MAC Soft Ochre Paint Pot

Happy New Year guys! Now that I've been away for a while, I think that I'm going to try to do a post a week every week. Hopefully more, but that's kind of asking for a lot... Anyway, I'm starting this year with a review of one of my favorite products of all time.

MAC Paint Pots are definitely a cult favorite to a huge number of beauty gurus.  I personally have to use them with Too Faced Shadow Insurance, otherwise they crease after a few hours. And they definitely need powder to set them, otherwise they crease rather quickly.

This Paint Pot, on the other hand, I don't use as an eyeshadow base; I use it as an under eye concealer. The yellow tones in it cancel out the purple-blue tone of my under eye circles.  The color is also a little lighter than my skin tone, which brightens too.  The consistency is very creamy, and since this is usually used as a primer, it doesn't crease either when I use powder to set (which is always). 

This product is perfect for my skin tone, or for one a little lighter.  I really can't recommend it enough. I've been using it for the past year and a half almost every single day and has lasted amazingly.  I love it, and it's really been worth the rather hefty price tag ($18.50). Comes down to about 3 cents a day.  All and all, I totally recommend this to people with a medium to light skin tone as both an eye primer and an under eye circle concealer. 

What products do you use in a different way than they are intended?

NYX Glam Shadow Stick in 24 Karat

Have you been liking all of the looks that I've been posting? I love it! But, I also have quite a few product pictures backed up in my folder, so I'm going to do a couple in between looks. Today, we're presenting the NYX Glam Shadow Stick in 24 Karat. It's an eyeshadow stick and as far as NYX goes, it's pretty expensive, retailing at $15, I believe.

I couldn't figure out which swatch was best, so I just chose all of them. 

The bottom one is blurry to show the sparkles!

This is a very interesting product. If you've ever watched my videos, you know that I never just use a primer; I always use a base too. So, I'm a big fan of shadow sticks and the like.  This one interested me, just because of the amazing color. Look at it!

First of all, this is pretty sheer. You could wear it on its own and get a cool color, but the color of your skin would definitely poke out from under it, especially if you're darker, and especially if you blend it out at all. When you blend it out, it disperses into more sparkles and less color.  I really don't think that it's a deal breaker for this product to be sheer, though. I don't mind it at all.

Secondly, this product is not the same as the famous Jumbo Eyeshadow pencils. I think that it stays longer, but I still wouldn't use it without a primer.  I particularly like that it's a wind up instead of having to be sharpened like the Jumbo pencils, because that wastes less product.  Also, this product does wind down when you wind it up, unlike other similar products. That's a big thumbs up.

Overall, I really do like this product. The color is gorgeous, and it's so hard to find a yellow color as vibrant as this, or a yellow at all. My only major grip is the price. It's as expensive as a Mac eyeliner! That's ridiculous!

Would you spend as much money on a drugstore brand item as on a mid-high end item?