For some makeup lovers a great mascara or eyeliner is the essential (or only!) step in their day-to-day makeup. I, unfortunately, have never been one of those people. As a veteran of teenage acne my personal crux has always been to give the ‘appearance’ of flawless skin; and like many I have tried my fair share of foundations in the process – most recently MAC Matchmaster Foundation.
My first glimpse of the advertising campaign was almost enough to send me into a makeup-envy coma and after scouring the online blogosphere for any and all reviews I could find I decided I would have to try it myself!
MAC Matchmaster technology makes the claim of “translucent pigments to enable a fully personalized finish by the subtleties of your own skin’s undertone”. In the past I have been a fan of MAC Studiofix Fluid, but as I have sallow skin yet live in one of the wettest countries in Europe (maybe even the world!) I have used every colour from NW15 to NW40 (post-holiday sun). So I was really intrigued that MAC had moved away from their warm/cool tone NW/NC colour system to a neutral colouring system. Matchmaster boasts MAC’s a wide colour range with a new numbering system which starts at 1.0 and goes up to 10. As far as I’m aware, it also has their palest shade ever so the beautiful porcelain ladies might enjoy this. Because my skin can alter colour with the slightest bit of sun I was intrigued by the promise of an ‘adaptable’ foundation.
Despite my acne riddled teenage skin I am now more of a combination/dry skin type. As it also promises a moisturizing demi-matte finish, medium buildable coverage, and line-reducing soft-focus powder, the blurb for MAC Matchmaster was sounding more and more like my dream foundation Matched at the MAC counter as a 2.0 I went home eager for the morning when I could introduce Matchmaster in to my routine and see the claims for myself!
The texture is similar to MAC Studiofix Fluid but slightly more water-based. The coverage is medium buildable and when layered and blended correctly manages to give great coverage while avoiding the dreaded ‘I cannot afford brushes, so I use a shovel’ look. My first thoughts were that it’s not particularly ‘moisturizing’ as it claims. Not drying, but not in my opinion moisturizing.
Perhaps it’s down to my slightly dry skin but for me this is more matte than demi-matte. This is my main issue with this foundation as I have needed to pay a bit more attention to creating an artificial glow (using benefit high-beam, for example) to avoid looking too flat. So, if you’re looking for a dewy or NARS Sheer Glow kind of finish you’re not going to get that with this foundation.
Although MAC haven’t made any ridiculous long-lasting claims for this foundation, in terms of staying power it does hold up very well. I have been using this foundation for about a month now and from when I apply my makeup in the morning I have had no need to touch up my foundation throughout the day or even late in the evening.
However, the main thing I wanted from this foundation was for it to adapt to my skin tone and I think it did this quite well, although I do think it takes a few minutes to adapt. When I initially apply the foundation it looks exactly the same colour as the bottle, but by the time I have finished my makeup and am heading out the door it has successfully ‘matched’ me.
So, overall, I’m pretty impressed this foundation. Another bonus is that it’s a 30ml bottle (unlike their traditional 25ml), comes with a pump, and a little goes a long way! Not sure if I can say it’s my holy-grail unfortunately, but definitely worth a look in if you were a fan of Studiofix Fluid and had trouble with finding a shade. It’s a thumbs up from me!
Uber comprehensive review by the lovely Orla R.
