Foundation Review - Mac Studio Fix
Updated: Jun 11, 2019
MAC's Studio Fix Fluid Foundation has been a firm fixture in many of our make up bags at some point or another. But how good is it really? When looking into the product I discovered that Mac had put the foundation to the test. - Seeing how long it wears. They said on the description of the product ‘not surprisingly, the formula lasts for a full 24 hours!’ Not only is the foundation long lasting, it has SPF protection in, is labelled a full coverage, build and blend easily and evenly while controlling shine, comfortable and extremely long wearing foundation! It also says it stays true to the colour, photo friendly, no-caking and helps to minimise the appearance of pores and imperfections, giving the skin a smoother, more flawless look and finish. And did I mention this foundation comes in 64 shades?!
I decided to try this foundation out for myself! I brought the foundation for £26, (expected for a high street make up brand). In shade NC15. And away I went.
I was looking to see if all the different descriptions about the foundation were correct, and to see just how well I got on with the foundation myself! So to make it fair, I made sure to wash my face to ensure I had no product on underneath the make up, I cleansed, toned and moisturised before starting off with the foundation. I also decided not to use any primers as I felt this would be an unfair review on how long it lasts.
My first impression of the foundation was that it had a very strong smell to it, and not a nice one. As great as SPF is I felt the scent was overpowered by that mixed with the strong smell of paint. However as long as the scent fades when on my face it wasn't a problem for me and I especially love how it includes SPF which in really important to protect the skin. The foundation also came without a pump which was slightly annoying, I had to pour the foundation into my mixing pallet and the foundation being so thick it took a good few minutes to get out the right amount out... I applied the foundation with a small, flat, foundation brush and then blended it out with a damp beauty blender. I wanted to go for the full coverage look and wanted to test how buildable and blend easy the product would be! I went over areas of my face where the foundation had already been applied and it really did help to build the extra coverage, there was no smears or uneven areas, the foundation blended in amazingly and made my pores invisible looking. the colour was slightly on the yellow side but isn't a problem for me as I add concealer and bronzers to my make up anyway which would correct that. First impression on my face was that it definitely made my skin look flawless.
Once done blending my face I began to finish the rest of my make up, as I would on a regular day. I blended in concealer under my eyes and chin, translucent powder on the areas to set it, combed through my brows with eyebrow gel, applied another light powder over the rest of my face to set and left it at that. As soon as I had completed the look I definitely could see some cakeiness around my brow area but the rest of the base looked so much better. But the smell of the foundation had of course vanished as soon as I had blended it in. I set a timer for an hour and didn’t look back at my face until then, I thought after an hour the foundation would warm with my face maybe sit slightly better and was expecting it to stay perfectly in place as it’s long wearing.
After an hour I was so impressed with the look! I felt super full coverage! my skin was flawless and looked as if my skin had been blemished cleared! I could feel the foundation on my face and can tell it was a matte foundation but it didn’t feel heavy as if my skin couldn't breathe (which I have felt before) but I didn't have this sensation with this foundation!
Next I decided to do a flash test! I took a few photos using my phone and I could defiantly see the foundation wasn't photo friendly like it was labelled. My face appeared much more pale in the photo than it was in person which isn’t great if you’re going to an event/party, or just going to be taking pictures. I do feel like so far this was the only big negative on the foundation.
I next checked within 5 hours. And still my make up looked flawless! The shade of the foundation didn’t change/oxidise at all, I couldn’t see any shine whatsoever which is impressive for someone like me who normally gets an oily T-Zone. It wasn’t caking into any fine lines and still felt comfortable on! Safe to say I was super impressed so far!
8 hours since I last applied the foundation and I had started to get a little bit shiny on my forehead, nose, chin and slightly on the cheeks. However the foundation had worn soo well. I expected my skin to get slightly oily at some point and it lasted a long time controlling that oil so that gets great points from me.
In conclusion I loved the foundation, the only negatives for me was the flashback in photos as I feel like this is important, you want to wear a great foundation like this for party’s and events and the fact it isn’t photo friendly with flash definitely lets it down, however the foundation still looks beautiful in photos with day light and beautiful in person! It controlled the shine on my face for just over 8 hours which is extremely impressive as I normally top up powder throughout the day. I’d say the foundation was long wearing although I only kept it on for less than nine hours I can tell it would definitely last much longer. The make up around my jawline hadn’t even smeared and I often sit with my jaw/chin resting on my hands when doing work. There was slight caking when first applying the powder but when set, within an hour it was gone! And the foundation altogether was extremely flawless. I will definitely be using this foundation again, it made my skin look great and all in all I would rate this foundation 9/10. Taking away one point purely because of the flash back and smell! Other than that I understand why this product is such a holy grail to many of us make up lovers.
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