I got this foundation in the shade NW10 about 2 months ago for €31.50 (without pump) in Brown Thomas. I have been using it ever since, 5-7 days a week. I'd say the given 30mls of this foundation would last up to about 3 months with frequent use. The main things that drew me in, were that it's pale shade was great and not overly pink (which is quite rare), it was demi-matte and had good coverage. All of these are definitely true to the foundation. If you're looking for a pale foundation that doesn't give you an uninvited salmon hue, a foundation that isn't entirely matte but not mega shiny, a foundation that has decent enough coverage, you'll find those things in Mac Studio Fix Fluid.
(I purchased this foundation after seeing Leanne Woodful's review on her blog.)Side-Rant: The lady I bought it off suggested I buy a pump to go with it, for an extra fiver. To be honest, I thought this was a bit of a joke. I think if you're going to sell the pump for your foundation separately, at least make it cheaper, it's basically just a bit of plastic and a straw, to put it bluntly. As I didn't really feel lazy enough to up the price of the foundation to 37 euro just to save me a few seconds of time, I bought it without the pump.
It has an SPF 15. Not much else to say about that other than an SPF is always a plus. Protective our skin from the sun is so important, even for us Irish folk who rarely get any sun!
Con 1: Not-So-Buildable
Mac states that this foundation is medium to buildable coverage. I absolutely do not agree. The coverage of this foundation is quite odd. It goes on like a medium coverage foundation, in that it's quite thick and appears pigmented, but when you apply it, it doesn't really cover much at all other than very light redness. I have quite a few hyper pigmentation spots and this foundation did not cover them at all. Even when I tried to build up the coverage, nope, there was no hiding them with this foundation.
Pro 2: Shade
and it's a great shade for pale skin. Really. It's so hard to find a foundation that works for pale skin. This foundation (in NW10) is a nice neutral pale shade. Unlike a lot of drugstore foundations, it has a nice light yellow undertone (but not too yellow).
I have combination skin, and when this foundation met dry skin, it was not pretty. This foundation clung to my dry patches like nobodies business. It just did them no justice what so ever. It just drew more attention to them.
The finish of the foundation is definitely more suited to someone with oily skin. The foundation itself is actually quite thick, but easy enough to blend. Something I really did like about this foundation is that it didn't look patchy. More often than not, I blended it with my fingers, but it never looked streaky.
Con 3: Poor longevity
The most annoying thing I found with this foundation. It's longevity. It did not last long, at all. You can apply this foundation and be happy with how it looks, but let me tell you, it's not going to stay that way. Even with the help of powder and setting spray, this foundation just would not last. This foundation stayed nicely on my skin for about 3 hours. After 3 hours, that was it. The End. The foundation separates in every oil spot on your face after a while. Sure, you might think, "can't you just top up?". Well, as I said before, this foundation doesn't build very nicely, so having to top up on-top of already separated foundation doesn't look great. So unless you have the time to wash off your separated foundation and reapply it freshly, I wouldn't say this foundation is good for topping up.The finish of the foundation is definitely more suited to someone with oily skin. The foundation itself is actually quite thick, but easy enough to blend. Something I really did like about this foundation is that it didn't look patchy. More often than not, I blended it with my fingers, but it never looked streaky.
Mac Studio Fix Fluid Liquid Foundation in NW10 - Swatch
I'm afraid I will not be repurchasing this foundation. It just didn't work well for me. But maybe it will for you! Everyone's different. I would recommend this foundation to someone with oily skin, who doesn't have many imperfections. I would not recommend this foundation to someone with dry/combination skin, someone with acne/scaring/redness, nor someone looking for a lasting everyday foundation. Mac do some great products, but this foundation just wasn't for me. My recommendation is to stick to the drugstore dupe (Revlon ColorStay), I think it wins this Drugstore vs High End battle.
I give this Mac foundation 2 shots out of 5.
The next foundation I will be trying will be Kett Cosmetics Cream Foudation in N1.
Stay tuned for a review of that in the coming months.
Have you found your holy grail foundation yet?
Stay tuned for a review of that in the coming months.
Have you found your holy grail foundation yet?
Kayleigh
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