Hello there little powder puff!
My my my has it been a long time! For those of you who follow my instagram, you would know that for the past few weeks I have been in my home country of Finland. Where it has been cold, icy and absolutely incredible. While I was in Finland, I spent a lot of incredible time with my gorgeous family, including a very special cousin of mine named Lena.
Being from Finland, Lena and I have a struggle in common: we are both very fair skinned, and it can be very hard finding makeup that suits us. So today, I am going to share with you a couple of tips and tricks that I have picked up, as well as use products both as recommendations and examples.
Please bare in mind that these are all things that work for me, and these are all images of makeup taken from my own collection. These tips might not work for everyone, nor may be original.
Starting with foundation:
Having grown up in Australia - Foundation is probably the hardest makeup for me to find. It is insanely difficult to find a foundation that will work with my skintone, since not only am I fair, but I have pink undertones. Every foundation I have tried by Revlon, Maybelline, Rimmel, ModelsPrefer, Australis you name it has either been too yellow undertoned, or too dark for me (I once spent 30 minutes in Priceline Pharmacy getting every single foundation tried against my skin. In the end the woman working there actually laughed and said "Your skin is impossible, it's fantastic." I can't say I thought it was as funny as she did.)
I have used to Rimmel Match Perfection in the shade 010 Light Porcelain, but it was still slightly too dark. This has resulted in me having to look high end, and fortunately (though unfortunately for my wallet) I found the MAC Studio Fix Fluid in their lightest shade NW10. This foundation is full coverage, however, so I wouldn't suggest it to anyone looking for a slightly more natural finish. Match Perfection is a very good foundation, and I would strongly recommend it.
The most important things to focus on when choosing your foundation are making sure you get the right shade (since of course it doesn't look the same in the bottle as it does on the skin. I would strongly suggest getting anyone in the store you're shopping at to match your skin tone to the right shade), and also the right kind for your skin type. I have dry skin, so the Studio Fix Fluid sits well on me, but it could be a bit too heavy for those with oily skin.
I would very strongly recommend the Rimmel London Stay Matte powder in the shade 001 Transparent. Mine has received a lot of love, and I even hit pan on it a little while ago. Also pictured is the MAC Prep+Prime Pressed Transparent Finishing Powder. I own the pressed powder, which is secured in a compact with a mirror, but MAC also make a tub of the powder loose. Rimmel also make a version of this in a tub as a loose powder for a much lower price.
I mentioned in a previous post that being fair skinned it was often times hard to find a good powder for contour and bronzing, and that my little trick was to choose a powder in a shade too dark. As I said earlier in this very post, I often wear my MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in the shade Light, well there pictured on the right is my MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in the shade Medium/Dark. Since the lightest shade is perfect on my skintone, this powder is also perfect for bronzing and contouring.
Often when I look for a bronzer/contour, the colours are always too dark (For example the Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil - supposed to be for people with ridiculously pale skin. Too dark for me. Of course, of course.) However using this technique, means that you can find something that would be the perfect shade for you.
I use quite a few different contour powders (Nars Paloma, Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil, Too Faced Chocolate Soleil etc) but I will always come back to this. It is a nifty trick if you want something natural and light to accentuate your features. If you would prefer something a little more dramatic, try going one tone darker.
I don't know what it is, but there is something kryptonite about blush for me. I love blush. However I do have the problem (surprise surprise) that there are quite a few I can't wear. Blush tones that go too dark, are always a little too much for my cheeks (For example Exhibit A by Nars - which can only be explained as Crimson).
For fair skin, the best tones to go for would be soft Dusty Rose and Peachy Pink. The examples I'm using here are two of my absolute favourite blushes that I own. On the left is my Too Faced Sweethearts Perfect Flush Blush in the shade Peach Beach, and on the right is my MAC Mineralise Blush in Modest Blush from their 2014 Christmas collection. These two are perfect because they look so subtle and absolutely glowy. Modest Blush - in a dusty rose shade - gives a perfect flush to the cheeks if blended lightly onto the apples and then brought even lighter up onto the cheekbones. It creates a gorgeous wash of colour on fair skin. Dusty Rose shades are absolutely gorgeous for fair skin, and they are common to find! Most brands would make them, and I very very strongly suggest checking them out!
Browns work for everyone, and nowadays since the Urban Decay Naked Palette has reached such fame, it is common (and rather easy) to find browns and nudes anywhere at any price. If you're still learning and developing your skills with eyeshadow, then working with browns is super easy, and you can go for so many different looks - from a subtle nude eye, to a dramatic smokey eye.
However for when you are interested in experimenting with a little more colour, purple tones work with every eye colour, and warm cranberries have become an absolute favourite of mine (the pictured single eyeshadow is my first ever MAC eyeshadow! My Single in Cranberry). Here are some other little tips on what might suit your eye colour:
- If you have brown eyes then you should definitely explore purples and reds, but you should also try out some bright blue in there! It may seem a little daunting, but a bright cobalt blue can look incredibly flattering, and give a gorgeous pop to your eyes. Also give Copper a go!
- If you have green eyes, try out some deeper plummy purples. They can really make that green colour glow as can taupes, and of course some sparkling silvers and greys!
- If you have Blue eyes then you absolutely must rock a warm Gold. My favourite eyeshadow of all time is MAC's Amber Lights which makes that blue stand out like nothing else. You should also give a go at trying some terra cotta like shades. The warm red-brown will give you a spark.
Though one thing more I gotta say on that topic is never limit yourself! If you want to try a shade that people wouldn't recommend, then go for it! Makeup is all about what works for you, and what makes you feel good. Have a play, have a test, and see what you can find for yourself! Eyeshadow is truly the funnest and best way to explore all the different kinds of colours you can have fun with!
Finally we come to lips. My biggest suggestion for every day wear would be a soft pinky nude colour. These are just two of my favourite lipsticks (MAC Faux and MAC Honey-Love) as well as my favourite every day lip gloss (Nars Sweet Revenge). Try going for a pink toned nude over a brown toned nude, because often going too brown could make you look a little too 'washed out' and make the gorgeous glowy fair skin tone look slightly more sickly. For every day wear, these colours have a gorgeous natural tone that says "My natural lip tone.. but a little bit better."
However if you want to try and be a little bit more daring, I would 100% say Berry Berry Berry! Berry toned lips look absolutely stunning on fair skin. They add such a gorgeous deep colour, which makes that fair, delicate almost porcelain tone stand out even more. I would always recommend going for something warm and bright, such as bright reds, bright pinks and Berry tones because they add such an incredible light colour to the lips. Pictured on the left is MAC's Diva, Rimmel's Kate Moss lipstick in 107 and MAC's Lady Danger, while on the right is the Rimmel Kate Moss in 20, Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in 220 Showy and a light pink H&M gloss (it does not have a name or shade).
It may look a little daunting to wear such bright colours, but I know you can rock it!
It may look a little daunting to wear such bright colours, but I know you can rock it!
That's all for this week! Is there a post you want to see? Is there a product you want reviewed? Let me know by sending me a tweet, commenting on Instagram or by leaving a comment in the comments section below and I would love to try it out for you!
Until next time, stay cute little powderpuffs!
xoxo Matilde Elisabeth
