With a store recently launched in Selfridges and a new foundation range that shortly followed, Pat McGrath is making an impact in the UK beauty scene. Set in the higher price range, Pat McGrath sits within the luxury sector, but is it worth saving to spend money on? STYLEetc put the brand to the test.
Eyeshadow Palettes
The Mothership palette has become the cornerstone of the Pat McGrath brand and over time has built a good reputation to which it aims to uphold. The versions reviewed were the first and fifth iterations, with the former offering a mix of neutrals and smokey shades and the ‘V’ edition adhering to a warmer range of shades. When discussing it in Selfridges, the make-up artists all shared the same excitement and enthusiasm for the collection, proving it carries weight amongst the experts.
Mothership I: Subliminal has all the components to do a perfect smokey eye, as the centrepieces of this 10 shadow set are the charcoal black and bold blue and other shades include golds and nudes to simplistically blend together. Contrarily, Mothership V: Bronze Seduction offers colours at the opposite end of the spectrum. Deep purple and sparkly red shades catch the eye instantly in this palette and are the most diverse, as other selections are all gold, white and nude.
Each palette has a carefully thought out composition of colours that offer a versatility to mix and match shades. What’s appreciated about each version is the combination of mattes and glitters, there is enough happening in each palette to take you from day to evening looks easily, making it more worthy of a higher price point. Costing £115.00 per palette, this will be an investment set for many but we can wholeheartedly say if you select the right colours for your everyday then you will see the value over time. Each Mothership is wearable in it’s own way.
The bolder colours have extremely present pigment, one of the best trialled by the STYLEetc team. Applying the product is a dream, as the eyeshadow easily clings to a decent brush with little fallout and only a little is needed to make a big impact. The neutrals also perform well and offer a good base to build your colour upon. The mattes have a good consistency of creamy yet powdery formula that surpasses many competitors. In particular, Blitz Blue from Mothership I is a brilliant shade that outdoes expectation.
MatteTrance Lipstick
The range of lipsticks available at Pat McGrath come in three categories; matte, gloss or glitter. The BlitzTrance collections goes full glitter, with sparkly finishes across the box, tube and lipstick itself.
The selection of colours in the BlitzTrance options are impressive and offer a variety to suit both the bold and the neutral, all with added glitter. The packing adheres to the luxury market, as the gold pops on the stands. The tubes are nicely designed and include gold tonal detailing, including a set of lips on each one, to give signature branding to the collection.
Application is easy with this range, colours have good payoff and the shades sampled did not go too sheer when tested. Odd colours like violet and gold can sometimes prove tricky to master so it was good to see Pat McGrath had focused on pigmentation in the colours. These more unusual hues also work well layered over a matte base to give a more dimensional result and make these lesser chosen colours wearable.
FetishEyes Mascara
The tube of the FetishEyes mascara stays traditional, simplistically using an all-black plastic case with minimal lettering. This is interesting to note as other products, such as the lipsticks and eyeshadows, go all-out on the packaging and container designers compared against the mascara. The no-fuss approach to the packaging gave us high expectations that the contents would do the talking, as more emphasis would hopefully be on the quality and not the presentation. Fortunately, expectations were exceeded once this product was trialled.
The mascara wand inside the tube breaks away from tradition and features a blunt-bristled tip, differing from the usual pointed edge that most competitors opt for. When applying product, the flat tip works amazingly well to avoid clumping and accidental smears, the design was clearly cleverly chosen to fulfil this purpose. The wand holds product plentifully, you will need to tap the edge a few times to not over-apply to your eyelashes, but FetishEyes is designed to last and you won’t find yourself constantly needed to top up your supply.
For £26.00 this mascara is worth the money, you get a long-last from each tube and it achieves a full-lash result that isn’t too OTT and works well for everyday wear.
