Cruelty Free Pale Foundation Swatches
I just wanted to share some cruelty free pale foundation swatches with you. I’ve got a mix of drugstore, department store, high end and indie brands.
Cruelty Free Pale Foundation Swatches
This post contains a mix of press samples and products purchased by me in my never ending quest to find the best foundations for pale skin.
This first photo was taken outside in the hot sun at 3pm EST on my Samsung Galaxy Note 4. I wanted to get direct sun swatches since they most accurately represent what I think foundation looks like on me. I couldn’t use my DSLR because the poor thing kept steaming up. It’s about 95 degrees out, feels like 106 and it’s over 50% humidity. Ahh yes, Florida in the summertime. These swatches are partially blended out, to show you how they blend into my skintone. I believe my skintone is somewhere between N0 and N5 (pale neutral).
Cruelty Free Foundations for Pale Skin Plus Swatches
Lucy Minerals Original Foundation
The Lucy Minerals Original Foundation that I pressed is Courtney, my custom mix. You can see how I made this foundation in my how to press loose powder foundation video. I started with a base of 60% Snow White and 40% Light. I love this foundation. It’s easy to wear. It looks like skin on me. It’s not heavy. I’m shooting a wear test video of it.
Cover FX Liquid Foundation
The Cover FX Oil Free Liquid Foundation in N0 has been one of my favorite foundations to wear. It has good coverage and a wide range of shades available (I think it has around 38 shades). I like to add Paula’s Choice Hyaluronic Acid Booster to it.
Illuminare Moisturizing Liquid Mineral Foundation
I just bought the Illuminare Moisturizing Liquid Mineral Foundation in Alabaster. It seems to be lighter than the Illuminare Concealing Foundation. I haven’t had a chance to wear it yet but I will be doing that soon. I bought it for my Pale Foundation Series.
Burt’s Bees BB Cream
The Burt’s Bees BB Cream in Light is still the best drugstore foundation that I’ve ever tried, though it is not a perfect product. I need primer and setting powder to make it last all day. On its own it wears away in a few hours. See my First Impressions video here. See my follow up video here.
Illuminare Concealing Liquid Mineral Foundation
I bought the Illuminare Concealing Liquid Mineral Foundation in Alabaster at the same time that I bought the Moisturizing because I was curious to see if there would be any difference in the shades. To my eyes, the Concealing foundation is darker. It’s also very pigmented.
Kat Von D Lock-It Liquid Foundation
The Kat Von D Lock It foundation in Light 42 is the best pale pink-toned foundation that I’ve found. I also think this one is best for oily skin.
Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation
I bought the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation in Fair 1 after a friend raved to me about it and said that she thought it would be gorgeous on me. I haven’t yet worn it. It’s very full coverage and darker than I expected.
NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation
The NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation in Siberia is oil-free and claims 16 hour wear. I’ll be putting that claim to the test. It’s possibly the most yellow-toned of all the shades here.
It Cosmetics Illuminating CC Cream
The It Cosmetics Illuminating CC Cream in Fair is really pretty. When you look at it outside it really does have an illuminating quality to it. I need to try it with a white mixer.
Too Faced Beauty Balm
The Too Faced Beauty Balm in Snow Glow has a subtle illuminating quality. I haven’t worn that in forever.
Too Faced Born This Way Foundation
I like to wear the Too Faced Born This Way foundation in Snow with some white foundation mixer and a drop of the Paula’s Choice Hyaluronic Acid Booster.
Too Faced Born This Way Concealer
I have not worn the Too Faced Born This Way concealer in Very Fair because I think it’s too dark to conceal around my face.
I have not worn the Too Faced Born This Way Concealr in Fair because it’s also too dark on my skintone for concealer.
NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer
I’m glad I finally bought the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly because it’s gorgeous. I feel it works really well for concealing around my face.
How to Fix Foundation That is Too Dark
How I fix any foundation that is too dark for me is by adding a white foundation mixer. Right now my favorite whitening drops are the Manic Panic Dreamtone Virgin White. If you have the opposite problem, the Body Shop Shade Adjusting drops come in Darkening as well as Lightening to deepen foundation.
How to Fix Foundation That Cakes Up or Shows Flakes on Dry Skin
As someone who has dry, sensitive skin and rosacea, I do often add things to my liquid foundation in addition to white mixers. The other two products that I like to add to liquid foundations are the Paula’s Choice Hyaluronic Acid Booster or the Josie Maran 100% Argan Oil Light. The Hyaluronic Acid Booster helps to add more moisture and make it easier to wear. The Argan Oil makes things meld better with my skin. It basically makes it so that you don’t see any dry patches.
