MAC Matchmaster Shade Intelligence Compact Foundation Review

MAC recently launched its first ever cushion foundation, the Matchmaster Shade Intelligence Compact. The foundation itself is not new as the liquid version of Matchmaster first debuted in 2011. I've never tried the original Matchmaster foundation so this review is just for the compact version.

MAC claims that this:
- provides instant hydration
- controls oil
- instantly blurs lines and wrinkles
- instantly reduces appearance of pores
- long-wearing, eight hours
- oil-free
- provides stay-true colour
- non-caking, non-streaking and non-settling
- sweat- and humidity-resistant
- water-resistant

The 'sheer liquid formula lends true-to-life shade perfection and coverage,while letting your natural skin show through, ... providing a natural finish and sheer to medium buildable coverage". To be honest, I haven't used MAC foundations in many years as they never performed well on me, but just put it in a cushion compact and I'll definitely give it a spin.

This retails at a US$36 for 13g/0.45oz, whereas the liquid version is the same price for 35ml/1.18 fl oz, with refills available at US$28. Made in Japan, this comes in 12 shades. The SA matched me to the lightest shade 1.0, which means that paler skintones than NC20 will probably have difficulty finding a match. MAC recommends applying this with their new 197SH square duo fibre brush. I purchased the brush too but have not tried it with this foundation yet.


Below is a pic of my bare skin. My face is naturally a different color from my neck, mainly due to its tendency towards splotchy redness. Since incorporating Pixi Glow Tonic into my daily skincare routine, I do not get big acne eruptions anymore but my pores still get clogged mainly around the T-zone.

Using the included sponge applicator, I found that this applies sheer at first but it does provide some coverage of pores and skin redness. It feels beautifully lightweight on the skin without any discernible greasiness or powderiness. The oil control was much better compared to the Philosophy Take A Deep Breath Foundation, although there was still a bit of oil breakthrough on my T-zone around the four hour mark. There was also some minor streaking around the sides of my nose and between the brows, so I wouldn't say that this provides completely flawless wear for eight hours. Nevertheless, it did stay largely intact without visible oxidisation or descending into a greasy mess for the ten hours that I wore it (which included taking a nap). This could be partly due to the severely cold and dry weather we've been experiencing this week (around -10° C) so my skin is not as oily as usual.

Overall, I think this performed decently for the price and better than the Philosophy and Physicians Formula versions. Still, I'm pretty sure I would not repurchase it as there are always tons of new foundation releases to try out.

Ingredient list below.