My Top 5 Favorite MAC Pigments

Left to right: Vanilla, Teal, Burnt Burgundy, Golden Olive, Pink Bronze

While doing my makeup the other day and reaching for my Vanilla pigment as a highlight color I thought it would be fun to include a list here of my top 5 favorite MAC pigments that I own so here they are, there’s definitely a few more pigments on my must have list to pick up soon specifically Melon, Pink Opal and Naked. But so far these are the ones I love the most and reach for the most often, especially Burnt Burgundy when Halloween comes around since it’s a great color for adding bruises, hallowing out areas of the face, etc.  

Left to right: Vanilla, Teal, Burnt Burgundy, Golden Olive, Pink Bronze

Top swatch is applied dry with no primer

Bottom swatch is applied wet with no primer

Vanilla is an off white color with a light yellow peachy pearl sheen with light gold sparkles, the texture is smooth and buttery and has great pigmentation and blends easily. A little goes a LONG way so a light handed application works best since if too much is applied the color will come off incredibly frosty.

This is by far one of the most popular pigments from MAC and in my opinion for good reason. It is a great multipurpose and versatile pigment, I love using it as a brow highlight, in the inner tear duct to open up the eyes and make them appear more awake, mixing a very small amount with my moisturizer to get a dewy and glowy look, as a cheek highlighter, and above the cupids bow to give the appearance of a fuller lip or it can also be used as an all over lid color.

Teal is a bright and vibrant color that is described as a “medium blue/ green with pearl” but it applies much more green with a blue metallic sheen and when applied wet is even more intense. The texture is soft and silky and also blends easily. I especially love using this pigment as a lid color and using a darker green/black for a smoky eye and it looks great paired with violets and purples.

Burnt Burgundy is a rich blackened sultry wine burgundy matte color that works great for a smoky eye; this pigment has great color payoff and is buildable and has a smooth texture that blends with ease unlike some matte pigments. This shade is definitely one of my favorite crease colors and I find it pairs well with any look from neutral to bold.

Golden Olive is a soft medium olive green with gold reflects with a super smooth and silky texture that applies rich and vivid. It blends great and works well both dry or wet and it is also versatile in the sense that it pairs well with neutral colors; gold and brown shades to even more bold color; fuchsia, violet, blues, etc.

Pink Bronze is described as a “peach with pink duo chrome” and has a nice smooth texture. What I like about this color is that it can be sheered out or built up for an opaque lid color,  I find this color goes best with orange, red, and copper colors but can be also pair well with violets and purples. It can also be used as a cheek highlighter but what I especially love this pigment for is pairing it over lipsticks by taking a small amount and placing it in the center of the lip and blending out to help add dimension. 

So which MAC pigments are your favorites and how do you like to use them?

And to purchase pigments you can do so at: www.maccosmetics.com