MAC Matchmaster Foundation Review

 

The newest foundation from MAC Cosmetics, Matchmaster is:

A virtually "invisible" foundation with coverage influenced by your own skin tone. A breakthrough patented formula technology with a spectrum of 14 light to deep dark shades. Discover shade intelligence!
New Foundation technology using translucent pigments to enable a fully personalized finish influenced by the subtleties of your own skin's undertone.

Normally when these types of foundation say things like, "influenced by your skintone" it really means, "so sheer that it basically provides no coverage" which I don't find is the case at all with matchmaster.

Heavily swatched

Lighter dry swatches

It comes in 10 shades, ranging from 1.0 to 10.0. According to MAC, 1.0 is a match to NC15 & N18 and 10.0 is a match to NW58 or deeper. I bought this in shade 1.0 and when I first put it on it looks a tad pale, so I think MAC's shade reference might be a little bit off. (I'm a NW10-15, for reference.) You can find swatches of all the shades on the always helpful Karla Sugar's blog.

It dries a bit faster than SFF so working in sections is a must. It goes on at about medium coverage, but it is easily buildable. If I don't use a green corrector on my red spots I have to go back and add more coverage after the first application. I use a bit more product with this foundation, even before adding the extra coverage to my cheeks. Using concealer with it is a must, both under eyes and on blemishes.The finish is demi-matte and doesn't get cakey or chalky as I build it.

Direct sunlight

One of the greatest things about this foundation is how light it feels on my face, almost weightless. It has a slightly powdery finish which made me want to touch my face all day long at first. It feels so very soft on the skin.

Now most importantly, does it do what it claims? Does it match? Hell to the yeah! I don't think I've ever had a foundation match this well before. It goes on the slightest bit pale but within an hour it looks perfect.

Natural light

I normally try to use foundations with neutral to slightly yellow undertones to combat the pink in my skin since most foundations with pink undertones end up oxidizing to an orange shade on me, and that's just no bueno. This is more neutral with just a tad bit of pink in it. YMMV with it though, since it will change a bit on everyone.










I have to say that it fares wonderfully on my oily skin as well. I gave it a real test run when we had a 84F day and I applied it sans primer, without setting powder and went the whole day without blotting. The end results surprised me. You can watch the day progress on my cheeks.

It lasted up until the 7 hour mark before it really started to settle into my pores and wear off. Any oily skinned gal can tell you that's pretty darn good!

Creepy too close after picture with flash- it had gotten too dark outside and I did not know it.

The only bad thing I have to say about this foundation is that it will emphasize any dry spots on the face. I've been getting a touch of dryness under my eyes from my retinol cream and it will clearly show when I use this foundation.

Needless to say at this point, but I am a fan of this foundation! It's become my "everyday" foundation for picking my son up from school, running errands, etc. I would recommend it to anyone with normal-to-oily skin but if you have any dryness I would make sure to moisturize well before application.

If I were to give this a grade, it would score an A- for me. ;)

Haul Time!

ETA: I went in to edit this post, and somehow it got moved to a new post? Apparently I'm not smart enough to work out all the blogger kinks yet. :/ I'll work on it, promise.


I was finally able to head in-store to Sephora and the MAC counter last Friday, so I'm still running on a new product high. This will be a collective haul from the past month or so, don't hate.

MAC-
MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC15- I ordered this online and I already love it. What took me so long? I'll try to get a review on this one up soon.
MAC Ruby Woo Matte Lipstick- Finally decided to look at this cult favorite in-store and just like the rest of the world, I think I might be a fan!
MAC Lip Pencil in Brick-to match Ruby Woo, of course!
MAC Frost Eyeshadow in Paradisco- I realized that I do not own a a single orange shadow and needed to change that, so I went with this shade.


Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel- the BIG bottle! Hah!
Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in Dollface- I can already tell you that I'm going to need this blush in more shades. It gives off a nice color and lasts all day! Bonus points for being cruelty free!
NARS blush in Orgasm- another cult favorite that I did not own. The color is fab, but I'm loving everything about the Tarte blush a tad bit more.
NARS Lipstick in Niagara- I actually wanted to buy Barberella, but this color was more appealing with my skin tone.
NARS Lipgloss in Giza- a nice peachy gloss
MUFE HD Powder- This was my one impulse buy in-store; it's the small size that they keep in the bins up by the counter.
Cover FX Clearprep FX Matte Foundation Primer- I went in planning to try out a new primer, the MUFE All MAT in particular, but my store no longer carries it. :( Two SAs suggested this one for oily skin, so I'll give it a try.
Philosophy 3-in-1s in Caramel Apple and Candy Corn- I love Fall scents, so yummy! I'm going to have to hide these from the hubs!
Philosophy Lip gloss in I love candy corn- After I smelled the body wash I *had* to have the gloss! It really does taste yummy, I informed Hannah that this one was all mommy's!
Sephora VIB gift- I had over 500 points on my beauty bank and this since skincare kit had a lot of good samples in it, I went for it.

Urban Decay Primer Potion Duo- 2 for the price of one! They switched from the genie bottle to a squeeze tube but I still like the bottle so I took advantage!
UD Matte eyeshadow in ABC Gum- I know a lot of people use this as a brow bone highlight but I'm so pale it's more like a natural shade on me. :/
UD Cream eye-shadows in Midnight Rodeo and Whipped- $3 each, heckuva good deal!
UD 24/7 eyeliners in Dime & Baked- I love the 24/7 liners and want them in every. single. color. I think these were about $8 or $9 each! :O
UD Liquid Liner in Roach- It looks brown but has a purple tint when applied.

Other randoms:
L'oreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense felt tip liquid eyeliner- Extremely easy to use! This is a great liner for when you want the look of a liquid liner but don't quite have the precision down yet. It's a little hard to get a thin line though.
Essie Nailpolish- Power Clutch and Lady Like
Neutrogena Ageless Intensives Anti-Wrinkle Deep Wrinkle Night Moisturizer - I finally decided to try a face product with Retinol so after reading many reviews, this is the one I went with. I'll give my review and results in a month or two.
Ponds Cold Cream- After starting the Neutrogena cream I needed something very gentle on my face for removing makeup, so what's better than good old cold cream?
Desert Essence Organics Hair Care Shampoo- This was recommended to me for oily hair so I'm trying it out. So far I'm just ehhh about it. Review in a few weeks.

Target "mini" haul: While everyone else is going Missoni crazy, I bought some brushes. :P
Sonia Kashuk Highlighter brush- a reasonably priced MAC 187 dupe.
Sonia Kashuk concealer brush- a bit obvious, no?
Sonia Kashuk bent liner brush- The tip of this liner brush is bent to the side. *doh* It supposedly makes it easy to apply eyeliner.

Phew! That took forever just to write out. That will be the biggest haul for a very long while, I tend to go in 6 months spurts of no makeup shopping and then buy a whole bunch at one time. I should really get a handle on that, haha!