a great job of staying in place, which is another huge point in its favour.
At £11.99 per bottle, this is one of the pricier drug store brands, however, I think it’s excellent value for money: it’s one of those ” little goes a long way” foundations, so it should last a long time. Ultimately, though, I love it because it just makes my skin look better. Most foundations, I find, do a reasonably good job, but still leave my skin looking like, well, like my skin, just a little bit more even. This one, however, makes me look like I have someone else’s skin, and as the “someone else” apparently has better skin than I do, I’m good with that.
One of the small downsides of this (about the only one I can think of other than the issue I have with the colour) is that it comes in a glass bottle, which can be a bit of a pain to use. I much prefer a squeezable tube or pump dispenser (according to the comments on my other post, it does come in a squeezable tube in some places. I bought mine in Florida, and only ever saw it in the glass bottle, but if it is available in a tube, that’s good news!), but that aside, I find practically perfect in (almost) every way.
Now, let’s have some paler shades, Revlon, pretty please?
BUY: Revlon ColorStay Makeup, £11.99
The Best Foundation for Pale Skin: a roundup plus colour swatches
Following on from my post on being Pale and Proud, a lot of you asked for advice about foundation for pale skin. Trust me, I feel your pain on this: I think for most of us palefaces, finding foundation that doesn’t look orange (or, in my case, just make me look like I haven’t washed for a week) can turn into a lifetime’s search with nothing ever being just right.
The list that follows, then, is a highly biased list of my own favourite foundations for pale skin. Needless to say, these are just the products I’ve used myself, so the list is far from exhaustive, and I’m hoping some of you will help add to it by leaving your own suggestions in the comments. Before I start, I’m also just going to go ahead and state the obvious: that not all pale skin is pale is pale in exactly the same way, so what works for me may not work for you, and vice versa.
For reference, my skin is pale and freckled, with pinkish undertones. In MAC terms, I’d be an NW15, but I actually find that shade too dark for me, so here are a few of the foundations I use, or have used, instead, in no particular order:
Lancome Teint Idole Fresh Wear 18 hour makeup
Lately I’ve been looking a lot like an oil slick. Yes, I know, it’s an attractive imagine, isn’t it? It’s true, though, and while I can control the shine to some extent with a good primer and mattifying powder, sometimes a girl needs a little something extra, and as my current foundation is nearing the end of its life, my attention has turned to Lancome’s Fresh Wear 18-Hour Makeup.
Why? Well, this is a lightweight foundation that promises to control shine, and deliver a totally matt, “pore free” complexion for up to 18 hours. I’d like to be pore-free, wouldn’t you? (Not literally, obviously. Those things do come in handy…) And I’d like to be perfectly matt for 18 hours, so I guess the only remaining question is, do I want to pay $32? If I do, I can pick this up in Sephora next month (not that I’m counting down the days or anything*), or visit a Lancome counter to try out the ten different shades. If you have normal to oily skin, you may well want to join me, in which case, you can order online here.
* 36 days, just in case you’re wondering
Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation, with fruit therapy
We’re used to seeing fruit extracts used in skin and hair products, so why not use them in a foundation, too? That seems to be the thinking between Bourjois’ Healthy Mix Foundation, which uses fruit to deliver a “radiance boosting” formula, and eight hours’ worth of hydration into the bargain.
The fruit’s not just in there for novelty value, though. Bourjois say they’ve used apricot for radiance, melon for hydration, apple as an antioxidant and ginger for energy. Sounds more like a smoothie than a foundation to me, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and apparently this has a bit of a fruity fragrance too, which would appeal to me, although perhaps not to everyone.
This comes in eight different shades, and retails for £10 at ASOS.com and anywhere with a Bourjois stand. There’s also a concealer to go with it, to make your face that little bit more fruity!
