MAC StudioFix Foundation--the End of my Foundation Odyssey
Written: May 06 '03
Product Rating:
Pros: Incredible coverage, true to life colors, no clogging or breakouts, easy to use. Great!!
Cons: Is a powder, so sometimes needs something to stick to
The Bottom Line: Buy it, buy it, buy it! Mine has lasted a looooooong time (see review) and the coverage is even, full, and natural, without feeling heavy. It's great!
nightlightkid's Full Review: Mac Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation
This product is just fabulous. I love it, and I'm saying this after a lengthy and epic search for the right foundation.
When I was in high school, I was blessed with perfect skin. It's amazing when I look back at my school pictures. I looked like a total nerd, but a nerd with perfect skin. It was even-toned, my pores were small, my skin smooth, soft and velvety looking. I looked airbrushed somehow. And then, suddenly and without warning, I started getting major breakouts during the last half of my senior year. I got major acne around my mouth and chin for a year or two, and then that calmed down, only to travel to my left cheek. (Yes, only my left one, for reasons that I still haven't figured out.) And then my left cheek cleared up, only to move to my chin area again. For the past five years or so, I've had various zits and scars on my left cheek and chin area, but I was afraid to wear makeup over them to cover them up because a) it might make my acne worse, b) might make my acne even more noticeable by clumping to the dry/scabby areas, c) give me a grayish cast over localized spots, because makeup sometimes seems to cover all the normal parts of my face and not my scars, or d) even worse, just waste my time and money by being ineffective. I also never really wanted to spend time putting on makeup that didn't do anything and that I was just going to wash off again at the end of the day
Now, however, my skin has finally started to calm down, and I have tried so many different types of foundations and powders it's a wonder I'm not broke. I'm not the type of person who a) wants to look made up--I actually never really liked wearing makeup until recently, and b)wants to spend a lot of time putting makeup on. I want the most bang for my buck, and that includes product effectiveness as well as ease of application. I want the smallest screw-up margin as possible and I don't want to feel like I'm wearing makeup. And yet, I also somehow need full (sometimes called heavy) coverage. Is this possible? After trying MAC's StudioFix, I realize that it is.
Over the past couple of years, I've tried:
1) Covergirl's Clean Makeup and Fresh Look--Clean Makeup's coverage is too light, Fresh Look has good coverage, but both are too pink for me and sometimes look chalky, and Fresh Look is not a "swipe and go" product. It is definitely not silky, although it is a good price if it works with your skin type.
---------->Covergirl's Clean Pressed Powder and Loose Powder--sets the foundation, doesn't do much in the way of "covering"
2) Neutrogena's Healthy Skin--good color match, decent coverage, but made my face feel sticky and unclean. Also sometimes gathered on top of my zits and held summit meetings or something to create a chalky look that made my acne stand out even more.
--------> Also tried Neutrogena's Healthy Skin Cream Powder Makeup--less coverage than the liquid, sponge was not very flexible and gave a streaky finish, same "I have gunk on my face" feel.
--------> Neutrogena's Healthy Skin Pressed Powder--same as Covergirl's Powder
3) Clinique's Gentle Light Makeup--hardly did anything, except make my face look pink, pink, pink. And of course, make my red acne look pink, too. Also made my face feel a little sticky and unclean at times.
---------> Clinique's Gentle Light Loose Powder--does add the barest hint of coverage, makes my skin look "naturally matte"
4) L'Oreal's Ideal Balance--pretty good color matching, and pretty clean feeling, but very very light coverage--almost like nothing at all.
5) Almay Nearly Naked Touch Pad--can build to a moderate coverage, feels silky smooth to apply, blends very easily, but ends up applying semi-pinkish even though it doesn't look that way on the pad.
6) Lancome's Maqui-Libre--has good, clean finish, sinks into skin well, but coverage is only moderate
7) NYC Smooth Skin Foundation--color is good, doesn't really sink into skin too well, barely moderate coverage, but is very cheap
8) Stila Illuminating Liquid Foundation--color is good, but coverage is too sheer for the price
There are other tinted moisturizers that I've tried (Sonia Kashuk's line at Target offers more coverage than the average tinted moisturizer, doesn't clog pores or cause breakouts, and has a bit of shimmer luminescence thrown in), and other concealers that I won't list, but trust me, they're there, I've tried them, and I've abandoned them.