How to Protect Your Skin
You need to wear a broad spectrum SPF 365 days a year. I can’t emphasize this enough! I never rely on my makeup for SPF protection, either. Even if it says it’s SPF 50, I put on sunscreen before makeup. I’ve been using the Paula’s Choice Calm Redness Relief SPF 30 for the past 7 – 8 months. It’s mineral based. It doesn’t irritate my skin.
It’s also very important to keep your skin moisturized, whether you have dry skin or oily skin. Even if you have oily skin, you should use a light moisturizer. Keeping your skin moisturized will help prevent signs of aging. So at least have a basic skincare routine and stick with it. Cleanse, moisturize and protect!
EDIT:
Kat Von D Beauty just launched a white concealer! They’re also launching new foundation shades, which looks like they will have a pale neutral soon too! Also, the vegan Serpentina palette is live now!
You. Are. Amazing. Thank you so much for this. I have the hardest time shopping for makeup (I’m the palest of pale) and once you add in trying to find vegan products – it’s nearly impossible. Your blog is a lifesaver. I’m so happy I stumbled on it today when I was looking for Vice Lipstick capsule collection swatches. Your my new favorite person on the planet and this post in particular has saved my face. <3 <3 <3
Sam
Hey Courtney… I was just reading your post, and I wanted to let you know about a product I think you will really love! Random side note- I actually met you you at the 2013 ( i believe that’s the right year) IMATS when you were working at BFTE, I was working for eye kandy that year…. anyways… lol….
I wanted to tell you about PUR’s amazing green redness reducing primer because I think you would LOVE it for a different reason other than redness reducing =) It’s a highly pigmented dimethicone based primer that works like MAGIC, and will lighten any foundation to whatever shade you need!!! I didn’t understand it at first until I saw someone demonstrate it lightening a foundation, and a lightbulb went off in my head and i was like, UM DUH, that makes so much sense because the GREEN is taking the RED out of the foundations, which then lightens the shade, duh, right? lol! I actually just started to recently work as a pro artist for PUR cosmetics, and a fellow super fair girl who struggles to find foundations that work on every level, I understand your struggles! Just to give you an idea, I usually wear UD naked 1.0, TF bb cream in snow globe and PUR 4in1 powder in porcelain. I see you have tried PUR products before, but if you haven’t tried this primer for lightening your foundations, you definitely should! Also, their hydrating oil free primer is AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGGGG, i’ve never seen anything like it before, and for an actual oil-control primer, I highly highly recommend it! Im sure you are in touch with their PR dept, but if you are interested in trying these primers out, let me know, I am sure I could get them for you no problem =) Anyways, sorry for the super long comment, I just wanted to share the information I had, from one super fair makeup loving girl, to another =) xoxo Missy ps: im assuming you will have my email info from my info I am putting down below =)
I need to find that PUR primer and try it. PUR’s PR sends me things randomly but never the primer. It sounds like their hydrating primer is great too! Thank you so much for meeting me at IMATS, it was definitely 2013.
Thank you so much for the swatches! As someone with very fair skin and a similar undertone, this is so helpful! As a side note, i wish the Coverfx N0 shade was more widely available in stores, since I love the powder and so far, can only purchase online (where it’s always out of stock). Do you have any other recomendations for fair-skinned powders? So far Tarte Double Duty Confidence Powder Foundation in Fair Neutral, Kat Von D Lock It Powder Foundation in 42, and Coverfx N0 are the only matches I’ve found so far.
no wonder ‘Courtney’ matches you perfectly – you made it yourself! lol. The NARS one matches well, too, but it must be so frustrating to be too pale to match many foundations without DIY.
This is a fabulous roundup of quality, fair foundations.
The KVD foundation has been on my to-try list forever!
Very nice resource for cruelty free foundations for pale skin.
Good to know there are so many CF options out there.
I want to go foundation shopping now! I wonder if Cover FX on NO would be too light.
Great post, looks like there are some good matches for you.
After seeing your TF foundation & concealer swatches recently, I went to Ulta with my coupon looking to see if Snow would work for me since the next one is too dark, but of course, they were out of Snow and the tester had disappeared 🙁 As always, your swatches are beautiful as well as helpful