Hi Renee! I have very pale skin, and I’m looking for foundations that suit me. I find it really hard to find good foundations for my pale skin; they are normally too dark for me. Any suggestions? – Tina
I’ve actually got a lot of suggestions! I am a fellow pale skinned girl, although I am usually #2 in the foundation spectrum of colors, so shopping for foundation has always been fine for me. However, I have a ton of experience shopping for really light foundation colors as my BFF is super fair and I’ve gone shopping with her lots… and I mean lots. We tried everything, guys! On one particular shopping trip, we swatched colors on her arms, my arms, tissue paper, you name it.
So to Tina who wrote in, and to my other gorgeous pale skinned readers, I’ve searched around and found some that I think would be great; and as I found out, the keyword to look for in foundation colors is “Ivory”:
Drugstore:
- Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation – 51 Vanille Clair
- L’Oreal Infallible Foundation – 015 Porcelain
- L’Oreal True Match Liquid Foundation – C1 Rose Ivory
- Maybelline EverFresh Makeup – Ivory
- Maybelline Pure Makeup – Porcelain Ivory
- Revlon Colorstay Makeup – 110 Ivory
- Max Factor Lasting Performance – Fair 100
- Mary Kay Medium Coverage Foundation – Ivory 105
Department stores:
- Bobbi Brown Luminous Moisturizing Foundation – Warm Ivory #1
- Clinique Superbalanced Makeup – Ivory 1
- Burberry Sheer Foundation – Trench No. 01
- Giorgio Armani Lasting Silk UV Foundation SPF 20 - 2 Ivory
- Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation – 01 and 02
- Laura Mercier Oil Free Supreme Foundation – Porcelain Ivory
- Lancome Renergie Lift Makeup – Lifting Porcelain
- MAC Studio Fix Fluid SPF 15 - NC15 and NW15
- Make Up Forever HD Foundation – 115 Ivory
- Tom Ford Traceless Foundation – Alabaster 01
But wait! There’s more!
Two great alternatives I found:
Prescriptives Custom Blend
Prescriptives have a color matching service that is amazing; I remember we used to get it here, but alas, the brand has left the country. :( However, just check out their website to see if they have the brand in your country. (I think they even sell online if I’m not mistaken).
At their counters, you can have a color matching service where they literally make the foundation for you, so you know it’s an exact match of your skintone. So cool, no?
Dainty Doll by Nicola Roberts
Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts, who is loved for her stunning porcelain skin, decided to launch a makeup line for fellow pale-skinned girls. Named Dainty Doll (don’t you love it?!), this award winning line of makeup features anything and everything you can think of - foundation, powders, concealers, even lipstick and eyeshadows colors that would suit your fair skin. The line of makeup is available in the UK, but you can buy it online here, here and here.
Phew! That’s a lotta foundation. Hope I’ve helped, and if you have any other questions, you know where to find me! For readers with fair skin, what foundations do you use? Do you have any more foundation recommendations for those with pale skin?
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
What I usually do is that with my MAC shade, I google a particular foundation like the Revlon Colorstay, for example, to MAC shade. So for me, it’ll be like Revlon Colorstay foundation to MAC NC30 and they’ll usually have results which tell you the corresponding shade(: That isn’t as good as actually swatching in stores of course but it might cut down on the workload heaps. Okay, I cheat heaps as well because my skin colour’s pretty damn similar to Roseanne so I usually wait for her to release a review stating the shade before I purchase lol. I hope that helps!
Hi, I am pale, too.
Shiseido has some very light shades, I00 for example. Clarins has 103 as the lightest shade in most countries.
As far as Bobbi Brown is concerned, porcelain and alabaster are the lightest shades, Clinique also has alabaster in some of their foundations (ivory was too dark for me). And Nars has some very light shades, Siberia being one of them.
Chanel Perfection Lumiere foundation in 12 Beige Rose – perfect match for my stupidly pale complexion! It is also paler than the palest Clinique shade. My Mum also has super pale skin, and she wears the same foundation to me, just in an ivory rather than rose shade. http://www.theglossyguide.com/2012/04/product-review-chanel-perfection.html
Yes i agree too! Chanel has wonderful shades for pale faces.. the only problem is that the formula doesnt last in our weather in SG. Used to be my holy grail foundation and I repurchased so many times!
To be honest I have not tested it in warm weather, it has sat unused on my dresser since I arrived in Los Angeles – I would hate to wear foundation in this sun! Also, I’m pretty sure I’ve tanned so much on my face it is no longer a colour match…
What a great and useful post! Are any of these products you have listed spray foundations?
Hey, thanks girl! Hmm spray foundations, I am not sure what you mean? I am really behind, I have never heard of spray foundations, haha! These ones listed are all liquid though, hope it’s stil helpful. xx
Hey no worries :) A while back Dior had launched Diorskin Airflash Spray Foundation, which was really good :) Yes still very helpful thank you :)
Thanks Renee, great post! I have so much trouble finding foundation for my skin, the best I’ve found at the moment is Illamasqua Skin Base, it’s such a novelty using a foundation in shade 2 (even if shade 1 is pure white!)
Inglot has pale ones too.
Also DiorSkin Hydrating Nude Foundation in 010
The Make Up Store also has a great spectrum of colors – we had some pale girls who nearly died with joy because they were able to find a perfect shade. Best of all MUS is a fabulous brand so you can’t go wrong with them!
xo