MAC's StudioFix, though, is one that I've stayed with. I went into their store one day with a friend of mine who mentioned that she's heard good things about MAC. One of their artists talked over their products with me and then gave me a mini-makeover with their cream concealer in a pot (Studio Finish) and the StudioFix foundation, explaining that the concealer is an emollient product and that it's important to exfoliate regularly to prevent it from making scabs and pimples more noticeable. That was ALL that he put on me. Then he showed me my face in the mirror and I was so giddy, I almost cried. For the first time in five years, my face didn't look blotchy or red or shiny or rough. I wasn't self-conscious of my old gray scars or my new red ones. I felt like I had a "normal" face. Even better, having finally achieved an even skin tone, people's eyes were no longer drawn to the imperfections in my face, or the imbalance of having scars on one cheek and none on the other. My face looked more stream-lined and, because there was nothing to draw the eye down to other parts of my face, my eyes and my cheekbones stood out more than they had before.
As everyone else's review says, this product is a velvety powder that comes in a sleek, black compact. The compact has a compartment with a mirror and the makeup, and a bottom compartment that holds the round sponge applicator. The bottom compartment has small holes in the bottom for ventilation. The entire compact has a simple button that you push to pop open the top. The sponge itself is also a high quality sponge--not like some of those cheap applicators that come with drugstore brand cream foundations. The sponge is very soft and flexible, and can be used for large area applications (such as the cheeks and forehead) or for smaller spot applications (because the sponge has a thin edge to it). You can also use a large powder or foundation brush for a lighter application.
For people who are worried about the hygiene of using a sponge applicator, MAC sells replacement sponges for $2.00 a sponge. However, they also sell a GREAT brush cleaner for $8.00 for an 8 oz. bottle that works as a disinfectant AND a conditioning agent for the bristles, and you can also use that to clean your sponge.
I have been using StudioFix for over six months now (actually, it may be closer to 8 or 9--I can't remember), and I use it every day. Sometimes I swipe it over my face more than once during the initial application, just to be sure. Even after using this product every day for more than 7 months, I still have quite a bit left in the compact. I don't think I'll need to buy another compact for at least two or three more months of daily use, possibly even longer.
I have had no negative effects from using this makeup. I don't break out (a major concern in the past), it doesn't clog my pores, my face doesn't feel oilier at the end of the day (sometimes when I would wear powder, my face would start overproducing oil to compensate for the drying effects of the powder), and I don't look made up.
I'd heard about MAC for several years and kept wanting to try them, but I also didn't want to have to pay a lot of money for makeup. Up until I went into the store and had an artist make me over, my experiences with foundations had been mediocre at best. They either didn't cover my face at all, or they covered it somewhat but made my face feel coated in gunk, or sometimes some horrible combination of the two. My thinking was--why spend even more money on something that will look the same as the cheaper drugstore brand stuff? I had decided that there was no such thing as a foundation that was easy to use (so that I didn't have to worry about spotty coverage or neckline blending), covered all my imperfections fully, and didn't make my face feel coated. Now that I've been using MAC, however, I definitely feel that the price is worth it. Not only because the jump in price makes a significant difference in quality with MAC (unlike Clinique's Gentle Light Foundation, which cost about twice as much as drugstore brands but wasn't any more effective) but also because this product has lasted so long. I didn't expect it to have such a long life!
My only complaint (and this is really minor) about this product is that because it is primarily a powder formula, it needs something to stick to, and sometimes (especially when my face is a bit drier) it doesn't stay on as well or as long as I'd like. However, if you use moisturizer right before you apply the makeup, then the makeup sticks better and longer. As I said before, Sonia Kashuk's line of makeup (available only at Target) has a tinted moisturizer with unusually decent coverage. Sometimes, when I know I'm going to have a long day, I use that underneath the StudioFix to give it extra staying power.
For more info, or to look at their products, go to www.maccosmetics.com and see what there is to see. They have a wide selection of colors (especially good for ethnic people, or people of mixed races who might have more difficultly matching skin tones) that are true to life, not pinky toned.
***Note: now, this is not to say that my Odyssey for the perfect foundation is truly over. I am always going to be on the lookout for a cheaper, easier, faster, more efficient and effective alternative, because I always convince myself that there's going to be something better out there. And yes, I have found some things that would be all right, and that I could live with. However, when directly compared to the StudioFix, it's no contest. Everything else so far would be something I could live with, but StudioFix is something that I WANT to live with. Onward and upward!***
Studio Fix is a powder and foundation in one that combines good coverage with ease of application. Designed to be used dry, the powder and pigments cr...More at Nordstrom
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