Hi Friends,
The most confusing step is opting for correct foundation and
concealer when it comes to perfect makeup.
With so many products to choose from, buying the right
product actually becomes nothing less than a Rocket Science.
When it is a brand like Mac, which offers an enormous range
of foundations and concealers, the confusion surges.
Here I am sharing a quick guide to Mac Foundations and Concealers:
Studio Fix Fluid SPF 15 Foundation:
- Packaging: Glass Bottle No Pump (buy Pump at an extra cost of INR 500)
- Texture: Thick Liquid foundation, marginally towards being viscous.
- Coverage: Full Coverage.
- Finish: Matte.
- SPF: 15
- Skin Type: Oily & Combination Skin.
- Staying Power: Upto 8hrs.
- Price: INR 1800 for 30ml.
Personal Note: Personally I feel this foundation is little
heavy for me, I can’t see myself wearing this foundation in routine. It makes a
good party wear and photo-shoot foundation for me as it covers my skin like a
dream. If I wear it as a day wear, I feel like I have a mask on. This product oxidizes
a bit, sets a bit darker than it actually is.
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| Concealer used separately |
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| Concealer used separately |
Prolongwear SPF10 Foundation:
- Packaging: Glass Bottle with in built cap pump.
- Texture: Liquid foundation with light consistency.
- Coverage: Medium Coverage.
- Finish: Natural Finish.
- Skin Type: All
- SPF: 10
- Staying Power: 10 hrs +
- Price: INR 1700 for 30ml
Personal Note: This is my current Favorite foundation. I love
its natural finish. For me it’s a very versatile product, I sheer down its
coverage for day to day wear and build it up to more full coverage for party
wear. For extremely dry skin you would need to wear a moisturizer before using
it and for Oily skin, using an oil control primer will be a good idea. It is
water based foundation and is water resistant.
 |
| Concealer is used separately |
Mac Matchmaster Foundation:
- Packaging: Glass Bottle with in built cap pump.
- Texture: Liquid foundation with light consistency.
- Coverage: Medium Coverage.
- Finish: Natural Matte.
- Skin Type: All, not for very dry skin type.
- SPF: 15
- Staying Power: 9-10 hrs
- Price: INR 2000 for 35ml
Personal Note: Another excellent foundation from Mac. Light
to Medium Buildable foundation, gives a very natural matte coverage. It blends in
perfectly with the skin and adapts to the skin tone. It has a very light
texture as if you are not wearing any foundation. It’s good for Oily skin as it
keeps skin from getting oily throughout the day. It does not comes in NC or NW
coding. It’s a neutral toned foundation.
 |
| Concealer used Separately |
 |
| Concealer used Separately |
Mineralize SatinFinish Foundation:
- Packaging: Glass Bottle with in built pump, has an interesting hour glass shape
- Texture: Liquid foundation.
- Coverage: Light to Medium Coverage.
- Finish: luminous Satin finish
- Skin Type: Normal, Combo Dry .. Not for Oily skin
- SPF: 15
- Staying Power: About 6 hrs
- Price: INR 2250 for 30ml
Personal Note: Light to medium coverage foundation with a
dewy finish. I personally am not a fan of this product. I makes my dry –combination
skin look very oily in couple of hours. The coverage is not very high. This is
more meant for flawless but dry skin. I feel otherwise the dewiness exaggerates
the pores and pigmentation. This product oxidizes i.e. when it sets it gets a
little darker.
 |
| Concealer is used separately |
 |
| Concealer is used Separately |
Studio Tech Foundation:
- Packaging: Tub Packaging with build in mirror and a sponge.
- Texture: Liquid foundation.
- Coverage: Medium Coverage.
- Finish: Cream to powder finish
- Skin Type: Normal to Dry Skin
- SPF: No SPF
- Staying Power: upto 8 hrs
- Price: INR 1800 for 10gm
Personal Note: Use with a buffing brush for a good coverage.
It looks good on skin and but feels slightly sticky. Needs to be set with a
powder.
 |
| Creaminess around the eyes is cause of the concealer, Please note the finish of the foundation on cheekbones and jawline |
Select Fix Powder Foundation:
- Packaging: Tub Packaging with build in mirror and a sponge.
- Texture: Powder foundation.
- Coverage: Medium to full Coverage.
