MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation. I frequently combine MAC Studio Sculpt and MAC Face & Body foundations (Studio Sculpt to provide the coverage, followed by a thin layer of Face & Body to provide luminosity). NW15, NW20, NW25, NW30, NW35, NW40, NW43, NW45, NW50. I own 2 MAC foundations which is the Studio Sculpt, in NC42 and the Studio Fix Powder Foundation in NC43. Most of the time, I apply my foundations with a beauty blender or the Zoeva #102 Silk Finish brush or the Zoeva #124 Grand Stippling brush. The top five questions about MAC foundations – answered! If there’s one makeup brand that you’re absolutely certain to get a match of your skin, it would be MAC! If you have dry skin and want to keep things matte, Studio Fix Sculpt Foundation (P2,150) is a gel-type formula that dries to a powder finish.
This is a great understated foundation for when you want a little more coverage. It's one I use on myself and one I use on brides, despite the SPF (more on that later). According to MAC, it's a hydrating formula and 'instantly revitalises the skin while keeping it looking smooth, soft and plush'. It's not a foundation I'll rave about, but one I'll quietly use in the background and know I can count on...
Coverage
This one is a medium-buildable-to-full coverage foundation; it builds nicely, but it definitely starts out at medium coverage. For this level of coverage, it's reasonably lightweight on the skin; it certainly doesn't feel heavy or look mask-like.
This can be sheered-out by first mixing with some fluid moisturiser if you want a more liquid formula or lighter coverage. It can be built up to give more coverage, and you can get real full-coverage from this with a heavier powdering on top.
I frequently combine MAC Studio Sculpt and MAC Face & Body foundations (Studio Sculpt to provide the coverage, followed by a thin layer of Face & Body to provide luminosity).
This which provides for a genuinely and absolutely flawless texture, the gel formulation giving it an ever so slightly luminous velvety satin finish which is necessary to prevent it from looking a mask-like (as heavier coverage foundations occasionally can appear).
For a great Summer (or night-time/Winter) makeup, I like to mix it with some MAC Strobe liquid to give a really luminous finish.
Wear
This is a water-resistant formula, but I have found that it can transfer, so you need to make sure that you powder it or seal it. It needs to be applied to well hydrated and moisturised skin, in fact I generally recommend using a primer with this foundation (despite the fact that it lists silicone in its ingredients, I find it works better on top of a primer).
This purports to be a long-wearing formula, and I do find that I get around eight-to-ten hours out of this before having to top up, maybe ten-to-twelve if I've powdered well and used a primer (In general, I personally classify a 'standard' foundation as one that will last up to around eight hours).
Mac Studio Sculpt Foundation Reviews
This comes in twenty one shades, divided into the usual MAC yellow toned (NC) and pink-toned (NW) categories. There are slightly more NC shades than NW (twelve as opposed to nine). The NC are quite noticeably yellow-based and the NW, quite noticeably pink-beige-based. It's of course possible to mix these two undertones together to get something a little more neutral if you require.
I've personally found that a large flat (paddle) brush to be best (my recommendation is the Louise Young LY02 brush) for this foundation. I've noticed that buffing brushes or sponges (dry sponges) can introduce micro-exfoliation and cause dryer patches of skin to appear quite dry and flaky with this foundation.
This is an extremely thick gel-based formulation. A little goes a long way, but it's possible to use too much of it. For that reason I recommend making sure that your brush has been 'primed' with some moisturiser in advance of application, making sure that your skin is well primed (primer and/or a particularly good moisturiser) first, and then I'd usually dot this one around my face and blend out with the brush, as opposed to working from the back of my hand, as I would with more liquid formulas.
This one just doesn't work for oilier skin, there's no point in pretending that it does. It works really well for normal-to-combination skin, and even for dryer skin, providing you adhere to the caveats as mentioned before about priming and moisturising. On dry skin that's not well moisturised, I can find that this foundation can look a little dry, advertised moisturising capabilities notwithstanding.
This foundation is marketed as being hydrating, and it contains vitamins C & E, shea butter and sodium hyaluronate, so it would seem that it should be. However as mentioned above, I do find you need to apply this to well moisturised skin. It contains silicones but it works better over a primer.
And now for some weirdness. This contains titanium dioxide and mica, and has an SPF of 15 but for all that, strangely, I haven't found that it flashes back particularly. For this reason I have used it for brides and in flash photographs, with no ill effects. Because it's a reasonably long lasting formulation, it's one I recommend for brides.
Priced at around €36, it's definitely a quiet one that doesn't garner particular excitement, but is a great foundation that I recommend, and among those in the know, much-loved.
05 feb 2010
Eye-one Match For Mac
Hey guys! Looking for a new foundation and thinking about getting one by NARS? I got something really helpful for you today. 🙂
Drugstore Match For Mac Nw30 Studio Sculpt Foundation
Remember the post I wrote two weeks about Temptalia’s genius foundation shade guide? Well, Aaron (Awoz on YouTube) created something similar. He found NARS equivalents of the popular MAC foundation shades! He’s a make up artist and he also works at a NARS counter in Vancouver that is located right next to a MAC counter.
While at work, he compared the NARS Sheer Glow foundation shades with MAC. In between customers he put a squirt of a NARS foundation on his hand, ran to the MAC counter and found the equivalent. Nice, huh?
His findings are below, but do check out his video on this!
Nars vs. MAC Cosmetics SIBEREA – NC15 MONT BLANC – NW20 GOBI – NC37 OR NW25 SELECT SPF FOUNDATION FIJI – NC25 CEYLAN- NC20 PUNJAB- NC20 SANTE FA – NW20 STROMBOLI – NC40 BARCELONA – NC42 SYRACUSE – NC42 TAHOE – NC44 CADIZ – NC45 (this is my shade) MACAO- NC50 NEW ORLEANS – NW45 NEW GUINEA – NW 43FX BENARES – NW47 TRINIDAD – NC50 TORTUGA – NW 50 KHARTOUM – NW55
