This month I am CRAZY ABOUT CREAMS. Stay tuned for some of my favorite cream makeup products all throughout January.
Waxing philosophical about my favorite MAC cream shadows in a series called “Crazy About Creams” is the right and proper thing to do because I am, indeed, crazy about the MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pots.
I almost can’t believe I’m saying this because I remember when I fell in love with them in the mid-Triassic Period (It was actually the Fafi collection in 2008, so it’s been — GULP — more than a decade!) The Paint Pots are staples in my MAC collection, and I restock them ALL. THE. FREAKIN’. TIME.
They’re $22 cream shadows that come in a glass pot, and you can wear them by themselves or layered with other products.
If you have fine lines on your lids like a vertically challenged beauty blogger/cat lady we know, they’re lovely because you can get a lot of color on your lids with them (or a little if you sheer them out) without losing a natural skin-like texture. The Paint Pots are just pure color without any thickness or heaviness.
My favorite way to wear them is on their own, and they last all day long for me — yes, even without eye primer.
Obviously, since the Paint Pots are creams, you can use your fingers to apply them, but I prefer brushes because they’re more precise.
For simple, fast, fresh looks, the Paint Pots are great. I’ll start by laying down the shadow where I want it using a flat brush before buffing out the edges with a tapered blending brush. Then I’ll do a little liner, then mascara, then brows (of course!), and I’m done, which is what I did for these pics where I’m wearing Groundwork in my crease and Indianwood on my lids.
Also, if I’m feeling up to it, I’ll dab a small amount of face highlighter on my brow bone and in the inner corners to make my eyes look bigger and less hooded.
Never underestimate how much a little highlighter on those two areas can open up your eyes.
The Paint Pots come in a bunch of neutrals shades, and I’m wearing my faves here. Groundwork is a matte taupe, and I use it to sculpt my crease so that my eyes look deeper set. Indianwood is a golden bronze with shimmer, and it’s perfect for a sheer wash on the lids.
Both Groundwork and Indianwood, incidentally, go perfectly with MAC Coffee Eye Pencil.
Oh, and here are two pro tips! Store your paint pots upside down to keep them from drying out (you can also see the names more easily), and if you’ve had a Paint Pot for a while and discover one day that it’s dry (like if you can see the edges of the cream pulling away from the jar), you can revive it by swirling a drop or two of your favorite face oil in the pot with a brush.
Then you can buff that brush loaded with your Paint Pot and oil mix on your lids for a sheer wash of color.
Sometimes I actually also do this when the pots aren’t dry because I like to sheer them out.
Anyway, these are great, and I love, love, LOVE THEM. If you happen to find any of the discontinued brown shades like Quite Natural or Constructivist (because MAC heartbreakingly discontinued several of the colors) at, say, a Cosmetic Company Store, grab them with a quickness because they’re fantastic.
Rainy days and Wednesdays…
You gotta play if it’s raining, OBVII’m not normally phased by the rain when it comes to being out and about. I’ll throw on my raincoat and my boots and bundle up the baby, and we’ll be the first ones out the door splashing in the puddles and looking for rainbows, and speaking of rainbows, I’ve never lived anyplace with half as many rainbows as Novato…
My point is just that rain and I are usually totally down with each other, but I could not deal today. When I opened the front door and saw that it was pouring this morning, I was like NOPE! So Connor and I stayed inside and painted our nails matching colors.
I realize now that I was probably making a mountain out of a molehill when I debated painting her nails the first gazillion times she asked me, but after hearing “PLEASE, PLEASE MAMA!” a few more gazillion times, I gave in. Now it’s a fun thing we do together.
Is it raining where you are right now?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
