mac python and the holy grail

Mac Face&Body N1 in natural light.
The top swatch and has dried and oxidized some, the bottom swatch is fresh.

Foundation, for me, has to be one of the worst makeup things on the planet, but probably not for the reasons you think.

I am not really a "face" junkie. I'm a lipstick junkie, nail polish junkie, eyeshadow junkie in training. I love colors, and by extension, putting them on my face. Before my nails reached a state of ruin the likes of the Parthenon, I changed my polish weekly, sometimes less. I like changing colors and putting on new ones based on mood and season and fashion trends and whatever other influences come up.

My skin, however, kinda usually stays the same.



And oh don't get me wrong, it can get more oily or dry patches when the weather changes, and I do tan a bit in summer if I get out enough, but for the most part it's pretty much an even ride. And given how incredibly expensive a bottle of foundation--especially good foundation--can be compared to the odd lipstick or eyeshadow, when I began searching for "the one" as far as foundation went earlier this year, I knew it would be a bit of a frustrating journey.

But, luckily for me, MAC made it easy.

I really love MAC when it comes to their core line (their LE releases are fun but the quality can vary too much for my liking) so when I heard of and saw some Youtube videos using Face&Body, I was intrigued. A small bottle of it runs under thirty USD, so after pouring over multiple swatches I pulled out my credit card and bit a few bullets.

I'm happy to announce that it's love, really. I meant to write this up months ago but never found the proper time.

I love MAC Face&Body.

Natural light, bare-faced.

Wearing MAC Face&Body N1 in natural light.

The texture of it is very liquidy, like that of a runny cream sauce or thinned paint. It comes in a nice, hygienic (though after a while my nozzle is a bit messy) dropper bottle that's minimal and functional. It travels well (mine has been with me on a plane to Finland, after all) and it's easy to unscrew the cap, flip it over, drip a few drops on the back of your hand and go to town.

It's a sheer coverage, so it won't do any damage to heavy acne or pigmentation or scarring, but it's a very very good foundation for people, like me, with the occasional pimple and minor redness that comes with having a face and skin. It's good for evening out skin tone and giving a natural look without being very obvious. It's very moisturizing upon application and takes a little bit to sink in, but it's good because it doesn't stick very much to dry patches and provides a very natural skin-like finish, albeit a bit shiny. That's nothing a good selective powdering can't fix up, and it's waterproof to boot, so it sticks around well, which is good if you're someone like me who somehow manages to sweat bucketfuls even when it's five below and you're wrapped up in a wool coat.

I'm toying with the idea of maybe taking on C1 when this bottle runs out, since it's a bit more yellow-toned, but that's the bonus of the sheer finish. Even though the N1 is probably slightly pink-toned, because it's sheer I can get away with a thin coat to cover up my imperfections and not worry about it looking overly unmatched or oxidizing to the color of a bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos on me. (You can look at the first picture of this post to get an idea of what that would look like, whew!)

But overall yeah, I'll be buying this again. And again. And again. I will be sticking with my neat little art supplies bottle of this 'til the end of days. And even then I'll go out looking good.

Also if you're more curious seeing what the texture looks like in motion, Wayne Goss has a good video of how he applies it.

Where to buy: MAC, $27 USD for 50ml