I have been using MAC Pro Longwear liquid foundation for the past 5 years. It had been the only liquid foundation I had ever tried that could keep my oily face looking good all day. Recently, I moved to a more humid state and have been having trouble staying matte throughout the workday. I did some research and decided to give 3 drugstore foundations a go since they have had such great reviews from other oily gals:
1. Revlon Colorstay for Oily Skin (Golden Caramel)
2. Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous (Classic Tan)
3. MAC Pro Longwear (NC37)
4. L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Matte (Caramel Beige)
Finding the right shade was a challenge. What I usually do is take my MAC Pro Longwear foundation to the drugstore and hold it up to the bottles to try and find a close match. MAC NC37 is a perfect match for me. As you can see below, shades vary but most of them still look good on the skin after contour, highlight and setting powder.
I will be judging the overall performance of the four foundations by looking at these categories:
1. Coverage
2. Ability to blend
3. Hours of wear (oil control)
I will be using the Prep + Prime Skin Visage by MAC to prime my face and the Studio Fix Powder by MAC in C4 to set. I will not be judging the products based on their price points, but for reference here are the prices for all three drugstore items at Target:
Revlon Colorstay: $9.99;
Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous: $8.59;
L'Oreal Pro-Matte: $10.59;
MAC Pro Longwear retails for: $34.00
Revlon Colorstay Review:
Coverage: Medium - Full
Ability to Blend: Excellent - had no issues although the formula feels thick it blended very nicely
Hours of Wear: Of all the foundations, this had the best staying power. Stayed oil-free for 7 hours. An amazing product. Also, this color is a dead match for NC37 in MAC. I looked online and they suggested other colors but this was the best match.
Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous:
Coverage: Medium - Full
Ability to Blend: Good - a little bit watery formula which made it apply a bit streaky.
Hours of Wear: 5 hours before the oil began to show through. I think this would be better for normal skin types.
MAC Pro Longwear:
Coverage: Medium - Full
Ability to Blend: A little thicker than the other foundations but still blends out well enough.
Hours of Wear: 5 hours shine-free. A great foundation for oily skin but Revlon Colorstay is slightly better.
L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Matte:
Coverage: Light-Medium
Ability to Blend: This blends beautifully and works well with a kabuki style brush or a beauty blender.
Hours of Wear:4 hours shine-free. Although this is better than a normal foundation, for oily skin it really isn't the best.
