Bare Essentials: Pale Foundations for Irish Skintones

We get so many queries about products for lily-white skin that I decided to jam all my pale foundations onto my hand so you could see what may be suitable for your particular milk bottle concerns.

Do note that while I'm pale, I am not the palest girl I've ever met. Redheads with that beautiful luminous, paper-fine skin would be below me on the register and tend to find it even more difficult to get a match, but as a Mac NW10-15, I find it's nearly impossible for me to buy foundation in the chemist or supermarket, as the shade ranges simply don't cater to that classic Irish colouring.

I've found that you'll generally have to look to department store offerings or buy online to avoid the dreaded tide-mark I'm afraid, but there are some notable exceptions: in the mass market, Bourjois and Revlon cater to us paleys, so give them a try.

After the cut, you can see swatches of all my pale foundations as well as a few more recommendations for brands who do cater for porcelain types, but which I don't necessarily own. We're almost ready to rock, so here's a little warning! This post is very pic-heavy.

Bourjois Healthy Mix in Light Vanilla

Clarins Everlasting Foundation in 104 Cream

Diorskin Nude in 020

Giorgio Armani Lasting Silk UV in 4

Giorgio Armani Lasting Silk UV in 5.5

Mac Studio Fix Fluid in NW15

Nars Sheer Glow in Mont Blanc

Nars Sheer Glow in Deauville

Revlon PhotoReady in 002 Vanilla

Stila One Step Foundation in Fair 01 (review coming shortly!)

Too Faced Magic Wand Illuminating Foundation in New York Light

Une Skin-Glow Foundation in G03

This is what I have on hand (hand! Ha, I kill me) and what I've found to be a good match.

But there are more options too, and other brands worth checking out for pale skins include:

• Illamasqua
• Estee Lauder
• Sleek cosmetics
• Make Up For Ever

What are your top pale picks? Leave 'em in a comment!