MAC Pro Longwear SPF 20 Compact Foundation – swatches and review
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If you love MAC’s Pro Longwear Foundation, you’re going to love its latest incarnation: MAC Pro Longwear SPF 20 Compact Foundation. Now the long wearing product you know and love is in a supremely portable compact, perfect for travel or touchups! If you’re looking for a lightweight, matte foundation that gives 10-hour wear, look no further, ladies.
The MAC Pro Longwear SPF 20 Compact Foundation ($32) is available in 17 shades, so most of you will be able to find a shade for you. We’ve swatched four compacts, so stay tuned to get an idea of the range of hues. Casper the Friendly Me is a wee bit paler than their two lightest shades, NC15 and N18, so if you’re beyond fair be sure to swatch these in person to find your best match, especially if you require a perfect match. And with a full range of shades, I think most every gal will find a great fit.
I’ve been on a compact foundation kick lately and I’d been looking for a creamier compact foundation to take me into the spring and summer and this really fit the bill – it’s creamy with a powdery finish. You can blend this foundation down to go sheer or build it up for more coverage – it’s great for giving a little bit of polish or for kicking things up to full-on glamour. Best of all, not only does this have a matte finish, but it helps keep oil at bay so you can pretty much skip powder. Hooray!
The Pro Longwear Compact Foundation is packaged in classic MAC black, with a few nice touches. There is a large, decent quality mirror so you can touch up on the go and the included sponge applicator is housed separately from the product. Hooray! This keeps things nice and sanitary and seems to add a bit of life to the longevity of the sponge.
MAC Pro Longwear SPF 20 Compact Foundation in NW25, NC 35, N18, NC15
Worth noting for the ladies with sensitive skin: the SPF 20 in this product is from octinoxate and titanium dioxide. I can be very sensitive to sunscreens (hives and blisters), but this product gave me zero irritation. My skin is also sensitive to dimethicone, but as long as I applied a moisturizer before applying this, I didn’t get any new breakouts. As someone who can’t stand it when a product promises long wear and doesn’t deliver, I found that the 10 hours of promised wear time was more like 8 hours on my oily skin, which is excellent in my book.
MAC Pro Longwear SPF 20 Compact Foundation in N18, NW25, NC15, NC35
Pros:
• Lasts 10 hours according to MAC, 8 hours on my oily skin–still respectable wear time
• Didn’t irritate my sensitive skin
• The matte finish banishes oil so well you can skip powder
Cons:
• I wish this came in a paler shade so I could get a more perfect match.
Overall, I am fairly impressed with MAC’s latest offering. If you love being marvelously matte, check out MAC Pro Longwear SPF 20 Compact Foundation.!
we heartsters – Do you prefer a matte finish or a more dewy look? Do you have a holy grail foundation?
photos: we heart this, swatches shown on NC25/30 skin tone
Krista resides in the middle of nowhere with her bff/hubby and a puppy that makes feral capuchins seem mellow. She has an irrational fear of ax murder, owns more than one machete for home defense/the zombie apocalypse, and goes to sleep serenaded by the sounds of the Chupagobbler, a mythical turkey beast that roams the woods around her house. Krista has been in the Bermuda Triangle twice and still hasn’t vanished. She is super proud of that.
skin tone: NW15
skin type: sensitive/oily
favorite beauty product: Blush, lots and lots of blush
Yes, I do love a good foundation and I am amazed at the many shades available for MAC’s Pro Longwear SPF 20 Compact Foundation. When wearing foundation it’s so important to get the perfect match for your skin tone. Oh, you bet I’m heading over to MAC to see for myself!
I have been a big fan of cream-to-powder foundations for a while now. It is great for summer, and suits most oily skin. Should try MAC’s foundation one day, thanks for sharing!
Portable, buildable color with non-irritating SPF 20— I need this now! I always have a MAC pressed powder in my makeup bag, but compact foundation would be even better. Can’t wait to get to MAC to check out the color range.
“Casper the Friendly Me”— ha @krista !
Great review! These MAC compacts would be perfect for summer, and I appreciate that you made a note about dimethicone–my skin can be a little iffy with it. I have a ton of different foundations, but I really like the ease/portability of compacts, so MAC Pro Longwear is going on my list.
I’m a fan of MAC’s Mineralize compact foundation, which is actually for more dry skin, so this sounded at first like something I’d like. THEN, I got to the part where it’s got physical (and not chemical) sunscreens and I’m SOLD. See, stupid sunscreen allergy? You cannot keep me from being protecting and having lovely even skintone!
That separate compartment for the sponge is genius, it’s in the Mineralize version too and I love it. Especially with the air holes for it to breathe and not breed funky bacteria. And, as a compact, it’s great for people like me who tend to do their makeup in the parking lot because they were running late AGAIN.
Thanks for the review, @krista! I hope they expand to a better shade for you; I feel your pain. :-)
This looks like a great summer product to have on hand for those of us with oily/combo skin. Will definitely check it out in person!
Oh, these are very intriguing! I have always loved to carry a powder to stop midday shine, but lately, while my skin still has that shine, it is also a bit dry. And powders seem to highlight my fine lines and dry skin. The cream to powder magic of this compact (not to mention the built in SPF) has me convinced I must go and swatch these foundations and find my match. MAC skin products have always worked well for me, so I’m hoping on of these could be my new summer foundation. Thanks for the great review @Krista – can’t wait to try them for myself!
I really think all of you ladies that battle shine are going to love this stuff for the summer :)
This might be a really good foundation option for summer. I tend to be more oily and I haven’t tried MAC’s compact foundation yet. I like that there’s a lot of different colors to choose from too!
I will have to wait to try this one in person as I am so very pale. I am not sure if it would be a match. Too bad it sounds awesome!
MAC is my absolute favorite for foundation–particularly their Prolongwear liquid foundation! The shades are perfect and it lasts on my oily skin, even after running a half marathon!!! Seriously. That’s good stuff. I don’t usually like cream to powder type products because they don’t usually work well with my oily skin, but if it’s MAC, and Krista says it lasts 8 hrs for her, I’d be willing to give it a try! Seems like a good product to keep in my purse for touchups.