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Tag Archives: pale skin
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: 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)
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:
Pale and Proud: Why I won’t be getting a sun tan, no matter how much it annoys people
“You don’t have much of a tan!”
“Bit pale, aren’t you?”
I’ve lost count of the number of times this kind of thing has been said to me over the years. Every time I go on holiday, I return to a barrage of tongue-clicking comments about the continued pallor of my complexion, and my absolute failure to do the “normal” thing and get a suntan.
Make no mistake, it is a failure as far as some people are concerned. I’m sure they would argue otherwise, but the comments are always uttered in a critical, disparaging tone, and I am left in no doubt whatsoever that I am deemed to have failed. (I’m also left with the clear message that the person I’m talking to thinks I’m lying when I say I enjoyed my holiday. “Well, you don’t have much of a tan,” they’ll counter, the unspoken part of that sentence being “so it can’t have been that good, can it?”) I should have gotten a suntan, is the message. I shouldn’t have worn sunblock. “Oh, I never wear sunscreen,” my detractor will always say smuggly, before turning away, secure in the knowledge that they’re much cleverer than me (and have much better holidays into the bargain).
It’s not just me, either. Both Mr Dollface and my mother have been subjected to the “why don’t you have a tan?” comments this year, and they both have Mediterranean complexions. On The Fashion Police last week, someone commented on a photo of Kristen Stewart saying, “She needs to get a tan”. Er, no. No she doesn’t. If she wants to get one, of course, that’s completely up to her, but she shouldn’t be made to feel like she HAS to have one just to conform to society’s current beauty ideal, which says that suntans = good and pale skin = bad.
People like my husband, of course, have an excuse for their “errant” behaviour: kidney transplant patients have a much higher risk of skin cancer, so for him, getting a suntan would be total madness, although that doesn’t stop people asking him why he isn’t browner. I, however, have no such excuse, and the fact that I’m a pale-skinned Scottish redhead just doesn’t cut it: I should be doing my best to change my skin colour, apparently, and if I don’t, people will continue to tut-tut at me in despair.
Well, let ‘em. Because here’s the thing: I don’t tan. Ever. And I’m not about to start. I would no more lie out in the sun without total sunblock than I’d set myself on fire. Both would be crazy for me. Contrary to what appears to be the popular belief, a suntan is NOT healthy. Certainly not for me, anyway, and I was raised to protect my skin, to avoid getting burnt, and to accept that I will never be a “golden” girl. I’m good with that. And let me be clear: I am obviously not above using self-tanner if and when I feel like it, as readers of this blog are well aware. Absolutely not. I like my pale skin, but I also like my not-quite-as-pale skin (which is the most I get from self-tanners. Even with a freshly-applied tan, people will still ask me why I’m so pale), so I will hit the bottle from time to time, sure. I’m not a slave to it, though, and I’m also not above just saying “to hell with it”, and flaunting my pale skin.
I’m not ashamed of being pale. I don’t see why I should be. It’s my natural colour, it’s the way my skin is supposed to look, and there should be nothing wrong with that. In fact there is nothing wrong with that, except in the minds of a few people who seem to believe that pale isn’t interesting, and that the only purpose of a vacation is to get a suntan.
This is why I’ve decided to cut back on the fake tan and embrace my lily white skin from now on: or for the time being, at least. I’m not giving up the bottle completely: I still have a few tanning/bronzing products to review, and I can’t promise there won’t be times when I’ll decide to turn my legs a patchy shade of brown. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using fake tan, after all, but I do think there’s something wrong with trying to make people feel bad for being pale, and so I’m going to be pale and proud. For a few weeks, at least.
I’m wearing self-tanner in this photo. Yeah, I’m pale.
Foundation for pale skin: Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation swatches – RF105 and RF120
Before my unexpected beauty blogging hiatus, I promised you a review of Illanmasuqa’s Rich Liquid Foundation, which I’ve been using for a couple of weeks now. Well, that’ll be along soon, but first of all, knowing how difficult my fellow palefaces find choosing the right shade of foundation, I thought I’d quickly show you some swatches of the two shades I’m using – RF105 and RF120.
These are the second and third palest shades Illamasqa do – or so I thought when I ordered them, anyway. I’ve since read that RF135 may be paler than the RF120 I bought, so that may be worth bearing in mind too. The very palest shade – RF100 – is a stark white that’s basically only going to be of use for editorial or theatrical purposes. The next shade up – RF105 – also appears to fall into that category at first glance, although it does have a pinkish tinge to it. It’s far too pale for even me to wear on its own, but I actually think a shade like this is really useful to have if you tend to have problems buying foundation, because it can be mixed with other, darker shades, allowing you to dial almost any foundation down to your shade. I’ve used it almost daily since I got it, and this is because the RF120, which I’d assumed would be more or less the perfect colour for me, is actually quite a bit too dark. It’s billed as a pink-toned, pale base, but I found it a little more yellowish than I’d been expecting, and too dark for me to wear it on its own. Here are both of the shades blended in a little:
Friday Face: Dainty Doll foundation revisited
No photo for today’s Friday Face, because my skin just isn’t fit to be seen at the moment. Truly. The culprit can be seen above you: it’s the Nicola Roberts’ ‘Dainty Doll’ foundation I reviewed back in April. I don’t wear this very often, because, as I noted in the review, although I LOVE the colour of it, it really is a terrible foundation, but my regular foundation ran out and this was all I had left to tide me over until some new stuff arrives. (Thanks, Royal Mail, for going on strike just when I ran out of makeup!)
So, Dainty Doll it is, and once again, I’m disappointed. I always think I’m going to love this: it’s such a refreshing change to be able to use a foundation that’s actually the same colour as my natural skin (the ‘Ivory’ shade is perfect for me) and every time I use this, it makes me realise once again that all of those foundations I’ve been using, thinking they were pale enough? Really aren’t. As I said when I originally reviewed this product, I think we pale girls often end up settling for foundation that’s just “close enough” to our natural skin, and it’s only when you find one that really IS the right colour that you realise just how bad the others have been.
So this is a great shade. I always get compliments when I wear it. But after a week of using it, my skin is so dry and flaky I actually don’t want to wear makeup AT ALL, and as the foundation is the only only I’ve been using that’s different, I’m left with the conclusion that it’s the reason why. And I’m not surprised either: it’s so thick and dry and chalky that it’s hell to apply, and it clings to any little bit of dry skin, making it look much worse than it actually is. Gah.
I’ve ordered some Illamasqua, which should arrive next week, and will hopefully make things all better. In the meantime, today I’m giving by skin a break and am wearing lots of moisturiser in a bid to get things back to normal!
