A Whiter Shade of Pale
August 26th, 2009
Author: The Makeup Mole
It started as a murmur at the last Fashion Week – not a bronzer in sight, instead either natural skin tomes or slightly paler, bones highlighted with judicious use of contour and luminiser. Then came Twilight, the vampire film seemingly beloved by all, and the murmur became a whisper, and now with the release of New Moon (the sequel to Twilight), and the fact that I haven’t opened my bronzer bag in six months, I think the whisper is officially a roar – pale skin is back in.
It will be interesting to see what the next round of Fashion Weeks brings up in September, but I don’t see paler skin going anywhere. When the only people wedded to their toxic tans seem to be Lindsey Lohan, Victoria Beckham and Jordan, I do think it’s time to move on and embrace the skin you’re in, one free of nasty melanomas and prematurely aged by the sun.
Being on the lighter side myself I can attest too many long Australian summers in the sun, cooking myself to my deepest color – a disappointing watery tea shade that invariably burned, and took about 150 hours of hard core sun exposure to get what I could have done in half an hour in the bathroom with a coat of Clarins fake tan. So even on holidays now I protect myself with SPF 50, and try not to worry too much about those toxic (but oh so enjoyable!) rays. Thus it’s great to see that there is a new movement afoot to embrace our natural, un-suntanned selves. Just in time for winter!
Chantecaille have introduced a new pale shade of their fabulous Future Skin foundation, which was sorely lacking from their line before, and both MAC and Illamasqua do pure white foundations for the fairest amongst you. Kay Montano uses Becca Sherbert when she is looking after the creamy complexion of regular client, Nicole Kidman, and for highlighting the alabaster-skinned I like either Becca Pearl, or Pat McGrath’s favourite, Armani Fluid Sheer in 0.
And of course for our friends whose skin is NEVER going to be a whiter shade of pale, rock the gorgeous skin tone of caramel, honey or ebony that you are, and don’t feel left out – because black is ALWAYS beautiful.
Cant wait to try it out, wish me luck.
Totally loving your blog!!!
This is a bit random, but do you have any idea what shade I would be in in the BECCA Compact Concealer if I am NC15/20 in MAC foundations? They don’t sell BECCA where I am.
Thanks,
Anna
Ah thank you! I’m so glad you like it. I’m not 100% which Becca concealer you would be (as there are about 30 in the range, there’s probably a couple you could choose from), but I can contact someone at Becca on your behalf tomorrow and ask for you.
Really? That would be so amazing!
I had a look at their website but was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of different shades lol. I am intrigued, it seems like such a great product as it’s the multi-tasker in one compact I’ve always been looking for :)
Anyway, if you could find the time I would be really grateful!
There are a lot of colours to choose from! I have asked the question but without seeing you they may not be able to recommend one. Could I ask you which celebrity’s colouring is closest to yours? That might help in getting a match!
Hello, thanks for your effort! Hmmm… I’d say maybe Anne Hathaway at her palest or also Emmy Rossum. Does that help?
Anna
Yes that’s fab thank you! I’ve passed that info onto Becca and they’re coming back to me.
Aw, thanks again!!
The Becca concealer that I think would be best for you would be Meringue (which is their palest). However without seeing you I’m wary of making a mistake, but I think there is a way around that. If you buy it from http://www.zuneta.com (a genius beauty site), they will allow you to return it within 28 days of purchase if it hasn’t been used. So if you buy it and think, nope, totally not right for me, you can send it back. Sorry I can’t be more specific than that as I don’t have all the Becca testers in front of me, but I hope you get a good one!
Another good concealer for pale people is the Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage palette in SC-1, which is pale but quite yellow (so if you have quite yellow undertones that might be a safer option, as I’m not sure of the undertones on Becca Meringue (I only have Becca Sherbert in my kit for pale people, which is quite pink). I hope that helps! Let me know how you get on.
Sorry for not replying earlier, thank you so much for your help! I ended up getting the Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage as I have been eyeing it for some time anyway and I’m really happy with it!
Thanks also for the link, that’s a great website. X
I’m glad you like the Laura Mercier, it’s a really great one and it lasts forever! Let me know if you have other questions in future.
So im dressing up as one of the volturi from the twilight saga: New Moon, so my question is they are very pale like an onion white what could I find or use to make this effect
If you just want to pale your skin down and give that luminescent Volturi quality to it, I would recommend MAC Face and Body in White as it will alter your skin color a bit and give that lovely moonlit glow (that I’m guessing you are going for!) You can also use it on your body and hands. If you want something heavier and more theatrical, MAC Full Coverage foundation in White is a dense cream foundation – but it will definitely look like you’re wearing makeup. At MAC one of the artists can demonstrate both products so you can see what I mean. Good luck!
