Comparison: What's the Difference Between Painterly and Soft Ochre Paint Pots?

Whenever I first got into makeup, all I heard about was Mac Paint Pots--especially Painterly. Every once in a while someone would mention Soft Ochre Paint Pot, but not nearly as often. Both of them were always described as "a nude skintone color" so I always wondered-- if they're both a nude skintone color, what's the difference between them? Every time I would go to Mac, I would swatch Painterly (the most popular) on my hand and it never looked right. After a long time of confusion, I finally figured out why Painterly didn't work for me and why Soft Ochre does, and I have been using it ever since.

For those of you who don't know, a Mac Paint Pot is a cream eyeshadow that can be used as a primer, base, or just by itself as a cream eyeshadow.

 

 

This first picture is in sunlight (Soft Ochre left, Painterly right)

 

This picture shows the colors a little better (Soft Ochre left, Painterly right) 

 

The best way to explain the difference between these two Paint Pots is that Soft Ochre is cool and yellow toned and Painterly is warm and pink toned. The reason that Painterly never worked on me is because I have yellow undertones in my skin (NC in Mac) and Painterly has beigey-pink tones.

 

Because these are nude skintone colors, the camera had a hard time picking them up when swatched. (Soft Ochre left, Painterly right)

 

Generally, if you are NC in Mac, Soft Ochre will work for you and if you are NW then Painterly will work for you. But you should know that Soft Ochre is VERY yellow toned, not just a slight yellow tint. Whenever I used it on someone who didn't have strong yellow undertones, it looked straight up yellow on their eyes. Like I used a yellow eyeshadow on them.. So if you're going to buy Soft Ochre, make sure your skin tone has enough yellow in it so that it will look natural.

Although I absolutely love my Soft Ochre Paint Pot, Painterly is more popular because it works for a greater variety of people. The color of Painterly covers a wider range of skintones than Soft Ochre does. In my experience, out of all the people whose makeup I've done, I'm the only one who can wear Soft Ochre without it looking super yellow. So if you're trying to decide which one to buy for a kit or even for your own personal collection, Painterly is more likely to work for you and your clients.

If you have a Mac Paint Pot that has dried out, find out how to make it usable again here :)

I hope this comparison was helpful! Thank you so much for reading! As usual, if you have any questions feel free to ask :)