Tag Archives: pat mcgrath quad

After the Hype: Are These Palettes Still Worth Buying?

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Today I’ll be discussing palettes that I purchased, but I felt uninspired to review after the hype went down. I’m going to discover whether these purchases were still worth me buying or if I should have skipped them.

Pat Mcgrath Celestial Divinity Luxe Quad in Interstellar Icon

I essentially traded my Nocturnal Nirvana Blitz Astral Quad for this one instead. I already own Blue Blood in the Eye Ecstasy: Subversive mini palette, but I don’t mind having a repeat shade since that one is so small. I couldn’t get the stunning blue-purple duochrome Hypnotique or the sparkly bronze-taupe Divine Dahlia out of my mind, so I knew at some point I would add this to my collection. I like palettes with at least 6 shades, so having only four options feels limiting, especially as there are no mattes: just three shimmers and a satin. However, I don’t take PML eyeshadows on trips, so as long as I’m only using them at home I can utilize mattes from other palettes. I also don’t mind using the burgundy Blue Blood shadow in the crease or outer corner the way I typically would use a dark matte shade. Golden Polaris is a nice highlighting color for the inner corner, under the brow, and center of the lid. While these are all pretty on the eye, I’ve always found that glitter primer under the shimmer shades is needed to show their true beauty.

Despite feeling limited in shade options, I understand why this palette sold better than the other quads and I’m happy to have this.

BH Cosmetics Sweet Shoppe Pistachio Palette

I didn’t purchase this during the initial launch, but I was able to get it during the restock. At the time, I had a negative experience with their customer service and wasn’t planning on buying from them again, for multiple reasons, but my love of green shadows wore me down. Everyone talked about how this is the best quality BH cosmetics has done, but I don’t see it. To me, it’s on par with the other shadows from them in my collection like the Zodiac palettes. It’s great quality considering the price, but it’s not more special than anything else from the brand, nor does it top Juvia’s Place, Sydney Grace, Pat Mcgrath, Natasha Denona, Kaleidos, etc. It might be better than most of Colourpop’s shadows, but not even all of them. It’s good, I just don’t know why it got the insane attention that it did. The mattes are pretty tones and not necessarily hard to blend, but they took a little work. I had no issues with the shimmers though. When I think about all the gorgeous green shadows I own from Sydney Grace and Coloured Raine, I think I could have skipped this.

Makeup by Mario Master Metallics Eyeshadow Palette

I heard nothing but crickets just one month after the brand’s launch. I’m used to specific product hype dying down, but I literally forgot this brand existed until the recent Soft Pop/Sculpt collection release of bronzers and blushes. In any case, I had absolutely no idea what looks I could create with this palette, but I wanted it anyway. Because they are all shimmery shades, I knew this would be a supplemental palette. However, I struggle to think of anything but basic shade combinations involving neutral mattes or one single matte shade to pair with one of these on the lid.

I have more examples of the Makeup by Mario shadows in use in the Sugarpill section.

That Metallic #6 olive-gold-green shade is my weakness!

These shadows look more impactful, smoother, and more metallic when applied wet. Using a finger isn’t even enough for my taste; I need to use these with a spray. The brand has a palette specifically for use with a mixing medium (Master Metals), so I wondered if that was the case for this palette as well. Though I technically don’t have the same product, the slight extra intensity that the Mehron mixing medium provides isn’t enough for me to suggest anyone has to buy it for use with the Master Metallics. I think any spray will be good enough.

This is a nice palette of lid shades, but the fact that I have so many gorgeous single shimmer eyeshadows means I could have skipped getting this.

Sugarpill Fun Size Palette

This palette took many months (maybe even a year) to restock, but I eventually got my hands on it. I went in depth showing the different swatches above because I find that the primer you use with these will seriously impact how well this palette performs. Besides pastels and white bases being a great match, the actual Gerard Cosmetics formula helps these to stick better to the eye. I think these shades are very interesting and they are the best I have in my collection when it comes to super vibrant mattes in pastel-like colors. I like these even more than the Terra Moons neons, but between the Neons and Fun Size, I definitely don’t feel the need to buy anymore pastel or neon eyeshadows after this. This palette was definitely worth the hype.

Glamlite Cake Palette

This comes in very bulky, but very cute packaging, which I have kept despite how much valuable space it takes up on my eyeshadow palette holder. Because Glamlite isn’t sold at retailers, it has only been hyped up among the Indie Brand Youtubers and other makeup enthusiasts who buy from small independent brands. But among that circle, this was definitely spoken about consistently until the release of the Ice Cream Dream palette. Then this one took a backseat.

The mattes are a nice balance of being very pigmented but still easy to blend. The majority are easy to use. I’ve only had issues with Pineapple and Ube needing a light base underneath to help the shadows be more vibrant on my eyes. Dulce de Leche also needs to be packed on heavily in order to stay. Other than needing a lighter base with some shades, these have worked well with the different primers I use. As for the shimmers, they remind me of slightly less sparkly versions of JD Glow shadows with a smoother texture and smaller shimmer particle size. Cinnamon and Guava are the standouts for me. Also, I think Banana is the only yellow shimmer I have that’s this bright without a grainy texture. The other shimmers are nice, just not unique shades.
The only complaint I have about the shimmers is that I still get a lot of fallout around my eyes even when using a glitter primer. Other than that, I don’t think this was a bad purchase!