- Finish: Matte powder finish
- Skin Type: Normal, Combo, Oily skin
- SPF: No SPF
- Staying Power: 5+ hrs
- Price: INR 1800 for 15gm
Personal Note: Always use a primer while applying this
foundation. A person tends to confuse it with a compact but is a full coverage
powder foundation. Looks good on oily skin.
Select SPF Foundation:
- Packaging: Glass bottle packaging without pump.
- Texture: Liquid foundation.
- Coverage: Light to Medium (buildable) Coverage.
- Finish: Natural/ Matte finish
- Skin Type: All
- SPF: 15
- Staying Power: 6-8 hrs
- Price: INR 1800 for 30ml
Personal Note: Water based liquid foundation. Can look cakey
so you need to blend very carefully.
 |
| Concealer is used around eyes. Please note the texture around cheekbone and jawline |
Mac Face and Body Foundation:
- Packaging: Plastic bottle packaging with a nozzle.
- Texture: Liquid foundation.
- Coverage: Light sheer Coverage.
- Finish: Natural Dewy finish
- Skin Type: All
- SPF: 15
- Staying Power: 8hrs
- Price: INR 1700 for 50ml
Personal Note: At first I didn’t like this foundation at all;
I never even used the samples I got. But recently I retried it and fell in love
with this one. It has a very liquidy texture and goes on very sheer but more
you blend it gives better coverage and changes the texture. It gives a slight
dewy finish which doesn’t look unnatural like Mineralized foundation.
I haven't reviewed Mac Studio Sculpt Foundation.
I hope this might sort out some confusion while choosing a Mac foundation.
More details on foundation will in another post.
A Mac concealer post will be coming up next.
Stay Beautiful :)
Shweta
wow....this as a great review....so many foundations....thnx fr this post dear :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Renji ... I spent 6 hrs in store for this post .. thanks to a friend their who helped me with first hand genuine information..
DeleteOMG you have like all the MAC foundations in your kitty! which one would you recommend for my skin type? combination..have dryness around mouth..pigmentation and red spots :(
ReplyDeleteNo no no .. I went to Mac store and I spent 6 hrs in store for this post .. thanks to a friend their who helped me with first hand genuine information.. I think u should choose Prolongwear or Matchmaster
DeleteI am definitely going to try both these in the store and get samples! i def love the finish of Matchmaster a lot..looks very natural! i never gave pro long wear foundation a thought..i thought studio fix fluid would be best for my skin..now I am having second thoughts :) thanks for the detailed post! appreciate your efforts :)
Deletebtw did you buy any foundation for yourself?
I already have prolongwear at the moment .. i have samples of face n body, next i want to buy match master
Deletewhoa...wat a post...gr8 comparisons n guidelines on a range of mac foundations..
ReplyDeletebookmarking this.. this is gonna be helpful for all!
Thanks Revathy :)
DeleteNice, comprehensive post!
ReplyDeleteAll foundations look good, especially Pro Longwear foindation :)
http://makeupdemon.blogspot.com/
I am in love with Prolongwear, I use it personally too .. n my next buy would be matchmaster
DeleteGreat post! I'v tried the MAC Mineralize Moisture finish SPF15 foundation at the MAC store at I loved it. Mine is dry skin so it looked quite natural on me.
ReplyDeleteGreat yaa.. I dont like dewiness in mineralized as it exaggerates my dark circles and pigmentation a lot .. plus i personally am not a big fan of dewy finish
Deletesuperbbbbb post ! thanks for the information dear :) i hv tremendous oily skin...I think now i cn choose right one for me :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Samannita :)
DeleteYou must have worked for ages on this post. My fave is the Studio Tech compact, despite my oily skin - I get good coverage when I use it with a slightly damp sponge, and set it with Studio Fix Powder. The combo stays quite well, but it's a little too much work when I'm in a hurry, so I pick up another wet-and-dry powder. One query, based on what a SA once told me - do all shades across all foundation ranges look alike? She said NC 37 in Studio Tech was NC40 in Studio Fix etc. Is that so?
ReplyDeleteThanks Renu, compact are great for oily skin and using it with damp sponge is the best way. No, all the colors in different ranges differ, some are more pinkier, some are more yellow based, like prolongwear NC42 looks very dark as compared to Studio fix which is more yellow. Matchmaster is more neutral toned. so u cannot completely rely on Shade number
DeleteWow, I had always presumed that the whole NC37 deal was the gold standard throughout the makeup world!
