OK, bad beauty confession coming up. You know those MAC Pigments that everyone always raves about? Up until recently I had 14 jars of them sitting in my house. Unopened. No idea how to use them. They had made their way in as samples, gifts, and who knows how else, and there they sat.

See, I'm like the man who refuses to admit that he's lost, let alone ask for directions. I kept seeing these gorgeous eye looks using Pigments created by girls like Christine from Temptalia, but could I bring myself to get some help for myself? No way! I just lined up my little jars and admired them from afar. Pretty in the jar, but...I hate loose powder eyeshadows, I kept telling myself.

But last week I was really feeling my oats and decided to give the Pigments a go. What kind of "Beauty Addict" doesn't even know how to use a popular product? Pathetic!

Anyhow, my first attempt was disastrous, I ended up with sparkles all over my cheeks and my lids looked like this. A quick Google search (why didn't I do that before?) revealed that I might have a better go with some kind of mixing medium to help the product adhere to my lids. So I mixed in some Smashbox Offset and...hey! Pigment! Where ya been all my life?

Mixing the powder with a liquid created a texture very similar to my beloved Chanel Ombre D'Eau liquid shadow (but with more control, since you can thicken it or thin it out as you like). No sparkles on the cheeks, no powder spillage, no creasing, no crap in my eyes. And they stay on forever!

I'm now obsessing over Naval Blue as a base for a blue-grey smokey eye, Lilywhite as a highlighter for the browbones, and Sweet Sienna as amazing soft brown-grey. (Lilywhite and Naval Blue were in one of the holiday sets, but Sweet Sienna is still around.)

Have you ever been apprehensive about using a particular product, but then found that you couldn't live without it? Seems like lots of people have a story like this, especially with items like eyelash curlers, liquid eyeliner, and those bizarre shades of concealer that manage to even out a multitude of skin sins.

Post your story in the comments! Maybe there are even some other reformed Pigment-phobes out there!?