Are your eyelids as oily as Jermaine Jackson? If you find your eyeshadow just doesn’t stay on your oily lids, you might wanna try a paint pot by MAC ($16.50). Not only do they apply smoothly and dry quickly, but they can make your eyeshadows so much more vibrant. I prefer them over other types of eye primers, but it’s up to you. I still love my UDPP and Too Faced Shadow Insurance, but I reach for my paint pots a lot more. Some of the shades are so pretty you could wear them alone (like Indianwood and Rubenesque), and some really enhance any duochrome shadow you might be wearing. Artifact paint pot looks amazing with Beauty Marked eyeshadow, and Pink Pearl pigment over Delft?? Gorgeous. There are so many things you can do with paint pots, it’s not even funny. I don’t have every single one, but I have a pretty good variety to start with (and will quietly hunt for the ones I don’t have and need). Check out these swatches so you know what they look like on darker skin.

These are great because they create a pigmented barrier between your oily lid situation and your eyeshadow, and keep the eyeshadow lasting longer than Bob Dole. What does that mean? Little to no creasing! If you have extremely oily lids, I’m not sure if these will work for you…maybe you can layer some UDPP and a paintpot? Not sure, but try whatever works for you.

I store mine in a tray I got from Ikea called Anordna Mest (now only comes in white)


Row 1: Painterly, Bare Study, Soft Ochre, Girl Friendly, Artifact, Delft, Rollickin’, Electro Sky
Row 2: Rubenesque, Indianwood, Coral Crepe, Quite Natural, Greenstroke, Otherworldly, Pharaoh, Moss Scape

Paint Pots come in four finishes: Pearl, Cream, Frost and Satin. I can’t remember what all of these finishes are, so I’ll try my best lol.


*No Flash from right to left: Painterly (cream), Bare Study (frost), Soft Ochre (cream), Girl Friendly (cream)


*No flash from right to left: Rubenesque (frost), Indianwood (frost), Coral Crepe (satin)


*No flash from right to left: Coral Crepe (satin), Quite Natural (cream), Artifact (frost)


*With flash from right to left: Painterly (cream), Bare Study (frost), Soft Ochre (cream), Girl Friendly (cream), Rubenesque (frost), Indianwood (frost)


*With flash from right to left: Soft Ochre (cream), Girl Friendly (cream), Rubenesque (frost), Indianwood (frost), Coral Crepe (satin), Quite Natural (cream), Artifact (frost)


*No flash from right to left: Electro Sky (cream), Delft (frost), Rollickin’ (frost), Otherworldly (cream)


*No flash from top to bottom: Moss Scape (frost), Greenstroke (frost), Otherworldly (cream)


*No flash from top to bottom: Pharaoh (cream), Moss Scape (frost), Greenstroke (frost)


*With flash from left to right: Electro Sky (cream), Delft (frost), Rollickin’ (frost), Otherworldly (cream), Greenstroke (frost), Moss Scape (frost), Pharaoh (cream)

Pretty, right? They’re also long lasting but kind of a beeyotch to remove. Coincidentally, you might need an oil-based makeup remover to get it off easily. You could use an oil-free makeup remover…it just might take you a while. While swatching these just now, I removed them with a regular oil-free makeup remover wipe and I had to scrub the crap outta my arm, now it’s raw. See what I go thru for you guys?

Some of the colors on my arm are no longer available because they were “limited edition” (MAC is good for doing that crap) or discontinued, but you might be able to find some at CCO’s. It’s worth a look *shrug*. The sad news is that they literally just discontinued Delft paint pot like within the last month or so. Why MAC, why???

APPLICATION AND REMOVAL

  • Best applied with a clean finger over the lid or with a clean brush (such as a MAC 242 or 217).
  • Best removed with an oil-based makeup remover or wipe.

Anyhoo, I hope this post was helpful for those of you looking to buy paint pots and curious about how they look on darker skin, how pigmented they are, etc. These can be applied as sheer or as opaque as you want. My swatches are pretty opaque just to show you how much color pay-off you can get.

Availability: MAC Cosmetics (including counters and stores)

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