I also have fair skin and very fine blonde hair

“I also have fair skin and very fine blonde hair.  I was interested in  any specific cheek and lip color recs that you can make as well as any  hair products you can recommend.  I can never get any kind of texture or  volume in my hair.  Styl…

I also have fair skin and very fine blonde hair. I was interested in any specific cheek and lip color recs that you can make as well as any hair products you can recommend. I can never get any kind of texture or volume in my hair. Styling products and shampoo/conditioner recs would be great. thanks so much!
P.S I love your fashion blog holier than now and I have also purchased some of your clothes from your store.. you are pretty much a fashion/and overall look guru for me… so to have the opportunity to ask you specfic beauty questions is VERY cool to me> thanks!!!” - mohair

First of all thanks a zillion for saying such nice things. 

The gist of what I’ve learned over the years is: pale skin + blond hair = PUMP IT UP.  Even if you’re going for natural, you need to add color or you f-f-fade away.  I was so reluctant to embrace some of these ideas, but I can honestly say they work. I’m going to go beyond with a suggestion for brows as well (this is also an answer for FVNCY, who asked about brow fillers on the Facebook page. Love the dual pencil and gel):

              

  • Cover Girl Outlast Lip Stain in Teasing Blush #415 ($7.99): I find it helps people understand what I’m saying when they can actually distinguish my lips from the rest of my face ; ) This is that perfect stain that provides a boost of pretty, natural color that lasts.  Can’t live without it.
  • Revlon Brow Fantasy in Dark Blonde #104 ($7.39): Great product, terrible copywriting. I was reluctant until very recently to fill in my brows, but it really makes a huge difference to frame your face and make it all look more polished.  Look how important a stronger brow is in the photo with the red lips… but it matters even with a natural look.  
  • Bobbi Brown Blush in Pale Pink ($24): I go back and forth between this and a similarly bright Nars color, but I cite Bobbi here because it was her makeup team that introduced me to the concept of a pop of pink.  Do not be afraid!  It looks bright, but it works like magic. 
  • YSL Rouge Pur Couture in Le Rouge ($30): If you’d spend $30 on a shirt, you should invest in a good red lipstick - because it makes your $5 white tee-shirt and long sleeved striped shirt from Old Navy look like a zillion bucks. Quality and color tone are everything with reds, so ask (like my ex-boyfriend’s mom taught me) to see blue-reds at Sephora or wherever you shop for better beauty stuff, and find the right shade for you.

Since this is about color, I’ll leave the foundation and mascara choices to you.  And as for hair volumizers, I have some great suggestions but I’m going to save for another post…

Image credits: Ellen Claesson; V Magazine Spring 2010, makeup by Peter Philips for Chanel, Raquel wears Rouge Coco in Cambon.