Updated Collective Swatches of Foundation on Very Pale Skin

The most viewed post on my blog, by a large amount, is my original Collective Swatches of Foundation, Powder, Concealer on Pale and Freckled Me. I'm glad because a lot of what inspired me to make this blog was the relative rarity of very pale and freckled skin represented in the beauty blogging community. I have found others like Christa from Perilously Pale and her tweet of an older post of her foundation swatches reminded me I should post something new with the new products I use now, or still use. I didn't include concealer this time around, I think I will do that separately. This time I also wanted to make sure the foundation was mostly blended (although heavier than I would wear it on my face in the arm swatches) and had a good 30 minutes to dry down/oxidize.

For color reference, MAC Matchmaster in 1.0 is considered to be about NC10 - I am between NC5 to NC10 (matching to the lightest part of my face and neck is my goal). It is always tricky finding foundation light enough in both high-end and low-end brands.

In an effort to embrace my very oily skin, the past year I have used more powder foundations than liquids. With the winter/pregnancy and my drastic skin change to barely oily-almost normal, I have been back to using liquids more frequently.

• MAC Matchmaster in 1.0 - this blended into my chin fairly well when matched at the MAC counter, but is slightly dark on the rest of my face
• Revlon ColorStay Combination/Oily in 110 Ivory - this is also workable, but a bit dark
• Maybelline Fit Me in 110 Porcelain - a more neutral shade, this is probably the best liquid foundation match I have
• MAKE UP FOR EVER Face & Body in #38 - applies very sheer but if applied more heavily, it's also a little peachy/dark

Here they are swatched from above my jaw down into my neck. My face is noticeably darker than my neck (and my chest is even paler than my neck, yikes!) and I do strive to match my face to my neck to avoid the need to bring foundation down onto my neck. I always apply foundation in a thin layer to avoid covering my freckles, I am looking to even out my skintone and take down the redness/pigmentation on my chin, nose and cheeks.

Swatching the powder foundations was even trickier as several do not have a ton of pigmentation or match me decently well and disappear into the skin.

• Laura Mercier Mineral Powder in Soft Porcelain - the color is okay but coverage is very sheer and it doesn't agree with my acne-prone skin too well
• LORAC Wet/Dry Powder Foundation in WD1 - a good match, nice texture and light coverage
• CARGO blu_ray High Definition Powder in #10 - a little dark to use as a foundation but the finish on this powder is gorgeous, very smoothing
• MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural in Light - also a touch too dark to use as a foundation but has a nice finish
• Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Face Powder in Translucent - not so translucent, eh? It's too dark if used as a foundation applied with a puff, obviously
• Sonia Kashuk Bare Minimum Pressed Powder in Translucent Fair - a good match, also has a nice texture (not quite as silky as the LORAC) with light coverage

Let me know if you'd like heavier/wet swatches of the liquid foundation for comparison or have any questions about the products shown. Getting the lighting and coloring right is really a task, I did the best I could in editing but these aren't perfect. I hope this helps if you're in the market for a new liquid or powder foundation in a similar skintone! Thanks for stopping by, as always. Have a great day!