MAC Cham-Pale: Paint Pots

MAC Paint Pots ($16.50 for 0.17 oz.) are part of the permanent line, and it feels like it’s been forever since we’ve seen anything new in the range, but Cham-Pale brings to us four new and limited edition variations: Chilled on Ice (frosted white gold), Dangerous Cuvee (frosted cool grey), Let Me Pop (frosted light copper), and Vintage Selection (frosted dirty peach).

• Chilled on Ice is a cool-toned iridescent pale yellow gold.  It is interesting because it seems cool-toned but yet it is a gold, which is often a warmer hue.
• Dangerous Cuvee is a navy-tinged gray with a silvery-white sheen and shimmer.
• Let Me Pop is a medium-dark copper with a golden copper sheen.  In the pot, it resembles Melon pigment, but when worn, it’s anything but.
• Vintage Selection is a medium taupe brown.  It has a highly reflective frosted sheen.  It was the most opaque of the four.

Paint Pots can be used alone like a cream eyeshadow or as a base for your eyeshadows–I would say the latter is the more popular usage, though. I happen to use them as eyeshadow bases myself, because I find that most shades lend themselves to such rather than be worn alone. Whether I wear them alone or underneath eyehadow, they wear all day, and they are actually quite water-resistant, too.

These shades have a slightly creamier, but sheerer, formula than typical paint pots, which I imagine is due to the higher shimmer content in these.  They’re part shimmer, part metallic (but definitely not true metallics!).  The effect is reminiscent of Bobbi Brown’s Metallic Long-Wear Cream Eyeshadows, but these are more shimmer, less glitter, and generally speaking, more opaque (not that they are opaque).  They are easy to blend out and can be worn on their own, because they can be softened at the edges and sheered out enough to be worn in that fashion.

I felt that these took a wee bit longer to dry than other paint pots, but they still dried down and stayed in place.  My big concern with these is the sheerness, because I could not build up the color.  In the past, paint pots have been rather opaque, so it’s hard to know if this was simply the desired result for these in particular or if there is a deficiency of pigment.  However, since the official description is still “[a] highly pigmented eye colour that goes on creamy but dries to an intense, vibrant finish,” I would expect more intensity from these–at the very least, achievable by layering.

MAC Cham-Pale Collection is a limited edition launch (official information and photos here) that is set to launch in-stores on December 26th in North American, January 2011 for international MAC locations. The approximate launch date for online is December 24th. It features color products as well as a few skincare items.

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• Product: 26/30
• Value: 8/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

RECOMMENDATION: As much as I wanted to fall in love with these, I’m a little underwhelmed.  The sheerness isn’t what I would expect from the paint pot formula, but it may be a welcomed characteristic to others.

AVAILABILITY: MAC Cosmetics on December 26th (U.S. stores), January 2011 (International)

MAC Paint Pots: Chilled on Ice, Dangerous Cuvee, Let Me Pop, Vintage Selection

MAC Paint Pots: Chilled on Ice, Dangerous Cuvee, Let Me Pop, Vintage Selection

MAC Paint Pots: Chilled on Ice, Dangerous Cuvee, Let Me Pop, Vintage Selection

MAC Chilled on Ice Paint Pot

MAC Dangerous Cuvee Paint Pot

MAC Let Me Pop Paint Pot

MAC Vintage Selection Paint Pot

MAC Paint Pots: Chilled on Ice, Dangerous Cuvee, Let Me Pop, Vintage Selection