MAC Soft Ochre Paint Pot and meeting an old friend

Last week I headed into town to see a friend I had not seen since our school days. Despite the realisation that it was so many years ago, and coming to terms with the fact that I am now OLD, I had a lovely time catching up with her. If you've been in a similar situation, there is that moment beforehand where you wonder how much they've changed, what if they're no longer a nice person! I can honestly say that besides growing up, my friend hadn't really changed, and I mean that in a good way. Just an older, wiser version! And this, despite being very successful at what she does for a living.
Harry is a makeup artist, and does a lot of fashion and editorial work. This was her dream all those years ago and how good it is to see those dreams become real. For the record, mine was to become a writer, which I suppose you could say I do here, but it's not my job. As I got older my dreams changed, I still maintained wanting to write but alongside this I found a new dream and chased that instead. I'm glad I'm doing the job I love (which I don't mention on here because it's worlds apart from my beauty blog!) but there is something to be said for people who never give up that one thing they want to be. Persistence is the key I think.

I would really love it if you went on over to: http://harrymakesitup.tumblr.com/ and http://harriethadfield.com/ to find out more about her and the work she's done, you can tell her I said "Hi". I think you'll agree it's pretty darn good.

That day we mosied around the make-up shops near Covent Garden and of course, whenever I am there, a MAC visit is a must.
I was after a paint pot to use as an eyeshadow base. I have not been too impressed with my UDPP, it does not live up to Too Faced Shadow Insurance in my opinion, so I decided to give these a go. Originally I thought I would but Painterly, it's the one that always springs to mind. However, looking at them and comparing Painterly to Soft Ochre, the latter was the obvious choice for me. I'm really quite yellow tinged, or golden as I prefer to say and this was a better match for my skin tone, not to mention how much better this shade is for the natural colour of most people's eyelids. The problem I believe a lot of people find with Soft Ochre is the dryness of this particular shade. I can see where there is coming from, Soft Ochre applies smoothly and creamily, but is quick to dry. You could get around this by applying it to one eyelid and then putting on your eyeshadow before moving onto the next. The most important thing is the staying power that this paint pot has. In my experience, it is still not as good or long lasting as TFSI, but perhaps slightly better than UDPP in longevity, not only in making my eyeshadow last a little longer, but the sheer amount of product you get in one of these little pots. If I use this every day, I can see it lasting me at least a year, now that's value for money. For some people I can see a hygiene issue around this as it is not in a contained tube, but a pot that you swipe your finger in. My answer is use a brush, or more simply, just wash your hands before you use! Not too difficult.

Overall, I rate this product quite highly. I would probably not repurchase, purely because I don't think I will ever get through an entire jar of this, but I may try different shades.