great foundations/skin bases for pale skin

[spillyobeans]

Just wondering if any other pale ladies want to share their pale foundation finds (or bb cream cc cream primer etc)

I always find i have to buy a very cheap one i.e: rimmel for shade (but the coverage and feel is horrid) or end up paying upwards of 40 pounds for a luxury brand that feels too heavy or greasy!

So far the one ive stuck to which ive found amazing (inspired to tell you guys after the korean makeup thread) is a bb cream from korean brand 'missha' - missha perfect cover in shade 21(which is quite pale) or 13 (which is very pale). It has great coverage, spf 50! And looks good most of the day and doesnt cause me breakouts at all. I buy it off amazon for 8-10 quid!

What about anyone else?

Thanks op have heard of this, could not fathom out where to purchase from, I am quite pale & have spent ££over the years, never really found one I love, will give this a go.

Dior Star comes in pale shades, so does Revlon Colour Stay, Nars, Lancome (shades 050, 070) Bobbi Brown in Alabaster or Porcelain - stick foundation or skin foundation...might be worth a try or Clinique Perfectly real- shade 01.

Having used Prescriptives for years, I have not, tbh found a decent substitute, but I have tried a few. I am pale, Scottish redhead with red / blue tones.

Chantacaille Future Skin - Porcelain
I love the colour, decent coverage. Downside is that it's £££ and by the end of the day tends to wear off. I find it wears off in a slightly patchy way.

Armani Maestro
I can't remember my exact colour in this but it was a really good match. This is lovely to wear, very light, great coverage and a lovely finish. Sadly I don't seem to get on with it skin-wise and started to break out in my cheekbone area next to my nose.

MAC Mineralize SPF 15
I've started using this. Back in the day MAC used to have a dreadful yellow base (well, not dreadful if that's your skin tone, but pretty dreadful for anyone else) and I was assured at a make-up lesson that they've broadened their offering. I find this is decent match and goes on nicely. It can settle in creases over time, but the flipside is that it is extremely long-lasting and a really good base for other make-up.

PS I also have a tube of the cheap Rimmel stuff in my desk drawer just incase my pannier-packing goes a bit wrong when I cycling in

I used the revlon one once but found it too cakey and i couldnt layer it. Also agree with mac foundations - i got matched for one ages ago and when i got home realised it wad sooo yellow on my skin ahhh!.

I also tried the dr jart bb cream (was sold in boots for a while) which was a korean one which was ok, but no where near as good coverage as the missha one..

Ive heard good things about nars and think that may be one i might have to try out even if it is £££ hmm.

I have the Missha 13 BB. It's very good. Better than anything else I've tried.

I've just ordered a Lioele BB cream to try too.

I use maybelline dream fresh bb cream, it's the only one I've found that doesn't make me orange.

I was put off the lioele one as they seem really shimmery hmm. Think holika holika jelly bb is suppost to be quite good too

The Face Shop Aura CC cream shade 1. Kicked my Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua and Giorgio Armani Lasting Silk to the curb.

Just make sure to pat it lightly so the coverage is thin.

I usually use lily lolo mineral foundation in China doll (the palest shade is porcelain I think, but it's too pink toned for me), but at the moment I have a little bit of a tan so I'm using bourjois healthy mix serum in 51 (their palest one).

I've also been trying some samples of Mac face and body as they do a white base that can be mixed in to lighten the shade, really pleased that I can get the perfect shade but I' m not too sure about the finish, think I need more practice in applying it as it's a really unusual consistency.

Im pale snd freekly - ive recently had a test pot of Estee lauder Double Wear lite as my friends were raving about it. It has SPF in it so I wore a little bit while on holidays in the canaries and it didnt budge. If you go to places that stock it they will colour match you. It is £30 but from the tester pot a little goes a long way.

It depends if you are pale and warm toned or pale and cool toned. Estée lauder don't make anything cool toned enough for me. I'm currently using palest coolest Dior star, but its still a bit warm for me. I'm tempted to try what the OP has recommended.

