Update June 6, 2025: I recently revisited this concealer and discussed it in my Forgotten Best Sellers: MAC Cosmetics (Vol. 2). This used to be my number 1 concealer. Yes, even with my dry skin, this concealer used to be the only one that I would use. But that all changed when I discovered the Dior Forever Skin Correct Concealer (the original fragrance-free formula). Despite being dry, I loved the high coverage, long wear, and self-setting ability of the Pro Longwear Concealer. Unfortunately, as I got older, I got drier and moved to drier climates. I moved from the south to the Midwest, and then from the Midwest to New England. So the aspects of this concealer that make it great no longer work for me. I know this for sure because I recently revisited this concealer. It is still a top performer, but too dry for me, and I should’ve known better. As you may have heard me mention, most days I wear makeup for about 10 hours. This starts to look dry around hour 4, but is still passable. At around 8 hours, however, the concealer cracks and separates. My dry skin steals what little moisture the concealer may have, which is to be expected. There are other matte concealers that I can’t wear for that long without cracking (Huda Beauty, One Size). It also doesn’t leave me feeling dry the next day, so it still outperforms many matte formulas. So it’s still good, just not good for me.
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**Pro Longwear Concealer ($28.00) is a bestseller for MAC and is overall highly reviewed on retailer websites like Ulta, Nordstrom, and Macy’s. Listen, I know the pump and overall packaging are annoying, but the product itself is excellent. I do not experiment with concealers much, so it is very possible that there is something better out there. But for me, this is a winner.
I have dry skin, and I can still get away with using this product. It does dry down to a matte, long-wearing finish, so I don’t have to set with powder. If you have dry skin, then you know that being able to skip powder can really help. For the most part, this doesn’t settle into my fine lines and wrinkles. I say for the most part because it does sink into my deepest wrinkle, but I can’t tell unless I get real close to the mirror. For reference, the Bobbi Brown Concealer and Corrector formulas sink into lines and wrinkles on me. The formula that is in the MAC Studio Fix Conceal and Correct Palette does not sink into lines on me, but it does need to be set with powder, whereas the Pro Longwear Concealer does not.
NC42 is described as a tanned peach with golden undertones for medium to dark skin.
NC45 is described as a deep bronze with peachy undertone for dark skin.
Although this formula is long wearing, it doesn’t hold up under the nose pads on my glasses. It moves and collects around them. I do see an imprint of the nose pads when I’m only wearing Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation, but not the amount of product movement as with this concealer.
 | $ SalePrice $ 31.00 RegularPrice |
| MAC – Pro Longwear Concealer | |
Back to the annoying pump, for those who are unfamiliar. The **Pro Longwear Concealer is full coverage, so a little bit of the product goes a long way. While this is technically a good thing, the pump dispenses way more product than you need. You can learn to control the pump and dispense smaller partial pumps, but it takes some breaking in. The second problem with the pump is that it is impossible to get the very last bit of product out of the bottle. Even when the product is running low, it becomes difficult to get it to dispense, even though there is still product left. Also, when it comes to packaging, this concealer is housed in a glass bottle, so if you don’t like glass, that is something to keep in mind.
Another issue that I typically have is falling between two shades. Even when MAC offers NC44, I’m usually still between NC44 and NC45. Technically, C shades work better for me, so I would love it if MAC offered the C shades in all of their concealers. Since they do not, I use the NC shades. Concealer shade ranges are always more limited than foundations, but I still find it surprising that there are only 16 shades of Pro Longwear Concealer. There is an even split of 8 NC shades and 8 NW shades, but for MAC, I expect better.
So as you can see, as with anything, this product does have some downsides. However, the coverage, formula, and staying power outweigh the pump and shade issues for me personally. As someone with sensitive skin, I try not to experiment with my base products too much. Maybe I’ll try something new one day.
Update April 8, 2022: This was my go-to concealer until very recently. I purchased NC30 to lighten NC45 since it is a little too dark. I have been mixing NC42 and NC45 for as long as I can remember, but I wanted to try something less peachy than NC42. Honestly, I still think this is a great concealer, but I am just tired of mixing. If it were more of a half-and-half mix, it’d likely be easier. But I need more of the lighter shade and just a little of NC45 for my undereye area. It’s doable, but the pump makes it more difficult than a concealer that has a doe-foot applicator. I can get away with using NC45 by itself, but I just don’t like how orange my undereye area looks when I use it alone. I can use it alone for spot concealing without issue, and it sits nicely over texture, so it is still a great concealer as long as you can find your shade. I have tried the trick of decanting some of the product into a travel container, but I find that it dries out before I can use all of it. So I ended up with the same amount of product waste as if I had pumped it out each time.
NC30 is described as a golden beige with golden undertone for light to medium skin.
| | $ SalePrice $ 31.00 RegularPrice |
| MAC – Pro Longwear Concealer | |
Update June 6, 2025: I recently revisited this concealer and discussed it in my Forgotten Best Sellers: MAC Cosmetics (Vol. 2). This used to be my number 1 concealer. Yes, even with my dry skin, this concealer used to be the only one that I would use. But that all changed when I discovered the Dior Forever Skin Correct Concealer (the original fragrance-free formula). Despite being dry, I loved the high coverage, long wear, and self-setting ability of the Pro Longwear Concealer. Unfortunately, as I got older, I got drier and moved to drier climates. I moved from the south to the Midwest, and then from the Midwest to New England. So the aspects of this concealer that make it great no longer work for me. I know this for sure because I recently revisited this concealer. It is still a top performer, but too dry for me, and I should’ve known better. As you may have heard me mention, most days I wear makeup for about 10 hours. This starts to look dry around hour 4, but is still passable. At around 8 hours, however, the concealer cracks and separates. My dry skin steals what little moisture the concealer may have, which is to be expected. There are other matte concealers that I can’t wear for that long without cracking (Huda Beauty, One Size). It also doesn’t leave me feeling dry the next day, so it still outperforms many matte formulas. So it’s still good, just not good for me.
Do you have any dry/sensitive skin friendly concealer suggestions for me? Leave them in the comments below.
If you’d like to see more of my content, you can check out these pages: Blush Index, Brands A-Z, Bronzer & Highlighter Index, Brush Index, Concealer Ranking, Eyeshadow Index, Foundation Round-Up, Lipstick Index, and Powder Round-Up.
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Nikki From HR 