So the MAC pro face and body foundation white should work? What would you suggest I apply this with, cause I really don’t know how to make it look even Lol
and I really don’t want it to look like I have makeup on I want it to look like my real skin just very pale lol, how would i do that as well?
I think the MAC Face and Body in White is definitely the one for you then – it doesn’t look like makeup. It will just take your skin down a couple of shades and give you a bit of a sheen. You can apply it with your fingers actually, as it’s very sheer, but if you’re also going to be applying it on your neck or arms etc, I would recommend using a makeup sponge as well to blend it out.
Thank you so much! When I get back from Twi-tour in boston I will send u pictures! Thanks again
That would be ace! I’d love to see pictures. Have a great time.
Sry have another question! Where I work im outside constantly will the mac pro face and body white cover a tan pretty well?
Yes I think it will be fine – it’s all in the application. It’s a water based foundation so it’s pretty sheer in form, but you can apply with your fingers for a thicker application, or to sheer it out apply with a sponge. For an even sheerer coverage you could apply with a sponge dampened with water. If you do one coat with your fingers and think you would like to be paler, wait a couple of minutes and apply a second coat with your fingers. This should give you a major moonglow. I hope it goes well!
Hey its me again! So close now till Eclipse! And Twi-Tour! The mac pro face and body foundation works very well! Thanks! But I dont want to have to use the whole bottle jus to do my hands, face and neck is there anything else u suggest using?
I’m glad it works well. I did a bit of research and found out that in the upcoming film New Moon, the makeup artist used MAC foundation in NC15 under the MAC Face and Body White. She didn’t say which particular MAC foundation she used, but I’m guessing it would have been the liquid in either Select, or Studio Fix. Particularly for your face if you use the NC15 first with your sponge, then go over with the White Face and Body, you won’t have to use all your Face and Body up (as it is pretty sheer). You could also use a thick sunscreen with a lot of Titanium Dioxide in it as a base as this will give you a pale tint to your face/body to start off with. Have a great time!
Someone told me about primer? what exactly is that….stuff lol sry dont know much bout make up
Primer is a cream or liquid that goes under your foundation to increase its wear. I am generally pretty sceptical of primers as I haven’t found many that work. But for you a primer won’t affect the colour of your skin enough to make a difference, and also it would be expensive (as they come in little tubes). You would be best off doubling up the MAC NC15 first (for your face at least), then applying the White Face and Body over. Then for your hands and any body areas you can just use the Face and Body.
If you want to increase the wear of your makeup, I would use a brush to apply a loose translucent powder over the makeup when you’ve finished your application, and a great one that’s inexpensive is the Ben Nye Invisible loose powder that you can get from a theatrical shop in your area (the small container will be ample for what you need it for, and it’s only a few dollars. Enjoy Twi-Tour!
Firstly, loving the blog! ♥
The only foundation I’ve ever been about to find that is pale enough to get away with is the new Chantecaille shade you mentioned, porcelain; but even that is a bit too dark. So I was wondering would the done thing for the pros like you is to mix a white foundation with a pale shade to get a perfect match?
I don’t wear matt foundations and I hear both Illamasqua’s Rich Liquid Foundation in pure white and MACs face and body are quite matt, would you say this is true? Also I’ve seen people mentioning when mixing make sure both are water based, or both are oil based but I’ve never really come across this before and it’s all a little confusing.
Which foundation would you advise I use to mix with various foundation formulas? I wasn’t sure if say mixing Illamasqua’s rich liquid foundation would work mixed with Future Skins gel crème formula or liquids like say Tient miracle or vitalumiere aqua.
Any help would be incredibly appreciated ♥ ♥
Thank you! Yes I do mix MAC White Face and Body with other foundations to pale them up if need be, but I can only comment on the foundations that I have mixed together, which is White Face and Body with either Chanel Vitalumiere, and yesterday I tested it with the Chantecaille Future Skin and it was fine with that too.
I wouldn’t say that Illamasqua’s Rich Liquid foundation or Face and Body were particularly matte foundations actually. The main thing for you is to find the right colour foundation for your porcelain skin, and ranges that are good for this are Illamasqua, Becca and MAC. In terms of mixing I can only tell you the ones I have tried which is the ones mentioned above. There is a new blog for fair skinned ladies such as yourself at http://www.porcelainbeautyblog.wordpress.com which you might like also.