Ivory skin is a pain. (Chanel, cream, sunbathing, wearing)

[emi__]

I take pride in my pale skin, as it's not something you see too much anymore, especially in happy and healthy Floridian teenagers. I keep it fresh and clean and out of the sun, but I have a problem...

I can't find a product that matches my colour. At all. Even the palest of the pale products don't match my colour. Worse yet, instead of having colour on my cheeks, it sets in around my nose and makes it look like I have a perpetual cold. Even worse than that is how I've got several tones of ivory in my skin... though not that noticeable, it's enough.

Pale chicks! Do you have any products that match your skin's tone without making you look deathly ill?

[Rita Mordio]

Back when I was very pale....

I actually used to mix an Ivory liquid foundation with White Clay-based Makeup (like a Geisha uses). I combined them in a palette, matched my skin tone, and then poured it into an empty foundation bottle. Everyday before putting it on, I'd have to shake it up pretty good - but the results were astoundingly great!

Since that got annoying after a while, I just started using a little bit of Jergen's to get a little bit of color to my face, arms, and legs. Just a tad - to make it look natural.

[RDSLOTS]

EMI, I am sorry you are so frustrated looking for a foundation to match your ivory skin. I imagine it is beautiful -- women used to die for skin like that, you know.

Are you sure you even really need foundation?

Many young women assume they need to wear foundation because it seems all other young women wear foundation, and very few young women actually need it. Keep in mind the purpose of a foundation -- to even-out skin tone, or to mask a blemish or the like.

I'll bet your skin is lovely, and you could easily go without foundation. Try a light blush, or peach bronzer, maybe a light powder if you 'shine' and let it go, Dear. You have the rest of your life to wear foundation.

[anifani821]

Congratulations to you for treasuring your wonderful ivory skin! I quit sunbathing at 18 and was made fun of literally for decades . . . until the rest of the world realized I was onto something.

Now for advice. I didn't wear foundation til I was in my 30s. Just didn't have to! I used a good moisturizer and cream blush and some undereye concealer, and a good transluscent powder (needed it in hot, humid weather).

Once I started wearing foundation, it was b/c of pregnancy and the dark pigmentation that I acquired during that time. Then I started having uneven pigmentation as I got older.

I was never able to wear drugstore type foundation - b/c of color match. So here is the scoop - if you MUST wear foundation - check out Lancome - have them do a color match - and if that does not work - check out Chanel. Now you really do not want to have to pay for Chanel!!!!! So I hope you don't even need to wear foundation . . . but if you have pigmentation problems . . . bypass the drugstore brands and see what the cosmetics counters can do for you . . .

Good luck!

[RDSLOTS]

Good for you Girls, choosing NOT to tan. The very irony -- that tanned skin looks healthy. Uh, no. . . it is skin that has been damaged, repeatedly.

My Mother is a very fair-skinned blonde, who burns in 10 - 15 minutes, even with a good sunscreen. I noticed, even as a young girl, that the friends she had, who religiously went down to the beach, and tanned themselves every year, after just 5 years looked like they were 10-15 years older than my mother. I found that intriguing even as a teen, growing up in the days of tanning with iodine in a baby oil bottle, and the summer's contest -- before school started again in September -- seeing who could come back, the darkest.

Find delight in your beautiful, pale complexions, and do everything you can to protect it. I still contend you don't need to be wearing foundation until you need to be wearing foundation -- if you can follow that.

[emi__]

Originally Posted by RDSLOTS

EMI, I am sorry you are so frustrated looking for a foundation to match your ivory skin. I imagine it is beautiful -- women used to die for skin like that, you know.

Are you sure you even really need foundation?

Many young women assume they need to wear foundation because it seems all other young women wear foundation, and very few young women actually need it. Keep in mind the purpose of a foundation -- to even-out skin tone, or to mask a blemish or the like.

I'll bet your skin is lovely, and you could easily go without foundation. Try a light blush, or peach bronzer, maybe a light powder if you 'shine' and let it go, Dear. You have the rest of your life to wear foundation.

I do need a little something, because my skin is rather acne prone and though I try to keep it clean, it still likes to flare up. I also have a some patches of a darker ivory mixed in with the very light colour, so to blend it in I imagine I need some kind of product, eh? I think the odd tone difference is from a few years ago when I was in a competitive swim team here in Florida, because I was fried for a few years.

[newtoli]

Yes, I am also very pale, and it's hard to NOT wear foundation when you're pale, because every little red spot shows up.

Now, the only foundation I've found that perfectly matches my very light skin is Chanel, Pro Lumiere, in Nude .5. Some of the cheaper foundations are light enough but they look too white. This is expensive but matches and blends incredibly well.

[songinthewind7]

I have a fair complexion too although I haven't had any problems finding foundation. The best thing for you to do, other than going without it like I do now, is go to a Prescriptives counter in the mall. They can match you up.
You're in a humid part of the world and you may be better off going without it or wearing it occasionally.

[CAKD]

I am extremely fair too and I found that the mineral powders were a better match for my skin tone. Another winner for me when I wore a liquid foundation was Prescriptives.

[fabumom07]

I did stage acting in college and worked at a costume/theatrical shop on weekends.I matched my self up with some creamy stage foundation one day, and then flipped it over to reveal my perfect match- "Vampira"!!
It took me a while to live that one down.