For a while now, I’ve been encountering “paint pots” referred to in beauty blogs and videos, and I’ve always wondered what they were. On MAC’s website website, Paint Pots are described as:
A highly pigmented eye colour that goes on creamy but dries to an intense, vibrant finish. Long-wearing, colourfast. Creates seamless coverage without weight or caking. Blends smoothly over the lids. Cream-based, can be mixed with M·A·C shadows and liners.
I’d been jonesin’ for one of these pots of magic for quite a bit of time, but running into a color called Rubenesque sealed the deal. “Rubenesque” is a term that pertains to Baroque artist, Peter Paul Rubens, though it doesn’t directly refer to him. This is what he looks like:
Rather, the term was applied to the ladies he was known to paint: very plump and curvy. These women were considered to be the epitome of beauty at the time.
The Three Graces by Peter Paul Rubens
Venus at a Mirror
If you notice, there is a pinkish tinge to these Rubenesque women’s fair skin, which reminds me a lot of the color of MAC’s interpretation of the term. It’s a peach golden bronze with a pearly frost finish.
To tell you the truth, I am quite in love with this color. As you move and the light hits it from a different angle, it appears as a whole spectrum that shifts from gold to peach, which sometimes turns into a rosy color. Even with the frosty finish, it remains quite a warm color that is pretty enough to wear on its own or neutral enough to wear with anything else.
Diana and Callisto
Another quality of Rubens’ paintings, especially his landscapes and wide scenes, is that they are bathed in a beautiful glow, almost like a sunset. See how wonderfully warm and golden-peach these ladies look.
You can wear this by itself on your lids, swipe on some eyeliner and lipstick, and leave the house. You will look bright-eyed and warm.
It works well with powder shadows from other brands. This one’s a quick one of Rubenesque with two colors from an e.l.f. quad called Luxe.
It also works well with loose mineral shadows, like bareMinerals’ Satin Caramel from A Vision in Velvet.
I got this two days ago, and I keep on finding new things to use it, by myself or through other blogs and websites. The greatest thing about this—aside from the color, the lovely pigmentation, great payoff, smooth consistency, etc, etc—is that you don’t need all that much product. A little 0.17 fl oz pot will take you a long, long way.
VERDICT: Beautiful, iridescent color that adds warmth to my eyes and is very flattering for my skin tone.
Would purchase this again? Hell freaking yes.
How much? Php 1,100 or $18.50 for 0.17 fl oz.
Where to buy this in Manila? All MAC counters should have this!
Softly Sometimes 
Well, you have me sold. I’ve been eyeing MAC products for ages, never buying or even trying them (cept when I raid my friends makeup bags). This seems like as good (better) a product as any to start with, and I love the colour (and artsy name!).
Also, it’s just occurred to me: it’ll be great for me to see a lovely asian lady test makeup! My asian levels may be low (my grandmother is half indonesian), but I certainly have an asian colouring (aka makeup that looks good on pink shaded WHITE white people looks really weird on me). Because apparently while appearing to be white, I am not white at all. At least not pink-white 😛 Hooray for the yellowy-olive skinned!
Oooh, I’ve just discovered some Asian beauty blogs! Strangely, a lot of them are based in Canadia-land. Hehe. Yay for yellow undertones. LOL.
Were you by any chance friends with Laura/flossyflotsam on LJ? She works at a MAC counter and she says Rubenesque seems better for my skin tone than her favorite paint pot, but I would still like to try it, too.
Hehe, just found this! Yes, I know Claudia! We have a lot of mutual friends, and have even hung out on occasion when I lived in Montreal.
And I think that the bare study paint pot would look swell on you too. Definitely worth giving it a try if you haven’t already. Next time you’re at MAC ask for a sample of it (and that sample will last you a long time too!).
Ah, I’ve been eyeing at paint pot! I actually want to ask you about MAC products because I feel so overwhelmed with the selections all the time. Weirdly, the MAC counters here don’t give samples even when I ask for whatever they have (I’m working on a series called Sample Stash Sunday and I was hoping to get something from MAC. Alas~)
Anyway, thanks for the tip! So strange and awesome about Claudia, though. I “know” so many Canadians and all of you are pretty swell 🙂
Feel free to ask any questions, and if you’d like samples of anything (that can be sampled such as creams, liquids, loose powder/pigments), I can collect them at my store and send them your way by snail mail. I know we currently have a bunch of sample containers, though we do run out sometimes.
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