Okay pale ladies, this one is for us!

Tools you will need:

• Your bottle of foundation (make sure you check the ingredient listing and check the first ingredient to see what the base of the foundation is!  Mine is water based.)
• Titanium dioxide (buy it here at Coastal Scents, it is water and oil soluble!)
• Distilled water (optional, and ONLY for water-based foundations!)
• Disinfected mixing bowl (I use a hair color one that has an end for pouring, making it ideal for putting the foundation back into the bottle).
• Small mixing spatula.
• Small scoop.
• Extra small wire whisk.

Are you ready?  Here we go!

• Begin by first washing and disinfecting your hands, or putting on a pair of gloves to ensure no bacteria enters your product.
• Pour your foundation into the bowl.
• Using your small scoop, scoop a small amount of titanium dioxide onto your foundation.
• Using the wire whisk, stir and mix in, getting out as many of those little bumps as you can.
• Take your small spatula and test a small area on your jawline.  The foundation will still look darker than it will when it is applied, so make sure you apply tiny amounts until you get the right color.
• Add more titanium dioxide if necessary or desired, and whisk again!  (I needed quite a bit, seeing as I am one shade darker than white!)

Check the consistency of your product.  Is it too thick now?  If you’re using a water based foundation, simply take some distilled water (an eye dropper works wonders for this), and slowly add until it’s the proper consistency.  A little will go a long way with both distilled water, and titanium dioxide.

I photographed my titanium dioxide mixture with flash, and did not notice a difference in color between the camera and the way it looked on my skin.

Titanium dioxide will make the foundation more opaque, and also add longevity to the wear.  To reduce opacity, just add a little bit of distilled water.  Make sure you use distilled, as it is the cleanest and most purified water out there — remember using it in chemistry class all the time, or is it just me?!

For you dark skinned ladies, avoid the titanium dioxide!  It does tend to make darker complected ladies a little ashy (if you’re above a medium tan, I’d skip adding more, as anything about 7% titanium dioxide will make your skin a little gray, like a zombie).  Instead, get a foundation that’s slightly lighter than your skintone, and follow the directions but add instead colored oxides!  They have a medium brown, dark brown, and black available at Coastal Scents that mix wonderfully.  BUT BE CAREFUL; a little bit when adding color goes a long, long way, so put in a tiny amount at a time!

Please remember to only do this for your personal use.  If you need to custom blend a foundation for a photo shoot, that is fine, but remember you cannot alter a company’s product and sell it as the same product.

Dear mL:

I’m like you — incredibly pale, and unable to find a match in foundation.  Some drug store brands have a match, but I hate that I have to take it home to try it out, and if it doesn’t work, I’m S.O.L.  What are your recommendations of brands that porcelain beauties like myself can try out?

Thanks!
Allison

Dear Allison (and readers),

That’s an excellent question, really.  I myself have searched for years to find a pale foundation that worked for me; most are far too dark, and even MAC foundations don’t work on me (which is a bummer, since I think their finishes are often gorgeous).  I’ve had success with a few brands, and by a few, I mean a few.  There’s not much out there for ladies like us — we don’t get the respect we deserve from cosmetic companies, at least in my opinion.  Also, I’m going to write for those bronzed and dark-skinned lovelies who have the same sort of issue — finding a foundation that doesn’t look silly and ashy on the skin!

Nixie is my first choice.  The prices are affordable, the color selection is fabulous!  They have quite the selection of undertones for skin, from the most pale to the darkest of skintones.  My personal favorites?  The full coverage cream foundation, and the even skin silicone foundation!  Since the even skin silicone foundation contains silicone (silica derivative), it helps to keep you with a natural and un-oily finish all day.  How can one beat that?  The cream foundation is great for a concealer, if you don’t want to use it as a foundation all over your face, and it’s also waterproof!

Next, a super favorite, Make Up For Ever!  Their foundations are downright fabulous, but definitely on the pricey side!  Their color range is excellent, and they have some of the best formulations I have ever encountered.  I keep their mat+ velvet in my kit for if I’m going to be anywhere near the water (don’t let the swatches on the site scare you, they’re lighter than they appear.  Here are the swatches from the official website!).  The stuff is waterproof and it helps keep my skin even!

Dior foundations also go to the very pale shades all the way to the darker shades, however, I must admit they are definitely on the pricey side — which I can’t bring myself to pay.  The finishes are wonderful on pretty much all of them, and most contain SPF, a definite bonus for everyday wear!  I love the Diorskin Forever make up which is a long-wear foundation, and Diorskin Nude which gives a nice and natural finish.

After that…. I’m at a loss.  Really, I haven’t found much.  People say Bare Escentuals, but we all know I’m not a fan of the brand, plus their shades on darker skin are downright awful, and ashy, thanks to the amount of titanium dioxide in the product.

My recommendation will almost always be that you go to your local cosmetics counter, and have them try foundations for you.  They’ll ask you a series of questions regarding coverage and finish, plus they’ll match it for you.  More often than not they’ll even let you take home a sample so you can see if it’s something that you’ll really want!

I hope I at least assisted some for you all