Wednesday, 7 September 2011

MAC Matchmaster SPF 15 Foundation

The first thing that struck me about the Matchmaster foundation (£24.50) was the shade range, the lightest shade 1.0 is lighter than a NW/NC 15, great news if like me you have found MAC foundations too dark.
The foundation comes in the same pump style packaging as the pro long wear, albeit a slighter larger size, 35ML, as opposed to 30 ML.
Bottles compared below:
The texture is slightly thicker, more creamy compared to the liquid feel of pro long wear. I've just dispensed a bit of Matchmaster on the Left and Pro long wear on the right to show the more runny texture of long wear.
The coverage is medium, the finish is semi matte, it does give the skin a more healthy look and I did notice some of my lines looked diffused with this.

Shade 1.0 is slightly yellow toned, yet still looks natural, here is it on the left compared to the pro long wear NC15 on the right.
On application this felt moisturising, yet I noticed it looked a bit cakey on parts of my skin where I was recovering from a break out.
It also feels heavy during the day and I had more shine breakthrough than normal so I'm not sure how well it would fare with oily skin. I don't find this long lasting, I'd say the coverage faded after about 5 hours (with no powdering on top).
Although there are flaws with the wear and feel of this, I was very happy with the colour and liked the overall finish, however I had to stop using this.
As mentioned my skin was recovering from a break out when I started using this, I had been wearing this everyday and kept getting more and more spots, since I stopped wearing it I've had no new spots. I think I'll give my skin a month to heal and then re-try just to be sure, but at this point I am pretty confident this was the cause of the new spots.
It does has a chemical smell to it, I don't notice it once on as such but do when I apply it, ingredients below:
In terms of what skin type would benefit best from this, from my experience I would say dryer skin, maybe more mature and not an acne sufferer.

I bought this from a MAC free-standing store.

9 comments:

  1. Just excuse me whilst I lie on the floor in a faint at MAC doing a pale enough shade - I am amazed. I have never had much success with MAC bases be they TM or heavier, but I may well check this out. Thanks for this. Jan x

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  2. Hopefully this wasn't making you have more breakouts, but I guess we'll have to see.

    So glad they finally have a shade that matches you though!

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  3. this is good to read because i wana try this, maybe after a few reviews i MIGHT purchase it

    tzeyien89.blogspot.com xxx

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  4. Personally, i can't see any reason why one would risk more acne breakouts for just one foundation. I've been recovering for a month now from breakouts due to the mac F&B, without actually having acne prone skin. Great finish, great coverage, great colour match, i really wish it would work because i was looking for something even more natural and lightweight than my diorskin nude, but to risk skin health for this...i'm not quite sure. It's just that not every foundation is for everybody i guess.

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  5. i didn't mean to sound bitter, just a bit sorry about bad skin conditions:(

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  6. Thank you so much for this review! How does the Matchmaster 1.0 compare in colour to the NARS Siberia? It's so difficult to find nice pale foundations.

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  7. Thanks for this review honey! Would you believe that I didn't even know this existed???? Yep, sad, I know :)
    I have to say that I very recently purchased the W3LL People Narcissist fdn/concealer (as seen over at London Makeup Girl) and I am in love with it like you wouldn't believe. I use it as concealer over the diffuse redness (my very own plight) on my cheeks, set it with a little bit of powder and it's simply perfect! Brilliant but seamless and natural coverage, doesn't set in my hideously enlarged cheek pores, and lasts all day without oxidising, fading or becoming an oil slick.
    It's such a pity that their lightest colour wouldn't match you porcelain skin... Oh, and I just ordered one of their colour sticks as well.
    Have an amazing Friday sweet!
    Nx

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  8. Thanks for the honest review. I can't use MAC foundations since they cause me to breakout terribly. I think it's the silicones in the ingredients. Sorry to hear you're also experiencing some issues with it.

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  9. Hi Jan,
    LOL, I hope lots of people buy this shade so they expand their normal range, I could really do with a lighter shade of the pro long wear as that seems to be my go to foundation x

    Hi Vintage Makeup,
    Yes, I was surprised it was light enough. I have a feeling it might be the algae in this that caused me the problem as I don't get on with products containing that, I should have looked at the box better! :)

    Hi TzeYien89,
    Yes. probably best to wait for more reviews before putting the money down, thats probably what I should have done ;)

    Hi Areth,
    I know what you mean, I just wanted to be 100% sure it was the cause, but having re-read the ingredients I think its the algae as I have a lot of skin problems when I eat any sushi that has algae/seaweed with it, so I won't be re-trying this foundation now.

    Hi Madeline,
    I don't have my NARS anymore as I had a "leaving cap off, whilst bottle was lying in my makeup box" incident! I would say the NARS is lighter though, mind you the MAC girl that served my was probably about 2 shades paler than me (I rarely see anyone so pale) and she had it on and it matched her, she said it adapted to the skintone.

    Hi Nina,
    Gee, get with it ;) That W3LL People Narcissist sounds so good, so I either need to tan so I can wear it, or pray to the makeup gods that they bring out a paler shade ;) I'm going to buy some things from that Vapour organic range soon, have you tried any of that? x

    Hi Kristie,
    They do seem to be a bit notorious for breaking people out, in fact all of their ones I have tried have caused me problems apart from the pro long wear so I guess I should stick wuth that, I just can't help getting tempted by new things! ;)

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