Look Good with Pale Skin
Katy Perry. Emma Stone. Madonna. Nicole Kidman. Taylor Swift. These are just a few of the gorgeous celebrities who have fairer skin than most. In order to look good with pale skin, the first thing you have to do is shed the notion that having pale skin is somehow a defect. Pale skin makes you look classic, striking, and unique. If you want to know how to look good with pale skin, all you have to do is wear the right makeup and clothes to make the most of your already-beautiful look.
Contents
Steps
Wearing the Right Makeup
- Wear neutral eyeshadow. Whether you have brown, blue, green or gray eyes, it is essential that you choose the right colors for your eye-shadow. Being pale is like being a blank canvas: colors will show up much brighter on you because you have a lighter tone. Someone with very dark skin can easily pull off more vibrant makeup while a lighter skinned person can not. Instead of choosing a wild color, try a more muted tone. Neutrals, such as light browns and purples, can never do wrong.
- Remember, less makeup is more for a light-skinned woman. Makeup tends to show up easier on someone with lighter skin, so just a little bit of light eye-shadow can look stunning.
- Avoid bright blues, yellows, or bright browns, or your face will look drained of its natural color.
- Choose the right eyeliner. Brown and gray eyeliner looks stunning on the perpetually pale. Brown especially is a color that brings out the eyes but doesn't look as harsh as black, which can create too stark of a contrast between your pale skin and your makeup.
- Black eyeliner can, however, be beautiful on a pale person, but in moderation. Instead of circling your eye with the liner, try instead only lining the top or the outer corners. As a general rule of thumb for any skin tone, circling your entire eye in black liner can make your eyes look smaller. You can go for the Taylor Swift-esque cat eyes to make your eyes even bigger.
- You can even use a makeup brush to smudge your eyeliner a bit, so it blends in with your skin a bit and creates less of a contrast.
- Wear dark mascara. Dark mascara, or even black mascara, can make your eyes stand out the most if you have pale skin. Avoid light brown, plum, or blue mascara and go for the darkest black you can find. This can help those lashes, and the rest of your eyes, pop against your fair skin. You can also get thickening mascara to make the most of your lashes and to really make your eyes pop.
- If you wear a lighter color of mascara, then your eyes won’t stand out as much.
- Make sure your foundation matches your skin. For any skin tone, a foundation that does not match your skin tone is never flattering. This is especially true with paler skin. Any color that is slightly askew from your natural tone will look off, if not like an orange disaster. Don't be ashamed to choose "porcelain" or "angel" shades. They look better than a darker shade and enhance your natural glow.
- Don’t try to fake it. Trying to look darker by choosing a darker foundation makes you look a bit silly.
- Go easy on the bronzer and blush. Bronzer must be used sparingly if you want to use it at all. A little bit of very light bronzer below the cheekbones and under your chin makes your face look thinner. Too much and you risk looking like you have some dirt on your face. Blush on the cheek bones, nose and the tip of your chin enhances your cheeks and makes your nose and chin look sharp. A very light pink gets the job done nicely.
- Whether you use bronzer or blush, just make sure that you blend it in smoothly.
- Consider using concealer. Cover up is a life saver when those bags under your eyes and pimples (which look a bit more pronounced on white skin) will not go away! Cover up can also cover any sun damage or pimples. Don't worry about covering your freckles, though. They look cute! Embrace them!
- That said, if you really don’t have any blemishes or pimples to hide, then you can skip out on concealer.
- Wear a light colored lip gloss or lipstick. Wearing dark colors can make you look like a vampire. A sweet light pink, or even an apricot shade, looks great for either formal or casual occasions. Red lipstick is the one exception. Red lipstick looks best against pale skin and is great for important events — think of how stunning the paler-skinned Taylor Swift looks with bright red lipstick.
- You can also use some lip liner to accentuate your lips as well.
- Avoid spray tanning. If you have decided you don't like the hue of your skin, spray tanning can look very bad against very pale skin. The spray looks more orange than tan. It's always better to naturally tan. Naturally tanning has setbacks farther down the road that many don't consider. Extended time in the sun can lead to skin cancer (which shows up more often in fair skinned folks), leathery skin, wrinkles, more freckles and sun damage/sun spots.
