I think foundation is the most important part of a make-up look. Although people may argue that the most important piece of makeup is their mascara or eyeliner, for me, foundation is the base which defines the rest of your look and can help other additional pieces of makeup used look their best. A good foundation, for me, is the main piece of makeup you should have in your kit.
After having a browse online last week, I decided to invest in a higher-end foundation. Although I love my L'oreal true match (which will probably always remain my most favourite drugstore foundation), Mac foundations have always seemed like a luxurious, but not too expensive option. Saying this, they do cost quite a bit more than my L'oreal foundation, so shop around, but don't be lured in by overly low-priced Mac products on ebay, unless they are sold by a reputable seller. I would recommend checking the sellers customer feedback before investing in any products.
Mac Studio Sculpt is a gel-based formula foundation that I've heard many bloggers and Youtube beauty guru's talk about and highly recommend. It's a medium buildable coverage, and comes in a range of different shades, from light to dark, and warm to cool skin tones. You can go to a Mac shop and one of the sales assistants can shade match you, or you can do what I did and guess your shade- then order it and hope for the best. Probably not the greatest idea for a first time user of a fairly expensive foundation, but I went with it anyway and I was lucky that the shade I picked matched well. I went for shade NC15, a pale ivory colour which I feel suited my pale skin.
The product comes in what I think is a very useful type of packaging. What I mean by this is that you can get every last scrap of the foundation out, as it comes in a soft plastic tube that can be cut in half afterwards to remove the remaining product. Although the packet is not as visually appealing as the glass foundation, it is a lot more portable and can be shoved into a handbag without fear that it might smash. The plastic tube has got a matte plastic black top that screws on tightly and is surprisingly strong, much more so than the lid on my Drugstore foundation. Weirdly, the lid is somewhat rounded at the bottom, so it is difficult to stand the bottle upright. This is only a minor problem, though, and one which I doubt many people will notice.
The formulation of this foundation is very smooth and creamy, I didn't personally notice much of a 'gel' texture, but I did notice that the texture is rich and almost feels like a primer. I definitely noticed that when I applied this, my skin felt smoother than usual. The scent of this foundation is pretty strong though, and almost has a slight 'paint' aroma, so if you are sensitive to smells, you may wish to try out a sample first. I personally didn't find it too bad, and it's something I barely noticed after the second or third use.
Although the colour of this foundation is a pale ivory, it is more yellow-toned than my regular foundation, however, when applied it blended in great just with my fingertips and didn't look orange at all. My complexion was more perfected and it provided a finish that was between dewy and matte. Having being used to a pink-toned almost-white foundation for a long time, it was a little strange to be using something slightly darker- and potentially more suited to my skintone. But I was confident about the colour finish.
Although this foundation blends extremely easily, it is certainly one which needs it's 'setting' time. What I mean by this is that once applied, it takes a while to dry on your skin. The first time I applied it, I made the mistake of not hanging around a couple of minutes for it to dry, and the hair in my fringe ended up sticking to the foundation. Usually now, whilst I am waiting for the foundation to dry, I keep my hair pinned back and concentrate on my eye makeup.
I haven't noticed any particular change to my skin, it's not become particularly oilier or dryer than it currently is, but I am going to keep using it to see if I eventually notice any changes. Although it is perhaps recommended, I personally wouldn't bother using a primer under this unless I had a long day ahead However, I do top it up with a powder, especially during the warm weather, as any type of foundation I use tends to slide off my skin during humid weather.
This foundation comes in at a rather hefty £25 for a 40ml bottle (actually 10ml larger than most regular bottles of foundation). So it is quite an expensive spend, but the quality really does show in this product and it's one of those items that you get what you pay for. Look out on ebay for the foundation being sold by reputable sellers with excellent customer feedback (as there are a lot of fake MAC products for sale around Ebay), and you could grab one for a lower price- I bought mine for around £17.
I would recommend this, I only wish the price was a little lower so I could enjoy it as an everyday staple product!
8.5/10
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