I'm very pale, neutral veering on cool. Lots of Western foundations do exaggerated pinks and yellows, I've always been after that is somewhere in the middle. Misshas and Lily Lolo in Porcelain and China Doll have so far been the most seamless matches for me. OP very pleases that you like Missha. The M Signature and Magic Cushion are great too. I've actually lost interest in foundation a bit because I have so many great choices for bases these days - fairly amazing because I have been hunting for a good shade since circa 1989

I'm adding two swatch pics I snapped recently for the Asian thread just in case someone here needs them. It was very hard for me to find good swatches of really pale foundations so hope these will help someone.

First pic, from top to bottom, Dr Jart Water-fuse and Premium 01, Missha M Signature #13, Missha Perfect Cover #21 and #13, Revlon Colorstay in Ivory, Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum #51, Chanel Lift Lumiere 0.5 Faience. These are very heavy outdoor daylight swatches on my forearm. I think my skin tone is MAC NW10 to 15.

Second pic, Missha Perfect Cover #21, Missha Magic cushion #21, Missha Perfect Cover #13. Back of my hand, indoor lamplight late at night.

If you are very pale with yellow undertones, the blog Bad Outfit Great Lisptick has excellent foundation reviews.

Good luck with the foundation hunt!

One more swatch pic, comparing Revlon Colorstay, Missha Magic Cushion#21, Lily Lolo Blondie and LL China Doll, and Missha Perfect Cover #13!
Outdoor daylight, underside of forearm.

I love Lily Lolo Porcelain, the pink-toned palest shade, but have run out. LL Blondie is my bronzer shade

It depends how pale you are OP!

I've seen nothing as pale as Nars Siberia, or Bobbi Brown Alabaster. whether the actual foundations are suitable is another matter.
Also Laura Mercier has a pale shade but it's a bit pink toned.

I have found the Bourjois one to be very yellow and too dark in spite of people saying it's pale- it's not! Chanel always struck me as yellow too.

Good old L'Oreal does True Match and they do cool and warm shades- I vory is worth looking at.

This might not be a popular choice but I use No7 tinted moisturiser in fair. I am have true celtic colouring so am very pale

I'm rather pale and the ones that I've found that were even too pale for me are:

Revlon Age Defying - Fresh Ivory
MUFE N115
NARS Siberia
NARS Mont Blanc
Tom Ford Trace Less - 2 Pale Dune

I have the Holika Holika Aqua Petite Jelly in shade 2 and its the best BB/foundation I've ever used, it beats my favourite YSL Teint Touche Eclat and Lancome Teint Miracle hands down. The finish is beautiful, lasts through a long work day, and doesn't break me out - I feel almost evangelical about it!

The Missha BB in shade 21 is good for my skin tone, but if you're paler than that, shade 1 in the Aqua Petit Jelly should be perfect.

Well im pretty pale but have found the colour stay still a bit dark (and didnt like the quality of it tbh) but i think the nars siberia etc are too white. I have cool undertones and totally agree about western bases being too yellow or so pink it looks silly lol.

I wasnt sure if the aqua petite jelly would be lighter than the missha 21, but i may give it ago next time! Where do you buy it? Ive seen it on sale on yesstyle.com?

Thanks for the swatches!

Shade 1 of the aqua petit jelly is definitely lighter than Missha 21.

I bought mine from an eBay seller called sing sing girl, it was only about £7.50. I think there are a couple of UK web stores that sell it, but (from memory) it was about three times the price of getting it from Korea, and it only takes about 10 days on average to arrive in the UK anyway.

I like the sound of the aqua petit jelly am very tempted to try if it's very pale. Though that the description says it 'covers flaws and creates watery face'
I'm worried about the lioele now, had no idea there was a shimmer

Maybelline dream fresh BB and Lily Lolo are good.

Long time lurker, but had to register to thank the posters who recommended the Missha Perfect Cover BB cream - especially FrugalFashionista for the swatch pics. I ordered from SingSingGirl on eBay, went for #13 after studying the swatch pics (I usually use Revlon Colorstay in Ivory) and it is PERFECT for my (very) fair complexion - the first foundation I've EVER had that wasn't a little too dark for me! Nice sheer cover for the warmer weather. Chuffed!

Thanks for this Fashionista. Those photos are really helpful.