White Bases

Elizabethans were prized for their very white skin, they used a variety of different things on their skin to get it as white as they could. One way to get the palest skin wax mixing white lead and vinegar, it was smothered all over the face, neck and chest area but it made the skin start to appear grey and shrivelled after use. Then they found different mixtures which were nicer on the skin. Ingredients like paste of alum, tin ash and sulphur, boiled egg white and were mixed together to make the white base and uncooked egg white was used as a 'glaze' on the skin making it appear smoother and hiding wrinkles.

Today, we don't need to use ingredients as such to create such a pale base, there are a variety of different products that are available to use to get the look. There are foundations, creams, gels, face paints and different make up products which are available in white to purchase.

I had 3 different products to test out on the skin, they were all white and all different textures and formulas. I wanted to see how it applied onto the skin, what it appeared like, did it set or was it sticky, was it easy to remove, was it a thick formula or thin and what did it look like on the skin.
I tested out the Illamasqua Skin Base in White, Kryolans Supra Colour in white and Kryolans Aqua Colour in White.

Firstly, I removed all the make up off the skin using the cleansing routine to make sure all make up was removed, I didn't want it to effect the colour or the application of the white product so I made sure it was all removed.

Kryolan Supra Colour

Application -
I used a small round brush to apply the colour on the skin, it is a very creamy formula almost like a face paint, it smoothed over the skin not leaving any lines or patches of thicker colour. It covered all the skin evenly, even over the lips and redder areas of the skin, it covered them perfectly. It did leave brush marks on the skin at first but after I had finished applying it all over the face to the coverage I wanted, I buffed out the skin using a stippling brush and it made it look so much better. It took away and excess colour off the skin leaving it beautiful and smooth. No lines or streaks were left on the skin, it looked even and soft.
The Supra colour is so pigmented too, at first I thought it wasn't covering as well as I had thought, I went over the patch a few times and the more you apply the more intense the colour becomes. Even when applied over the eye brows it covered them perfectly, you could still see the hair underneath but it puts a layer over the hairs making them appear white.
The only thing I don't like about the Supra colour is that it is quite sticky on the skin to touch, it feels soft and set on your face but if you touch it you get a lot of colour pay off on to your finger. This could be a downfall to this product because I you touch your face or hug someone or get changed/dressed it is going to rub off onto the clothing. The only thing you can do to prevent this happening is setting the colour with a loose powder or a setting powder in white. This will set the colour on the skin, making it soft to touch, no colour pay off and it will last longer on the skin too. 

Removal -
This product was very difficult to remove off the skin, it felt as though you was wiping it off but also spreading it around the face in the process. Using a cotton pas with cleanser on to remove the product showed just how hard it was to remove, I used a handful of cotton pads and I still had it smothered all over the face. It does come off the skin but it just takes a white for it all to be removed, it gets stuck in the hair line which is the most difficult part of the face to remove products as it grips/sticks on to the hair.

Kryolan Aqua Colour

Application -
I used the same small round brush, freshly cleaned, to apply the Aqua colour on to the face, it was a lot thicker in consistency compared to the Supra colour. The Aqua colour is activated with water so I dipped my brush in to some water first and then worked the brush into the product. At first I thought it was a nice thick paint on my hand but when applying it on to the face it was very thin and very streaky, leaving brush marks and thickening in places where there was more brush strokes. It is very must like a paste, the more water that is added the easier it is to apply on to the skin. When applying it on to the face you need a lot more product compared to the Supra colour, you need to add water to the colour a lot more often than I thought you would as it dries very quickly and it very hard to move across the skin. It has very good coverage on dark/red areas such as the lips and the eyebrows. It covers the eye brows very well leaving a white later over the brows so they don't appear dark at all.
At first it feels very soft and wet on the face but after 2 minutes or so it starts to dry and feel very hard like it has set on the face like a face mask feel, although to touch it still gives a pay off on to the fingers.
When I had finished my coverage, I buffed out the colour with the same, freshly cleaned, stippling brush, it was very difficult as the pain had already dried. It made it look even streakier than it was before leaving whiter patches on the skin making it look very un even.
I didn't like how tough it was to move around the face, I really struggled to get a nice even tone to the skin but it looked very streaky. I also didn't like how it gave a pay off on to my finger when touched, it could rub off or give pay off on to the clothing or on to other people unless it is set with a white powder.

Removal -
I found this colour so much easier to remove off the skin, as it is water based the cleanser just took the colour straight of the skin. I did have to go over the same area a few times but it actually removed the product unlike the Supra colour which just moved over the skin. I wasn't very impressed with the application but it was very easy to remove which I was impressed with.
 

Illamasqua Skin Base

Application -
The application process was very, very good compared to the other two formulas, as this one is a foundation it was very easy to apply the already creamy fluid.
I used a foundation brush to apply it on to the skin, the coverage was there as you could definitely see the skin was white, when we had completed all 3 products on the skin you could see the difference in them all. The foundation was a very good coverage much better than the Aqua but not as good as the Supra. It is a very nice product to apply on to the skin, very creamy consistency and it was soft on the skin too, didn't feel wet or sticky. It covered very well over the slips and any darkness or redness on the skin too. As it is a foundation buffing and blending the product was very easy, it buffed out really well using a stippling brush, leaving no lines, no darker/whiter patches and it looked very set on the skin, it did feel a little sticky but didn't have as much pay off on my finger to touch. It can also be set with a white powder too.

Removal -
The foundation wasn't as easy to remove as it was to put it on, it appeared to come off very difficultly as the foundation just moved on the skin until it was rubbed in the same place a few times. It was much easier to remove than the Supra colour but the Aqua colour was much easier to remove than this foundation too.

Summary

Overall, I think the best formula is the Supra colour. I feel as though it was very quick to apply on to the skin giving me the effect I wanted - very white skin. The consistency of the colour was very good and easy to move on the skin. It can be layered up to make more of a vibrant colour and it didn't go streaky on application or after buffing.
I was very impressed with this product more than the others as the foundation was very good too but comparing them both on the skin, the Supra colour was more intense and covered the skin better. The Aqua colour I didn't like at all as it didn't cover the skin evenly, it was streaky and patchy and I didn't like the finished look.
If I was to do this again I would maybe just do half the face with the Supra colour and the other half the Illamasqua Skin Base so I could compare the two on bigger area of the face. I was very impressed with the Skin Base but for the look I wanted to achieve the Supra colour was the best one out of the three. 

In the photo you can see the difference between all 3 of the products, the Illamasqua Skin Base on the chin and lips, the Supra colour on the clients left side of the face and the Aqua colour on the clients right side of the face. You can tell the Supra colour is thicker and white looking compared to the other two and the Aqua colour looks patchy compared to the smooth look of the Illamasqua on the chin and lips.

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