DeleteAwesome post!!! Love how you have given lot of details for each foundation. Will bookmark this post for my future reference
ReplyDeleteThanks Sudhaa :)
DeleteSo finally this post is up! Thanks for the reviews. Am going to try prolong wear one next time
ReplyDelete:) .. u'll like it more for daily wear :)
DeleteGreat post Shweta! I too use the Pro long wear foundation and i love it. But I really want to try the face and body foundation next.
ReplyDeleteThanks :) ... I initially hated face and body but now i am too really liking it :)
Deletevery good and informative post shweta.! you seem to have done great home work. i am book marking it now.
ReplyDeletethank u raji :)
Deletethats a fab post dear..!! u have so many mac...!!
ReplyDeleteNo ya .. I dont own all .. I went to mac and a very kind Mua helped me with this
Deletewow gurl! awesome post!
ReplyDeleteTotally admiring your efforts for this post.. its incredible :) m using matchmaster n absolutely loving coz it works wonder on my combi/acne prone skin.. next m looking for concealer & your post has helped me a lot.. so thanx for sharing this!! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks vipra, I m coming up soon with with concealer post also
Deletefirst of all, great job on putting alot of effort on this post. was very informative :)
ReplyDeleteThank u Jeeshan
Deletegreat post!!
ReplyDeletewooo.. thats a really nice post Shweta...
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
DeleteWhoa..exhuastive research Shweta!! Big thank you for the efforts in throwing some light on MAC products and their features :-* I thought I'm the only one who hates Studio Fix Fluid :/ Brought the whole range and nothing suits my skin >.< Hate the MAC mua for making me buy whole range of wrong products :X
ReplyDeleteSounds like matchmaster, pro long wear and face and body foundation would suit me the best.
Ankita
Makeup, Style and Sugar.
As for ur skin , you must try face n body. As u don't requitr a lot of coverage it will be just right for u. But apply a primer on your oily zone first.
Deletehey shweta..on your recommendation went to MAC today and tried MAC matchmaster and pro long wear foundation..i am so surprised at the light weight feeling! absolutely loving it on my skin and found the right shades as well! very happy :) thank you! ill most probably get the pro long wear one..since liked that a bit more than matchmaster :)
ReplyDeleteyaaayyyy ... good that u loved it :)
DeleteLove love love this post Shweta:)
ReplyDeleteThank u darling :)
DeleteGood review, a bit lengthy too.
ReplyDeleteit covers 6 foundations .. a complete guide .. i kept it as short as possible .. Thanks for your feedback
DeleteA good review; a bit lengthy too. #BSP
ReplyDeleteI tried prolongwear in store and liked it a lot .. Shweta would it be good for sweaty skin? I sweat a lot and foundation just melts off
ReplyDeleteProlongwear is what i use.. I love in humid weather of Chennai, it stays for a long time on me .. I think it will work well for u as well
DeleteWow! Thats extensive. Absolutely love the post!
ReplyDeleteThanks Aditi :)
Deleteironically i haven't tried any MAC foundation lol
ReplyDeleteOh they are nothing special .. there are many good foundations.
DeleteGosh so many of Mac Foundation.. :O :O
ReplyDeleteI loved the Satin finih and Face and body foundation!! :)
I dont own them :P .. i went to store to review them :D
Deletenice compilation - I didn't know even heavy foundations are not good at covering dark circles :(
ReplyDeleteI'm still not sure which one to pick for myself - I am addicted to online shopping and will surely come back to this post again before I make my final purchase :)
#BSP
Thanks Shilpa.. U need to use concealer and/or corrector for concealers.
Deletelove the post! #BSP
ReplyDeleteThat's a very informative article, I have bookmarked it so that I can choose any from ur post wen I need a good foundation :)
ReplyDeleteI m bookmarking this page!
ReplyDeleteWow! This post took a lot of work! I didn't realize how many foundations MAC had. And finding the perfect foundation is a huge job. #BSP
ReplyDeleteGreat review and lot of effort taken
ReplyDeletewow loved the post. IT has so much of depth. Perfect guide to decide on which foundation to buy
ReplyDelete