- If you must be darker or cannot physically tan, the best option would be a natural glow moisturizer, or any product that slowly darkens your skin naturally.
Getting the Hair and Clothes Down
- Maintain a flattering hair color. Don't dye your hair the wrong color! Hair color can mean the difference between looking like a glowing goddess and looking sickly. Deep reds, chestnut and dark browns are dramatic and gorgeous colors for the light skinned. For a lighter look, honey blonde is very attractive. It's best to avoid light red hair, especially if you are prone to being pink-skinned. However, if you don’t want to dye your hair, don’t feel pressured to do it just because you want it to look great against your skin.
- Very dark, or even black hair against pale skin can make for a very flattering and classic look.
- Wear the right colors for your skin and hair. Wearing neutrals is currently a prominent style. Nude and ivory colored clothing is being torn off the rack. Unfortunately, wearing white and light pink can be very unflattering on someone who has white and/or pinkish skin. Instead, be bold with your color choices. Dare to wear blue, black, brown, and green. If you do like a neutral look, a light brown or tan is very flattering against porcelain skin. If you have very dark hair and light skin, wearing a lot of black can wash you out.
- Be sure to add some color to your look. If you are a redhead, stay away from colors similar to your hair on the color wheel (i.e. red, pink, orange).
- Instead, look for colors opposite of your hair, such as green, blue and purple. Pastels look gorgeous against light skin.
- Beware of certain shades of yellow; they can make you look sick.
- Wear pantyhose. If you have white skin, then you may be self-conscious about showing off those white legs. Pantyhose can help even out the tone of your legs while maintaining your gorgeous look. You can still pick a light-colored tone of pantyhose so that they look natural.
- Of course, you should only wear them if the occasion is more formal and calls for it. You don’t want to stick out for being the only person wearing pantyhose.
- Take care of your body hair. Make sure you take care of any body hair, especially if you have naturally dark body hair. Hair shows up very easily against light skin, so it's best to take care of hair regularly, especially if you have a bit of a unibrow or a mustache. You can consider waxing this hair, or you can just work on plucking your eyebrows or any stray hairs on your face or body.
- If you have naturally blonde body hair, then you don’t need to worry as much. Blonde hair blends well with pale skin and doesn't need to be taken care of nearly as often.
- Embrace your beauty! Everyone thinks tan is terrific, but pale is just as beautiful. Realizing that being different from the norm is the first step to embracing your unique beauty and gaining a healthy self-confidence! Being pale makes you look classic, timeless, and gorgeous. Instead of trying to look tan or to be something you’re not, just work on making the most of the beauty that you have to share with the world.
- Be proud of your look and make the most of it. Don’t let people get you down about your pale skin and learn to love your unique and gorgeous look.
Tips
- When choosing a foundation shade, look for the words "porcelain," "angel," "fair," and "bright."
- Test foundation before buying it. It's a total waste of money to buy a foundation and then find out it makes you look orange.
- For a sweet look, try light pink lipstick. For a bold, dramatic look, go red!
- Choose a light bronzer and blush
- Be sure to be thorough in body hair removal
- Brown, red and blonde hair is stunning against white skin
- Only use darker shades of eye-shadow when you are going to a formal event taking place at night. Even then, avoid going too dark.
- Use natural glow moisturizers to darken your skin a little bit
- Don't use waterproof mascara! Waterproof mascara can wear away your eyelashes! Before you put on regular mascara, curl your eyelashes. Then add mascara! It really makes your eyelashes pop!
- Make sure to wear colors that not only complement your skin tone, but your eye color and hair color as well.
Warnings
- Cover up bags under your eyes. Purple bags looks really obvious on light skin!
- Don't line your entire eye with eyeliner! That will only make your eyes look smaller.
- Don't choose a pantyhose that looks too dark. If you meant to choose a nude color and end up wearing a few shades too dark it may look very funny.
- Don't apply bronzer too much! It looks silly and unhygienic
- Spray tans will probably look unnatural against your skin. Tanning in the sun can lead to health problems and the physical effects will show once you get older.
- Just because you may have blonde body hair and it blends with your skin doesn't mean you should never take care of it!
- As a redhead, shy away from reds, oranges and pinks
- As a dark haired person, stay away from black clothing
- Don't dye your hair black
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