So I’ve been meaning to do this ever since I started this blog. People are constantly asking for recommendations for pale foundations, so I thought I’d take some swatches of the ones I use.
My skin is pale – I say I’m NW10 but I could be NW5, I’m not really sure. All these foundations work on my skin. Some are a little darker, but not dark enough for me to worry about tidemarks around my jaw – they still all look natural on me.
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So from right to left:
Shade 15 in Makeup Forever Mat Velvet +
Buff in Graftobian HD Glamour Creme
584 in Shu Uemura Face Architect Smoothing Liquid
Alabaster (00) in Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick
584 in Shu Uemura Nobara Cover Stick
So Mat Velvet doesn’t look so pink when put next to Graftobian (which is VERY cool-toned) but it is. Many warm-toned people complain about the coolness of this foundation so if you have yellow undertones you may want to give it a miss. This foundation is my 2nd palest and it suits my skin well.
Graftobian HD Creme is very cool-toned but Graftobian also caters to warm and neutral-toned people as well. This by far my palest foundation, it is a really good match for my skin and I wish more foundations came in this shade.
Shu Uemura Face Architect looks quite dark here and I’m not sure why. It is darker than the Mat Velvet and Graftobian and it is not a perfect match for my skin. However like I said, I don’t get marks around my jaw line as Face Architect blends quite well. It is also only in some lighting that I notice this is a little dark for my face – but it still looks very natural and not like I’m wearing the wrong foundation. This is the coolest tone (that comes this pale) produced by Shu Uemura, but I would say it is neutral at best. There are some slight pinkish (I’d say salmon pink) tones to this foundation as you can see in the swatch but it is still not cool enough for my skin.
Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick is more neutral than my other foundations. While Bobbi’s foundations usually run warm, Alabaster is the most neutral of all the shades.
Shu Uemura Nobara Cover Stick looks quite similar to its Face Architect brother in this swatch, but when I put them on my skin the Cover stick looks a little darker. Perhaps I’m imagining things. They do have the same salmon undertones, but again, I would still say they come up more neutral than cool-toned.
All of these are paler than NW15, Graftobian I would say is NW5 and the rest NW10/N10. As I don’t own this foundation I didn’t swatch it but I’ve tested Illamasqua foundations and their palest shade is about N5 – it’s almost white but as I remember it had neutral undertones.
Filed under: Reference, Reviews, Swatches
