Mac Pigment in Rose Gold (Review, Swatches & Photos)

Mac Pigment in Rose Gold, £17 ($21)

It is my lifelong quest – to find the perfect gold for a traditional brown and gold smokey eye on my skin tone (medium olive with beige undertones), and trust me, I’ve gone through my fair share of eye shadows, glitters and pigments. Most of the golds I’ve found so far have either been too yellow, which makes them too light, or too orange, which makes them too dark. The gold eyeshadow front is now sorted – Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Half-Baked and Lorac Pro Eyeshadow in Gold are just perfect, but until now, I’ve been unlucky with my pigment/fine glitter quest – most of them are beautiful and amazing, but not really what I’m looking for. Until I stumbled upon pictures of the Mac Pigment in Rose Gold and I knew I had to have it.

Summary

Mac Pigment
Highly concentrated loose powder
Versatile, long-lasting and easy to blend
Rose Gold: smooth, tarnished gold with a hint of bronze
4.5g (0.26oz) at £17 ($21)

About

Mac Pigments (and pigments in general) are highly concentrated loose powders that are versatile, easy to blend and long-lasting; they adhere easily to the skin on their own or on top of other eyeshadows, and most pigments are shimmery, but matte shades are also around. Mac Pigments differ from Mac eyeshadows, which are usually subdued pressed pigments in a pan, and Mac glitters which are chunky reflective particles, usually need some sort of glue to adhere to the skin and are not recommended for use on the eye area.

The possibilities with pigments are immense – you can use them on your eyes to intensify an eye makeup look, on your lips to add a highlighting effect, on your cheeks for a lovely glow, on your nails, as eyeliners, and even on your hair. My only advice is to read the leaflet that comes with the Mac Pigment you decide to get because some shades aren’t recommended for certain areas on the body, so make sure to do your research before buying the pigment of your choice.

Shades

Mac Pigments come in an enormous variety of shades; some are from the permanent line and others are limited edition. As of today, these are the shades available on the Mac website: Pure White, Vanilla, White, White Gold, Kitschmas, Naked, Blonde’s Gold, Naked Dark, Museum Bronze, Naked Deep Dark, Pink Pearl, Magenta Madness, Fuchsia, Ruby Red, Deep Purple, Red Electric, Basic Red, Acid Orange, Genuine Orange, Electric Coral, Copper Sparkle, Neo-Orange, Melon, Old Gold, Rock-It Yellow, Primary Yellow, Golden Olive, Chartreuse, True Chartreuse, Green Space, Kelly Green, Emerald Green, Landscape Green, Deep Blue Green, Teal, Tan, Copper, Blue Brown, Deep Brown, Black Black, Dark Soul, Naval Blue, Hi-Def Cyan, Steel Blue, Marine Ultra, Grape, Rick Purple, Violet, Rose, Silver Fog, Platinum, Silver, Rose Gold and Process Magenta.

Mac Pigment in Rose Gold

The star of today’s post is the Mac Pigment in Rose Gold, which is described as a ‘smooth, tarnished gold with a touch of rose’. Although I know colours can look slightly different on different skin tones, based on the way it came out on me, I have to disagree with the ‘touch of rose’ part, as I was unable to see even the faintest hint of rose gold under any kind of light. To me, ‘Rose Gold’ is indeed a smooth tarnished gold that sits right in the middle of a yellow gold like Mac Pigment in Gold Dusk and an orange gold like Mac Pigment in Melon. It is not as olive-toned as Mac Pigment in Old Gold and not as pink-toned as Mac Pigment in Tan. On my medium skin tone I would say ‘Rose Gold’ has a hint of bronze, which I love, and it really complements my brown eyes.

Packaging & Pricing

I really like the tall bottle packaging and also that the black rubber lid closes quite tight, as it minimises spillage and feels very secure. But don’t be fooled by the size of the bottle – it won’t come full to the brim with product! Mac already warns on its website that ‘pigments are sold by weight, not volume’, so your bottle may look less than full. What you do get is 4.5g (0.26oz) of product for £17 ($21). Not cheap, but as I mentioned previously, this bottle will probably last you a lifetime if you buy it for personal use.

Pictures & Demo

On the pictures, I used ‘Rose Gold’ over the top of my Lorac Pro Eyeshadow in Gold to highlight and accentuate that beautiful bronze gold shade. First, I simply touched the little plastic stopper that protects the bottle, and that gave me enough product for one eye. I pressed my finger over my eyelid to pack as much of the pigment as possible, then I blended the edges with a Mac 239 brush. I think this gave me a very vivid colour payoff, but if I didn’t want to get my hands dirty, the Mac 239 brush would have done a good enough job on its own.

Swatches

My skin is medium olive with beige undertones and the swatches above depict how the Mac Pigment in Rose Gold looks on me. It comes out as a neutral bronze gold, and I think that’s how gold shades best stand out on me. Since the colour of the pigment can look different depending on your skin tone, I’ve collated a list of how this pigment looks on as many people as I could find – I hope that’s useful.

Verdict

I absolutely LOVE this pigment – it immediately made my brown and gold smokey eye stand out, it lasted very well with no signs of creasing and the application had no fall-out on my face. I do recommend laying down a paper towel onto your work surface or dressing table before opening the bottle, as some of the product tends to fall down from the inside of the lid. I can see a little Mac pigment addiction developing inside me, and the colour options are huge! I’ve got my eye on ‘Vanilla’, which is a soft ivory white shade, and it looks perfect as a brow bone and inner corner highlighter.

Conclusion

Pigments are probably not an everyday-wear kind of product (at least not for me), but a little dab on top of your eyeshadow and they can really transform an ordinary eye makeup look into a stunning and professional looking makeup. For that reason, pigments are ideal for party looks and special occasions – weddings, red carpet events, dinner parties, etc. So if you’re on the market for a highly pigmented and extremely versatile golden shade, you might want to consider the Mac Pigment in Rose Gold. Even if you’re not, it’s so pretty that I guarantee you’ll find it hard to resist! :)

Have you tried Mac Pigments before? What are your favourites and which ones do you think I should get next?

Product: Mac Pigment in Rose Gold
Price: £17 ($21)
Buy in the UK: John Lewis | Selfridges | MAC UK | Debenhams | House of Fraser | Amazon UK
Buy in the US: Nordstrom | Bloomingdale’s | MAC US | Dillard’s | Macy’s | Amazon US

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Written by: Ysis Lorenna