Dainty doll foundation

REVIEW : Dainty Doll foundation by Nicola Roberts and Jelly Pong Pong – makeup for pale people!

the best foundation for pale skin

Hey, dollface!

It looks like you’ve landed on one of my older posts, which might not be totally up to date. Why not try one of these ones, instead?

The Best Foundation for Pale Skin: the ultimate roundup

The Awkward Girl’s Guide to Fair Skin

11 Things Pale Girls Are Sick of Hearing

Pale & Proud: Why I Won’t Get a Tan, No Matter How Much You Tell Me I Need One

12 Things You’ll Only Understand if You Have Pale Skin

How to Be Comfortable in Your Pale Skin

The best foundation for pale skin: a roundupDainty-doll-foundation

Well, it certainly took me long enough, but I finally got round to buying some of the Dainty Doll/Nicola Roberts foundation I’ve been meaning to try since it launched, and, I figured now was as good a time as any to review it.

For those who’ve never heard of it, Dainty Doll is the makeup line developed by Jelly Pong Pong in conjunction with Nicola Roberts – a.k.a. “The Red Haired One from Girls Aloud” – and it’s made specifically for people who, like Nicola, are paler than pale.

As a fellow redhead, my colouring is fairly similar to Nicola’s, so I was keen to try this. It arrived from ASOS.com earlier this week, and the first drawback was apparent as soon as I opened the package: it’s small. Yes, “Dainty” is the right word for this line, because the pot of foundation was smaller than I expected, but that aside, what did I think of it? Look under the jump to find out!

First of all, the colour. This is, of course, the main selling point for the Dainty Doll line, and, in this respect, it definitely doesn’t disappoint.

I ordered it in “Ivory”, and in the pot it didn’t look too different from most of my other foundations. This was but an illusion, though, because as soon as I started to use it, I realised that it is, indeed, pale. Oh boy, is it ever pale! I can honestly say that this foundation is the closest match I’ve ever found to my natural skin tone: in fact, as soon as I put it on, it made me realise that when I’ve used foundations in the past and thought the colour match was “close enough” (Which is often as much as we pale faces can hope for), I’ve just been kidding myself. This is the first time I’ve not had to worry about a tide mark, because it’s super pale, and so is my skin. So far, so good!

Now for the bad news. Although this is a great colour, I wouldn’t say it’s a great foundation. The consistency is fairly dry, and doesn’t blend easily: I found the best way to apply it was to warm it up in the palm of my hands before putting it onto my face, but even so, the dryness wasn’t ideal, and if you have any dry patches on your face, they may be more noticeable with this.

The coverage isn’t the best it could be, either. It’s partly because of the problems with the consistency, but I found myself having to layer it up quite a bit over my, er, “problem areas” to get thick enough coverage.

So, overall, great colour – in fact, probably the best I’ve used – but if they could just make it a little thicker and creamier (and maybe make the pot a little bigger), I’d like it all the more. With that said, I probably will buy this again, if only because it’s such a novelty to find a colour that’s actually pale enough for my skin, so mad props to Nicola and Jelly Pong Pong for bringing out this line – it was much needed and long may it continue!

11 things pale girls are sick of hearing

P.S. If you'd like to hear more from me, please consider subscribing to my newsletter…

books by Amber Eve
COMMENTS
  • Steph

    REPLY

    Hmmm, that’s a pity. I’m pale as death so I hoped that this foundation would be the miracle I was looking for but I have very dry skin so I guess it would probably be best for me to steer clear.

    April 17, 2009
  • Ellie

    REPLY

    I’m a red head and I bought this to, and found it just as you did.
    But I use Dream Matte Mousse to get this affect instead, it’s as pale as this foundaton in Ivory and has far better coverage, stays on for longer, is cheaper and, besides, you get more.
    The novelty is nice, but I didn’t think this foundation to be anything special.

    April 18, 2009
  • Katie

    REPLY

    I am super fair redhead like you —
    My new HG foundation is the Giorgio Armani Lasting Silk UV SPF 20 – in Shade 2 – it’s super lightweight but layers really well – and looks like skin! It looks best when you just a brush to buff it in – I use my MAC 109.
    You should try it.

    I’ve tried Bobbi Brown, Laura Mercier, MAC, Estee Lauder, Clinique, CoverFX in E0, Stila, Benefit, Dior, etc etc etc…

    The new Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in Siberia is really pale too – but looks like foundation on my skin.

    October 30, 2009
POST A COMMENT