Pigment FAQ

April and I have decided that since so many people come and ask about MAC pigments in particular, that we would make a thread based on the other 10,000 threads about pigments. We are going to try to put everything you want to know here, if I miss something, let me know so I can update.

1. What is a MAC pigment? The MAC pigment is one of the most popular and most sought after products from their cosmetic line. It is basically a multi-purpose loose powder color that can be used as a lip color, eye color, nail color, eyeliner, blush, bronzer, highlighter and whatever else you can think to do with it. (see # 5 for details about product usage)
2. Where can I buy MAC pigments? Pigments are sold at MAC freestanding stores (which carry the permanent line), PRO stores (which carry the permanent line + PRO colors) and MAC counters (which carry only pigments from collections).
Full sized jars and samples are available for purchase on ebay, but it's not recommend buying pigments from there as it's notorious for the amount of fakes.
There are many members right here on makeuptalk in the sale forum that are reliable and sell samples at reasonable prices. (click HERE!)
3. What do I use to apply a pigment? There are many things that have been suggested on Makeuptalk to use as a base for pigments. Urban Decay Eye shadow Primer potion, Vaseline, Mixing Medium, Visine, MAC Shadesticks, MAC ream color bases, water and even lip balm. Basically anything that will make the pigment adhere to your skin, though it is important to note that products that do not dry, such as lip balm or Vaseline will crease and will not have the staying power an eye shadow base will.
4. What are the best tools to use to apply my pigment? There is no one good answer but here is a list of what we’ve gathered from the threads on MAC pigments:
· MAC 224
· MAC 213
· MAC 217 (for hint of color, like brow highlighting)
· Sponge applicators
· Fingertip
· Small contour brush for highlighting or shaping
· Non-latex sponges (to help clean up the fallen particles)
5. **IMPORTANT** Like anything, there are certain guidelines, and pigments have them too. Not every color can be used everywhere. These colors can’t be used around the eyes and are for the lip area only:

• Acid Orange
• Bright Fuchsia
• Electric Coral
• Ruby Red

These can’t be used on the lips and are only recommended for the body and eyes :

• Black, Chartreuse
• Clear Sky Blue
• Cornflower
• Deep Brown
• Emerald Green
• French Violet
• Golden Olive
• Landscape Green
• Marine Ultra
• Naval Blue
• Polished Ivory
• Primary Yellow
• Pure White
• Rich Purple
• Steel Blue
• Teal
• True Chartreuse
• Violet

Lastly these colors are for the body only and are not recommended on the eyes or the lips (but work fine as blushes ect..):

• Basic Red
• Burnt Burgundy
• Cool Pink
• Dusty Coral
• Genuine Orange
• Grape N
• Nocturnal Plum
• Pink Vivid

6. How can I use them? Wet or dry, you only need very little to get a big payoff.


You can mix pigments (while heeding the important warnings!) with many bases like:

· Nail polish
· Lip-gloss
· Mixing medium (to make your own eye-liner)
· Moisturizer to get some shimmer/color
7. Also, pigments cost around 19.50$ US/23$ CAD

Wow, I didn't MAC pigments had this many usages.

They are at the MAC counter here....the old ones are not available, but when they are released in collections, they are initially available until they are sold out, but not restocked.

It just depends on the stock they have left from the previous collection until new ones come out

Maybe it's differnt in the states but as far as i know, if and when counters ever had perm collection pigments it was a LONG time ago and if you read the post( not to sound b itchyy though!) i say they only carry pigments from the collections

Awesome !! Thank you Liz and Aprill !

Oh ,,,,thank you so much ...

I didn't know that they had that many purposes!! I'm getting a few pigments for Christmas and I'm super excited to start working with them. I like how you can use a shade stick or another eyeliner and layer to make 'new' colors. :]

luckily i found this thread. I just ordered a sample of nocturnal plum and did not know it could not be used on the eyes. Phew! Thanks!

that's very helpfull

I remember back when Maccosmetics.com had the old site that I seen pigments in a little red jar being sold together.Like 8 or 6 of them...

I dont know if I am typing in the wrong word or what?

This is a nice informative posting on pigmentation. I am sure it would be helpful for all the ladies out there who are facing any such problem.

Great information !

MAC products are my favorite.

wow, this is a really helpful post thank you! i have a purple mac pigment i LOVE it, really works like nothing else!

Wow, thanks ! I didn't know that some of them can't be used on the lips/eyes ! Thanks again ! I'm gonna try my Brash & Bold (?) pigment as a blush tomorrow !

Originally Posted by macaddict2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow, thanks ! I didn't know that some of them can't be used on the lips/eyes ! I didn't know either! I thought all of them could be used on your eyes, oops!

Thanks a lot. That was extremely helpful

Thanks for posting this! I love pigments and this was a great help!

Great thread and great info.

Thank you.