That’s all for today! Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Pat Mcgrath Mega MTHRSHP Celestial Divinity Palette and More

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Since my previous Pat Mcgrath post, I’ve purchased 3 additional palettes. Sephora’s Holiday sale event is going on, so I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about these in case anyone is considering purchasing either of the palettes for 10-20% off.

Pat Mcgrath Mega MTHRSHP Celestial Divinity Palette

The two left columns are shades from the Star Wars Dark Galaxy MTHRSHP palette. Because I knew I wasn’t getting use out of that palette, I decided to sell it while the going rate was still high (and before it could come back). Had I known that for once limited edition packaging would actually stay limited edition, I might have kept it.

The last two columns are shades from the Star Wars Galactic Gold palette, which I love. I ultimately decided to buy the Celestial Divinity palette because I wanted the 6 new shades in the center columns, I loved the design of the outer packaging, and I wanted an option in case I decide to sell Galactic Gold and still be able to have the eyeshadows I loved from that palette.

Finger swatches on bare skin with no primer.

The quality of the shimmers is the same as one can expect from all of Pat Mcgrath’s palettes. They are beautiful and pigmented, though I find their full potential is revealed when used on top of glitter glue. The three mattes swatched beautifully, but the natural oil from my fingers (despite being clean and dry) created a film over them which impacted my ability to use the shadows properly after. They applied perfectly smooth in one dip of the brush then patchy the next.

The mattes worked better after I lightly removed the top layer. I know that this can happen with matte products, but I hadn’t experienced this before with other Pat Mcgrath mattes. Now that I’m aware of the issue, I will avoid swatching those shades with my finger again. And because I have naturally oily lids, I will set my eyeshadow base with powder before I use these mattes. Venusian Orchid still doesn’t show very well on my eyes. When I pack it on to the pigmentation level I want, it darkens and blends into my skintone anyway.

One of the other popular topics of discussion about this palette is the price and how it is surprisingly low for Pat Mcgrath. This is true based on price per gram. While investigating this point further, I actually realized that among the 3 Pat Mcgrath pan sizes, there are varying weights from palette to palette.

The smallest pans are available in the Mini Eye Ecstasy palettes. They are listed as 1 gram each. The medium pan size is in the Celestial Divinity palette. It’s much larger than the Mini Eye Ecstasy pans yet the amount inside is nearly the same at 1.1 grams each. The largest pans vary greatly in the amount of product. For example, Divine Rose 1 has 1.32 grams each, the initial three Blitz Astral quads have 1.5 grams each, The Celestial Divinity quads are 1.88 grams (Risque Rose) and 1.98 grams (Interstellar Icon), and the Rose Decadence palette has 2 grams each. So, even though the larger pan sizes all look the same, the weights are different.

I’ve seen a lot of concerns as to whether the lower price is indicative of the shadow quality being lower, as is often the case with holiday releases. From my experience with this palette, I don’t believe the quality has suffered. When I compared the ingredient list between Celestial Divinity and the 6 Galactic Gold eyeshadows, Bronze was the only shade with a slight difference in ingredients. There’s no PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) but there’s more Boron Nitride.

Where I think the quality is lower is how the palettes were assembled. The shade name sticker on the back of my palette is slightly off-center and one corner of the sticker was already scrunched/lifted up when I received it. I’ve seen a few other pictures across social media with minor flaws as well. While this may sound like a trivial complaint, if you think about how this is a $78 luxury brand palette with cosmetic flaws when there are $5 Profusion palettes and $20 Colourpop palettes that never have packaging issues, it makes you wonder what the quality control is like at Pat Mcgrath Labs. Flaws like crooked stickers can be used to spot a fake product in the beauty and fashion world, so to receive an item that’s already messed up can make you feel like you’ve been ripped off. Luxury products are exorbitantly marked up because you’re paying for a high-quality product with luxe packaging to create the ultimate customer experience. Even if the eyeshadows are fantastic, if the experience is ruined then you’re already not getting your money’s worth. Also, my order on the PMG website was finalized and completed 2 minutes after the launch. The palette, the only new item released that day, still hasn’t sold out and yet it took 10 days to receive my shipping confirmation. If they were flooded with orders I could understand the delay but this doesn’t seem to be the case. It appears that the efficiency issues the brand had a year ago are still ongoing.

That being said, the actual product quality is there. I recommend Celestial Divinity to anyone who doesn’t already have both Star Wars palettes, especially at a discount.
I did some eye looks using 12 out of 18 shades in my previous Pat Mcgrath post, but I created some new ones which you can find at the end of this review.

Pat Mcgrath MTHRSHP Rose Decadence Palette

Finger swatches from Top to Bottom: Pink Champagne, Peach Dusk, Fuchsia Flame, Hedonistic Rose, Scandalous, and Golden Honey. The primer used is MAC paint pot in Groundwork.

This is another palette that lured me in by the idea of using it for eyeshadow, blush, and to highlight.

I used Pink Champagne, Peach Dusk, Fuchsia Flame, and Hedonistic Rose on the eyes. I also used Peach Dusk as blush. For my highlighter, I used Nabla’s Amnesia with a little bit of Golden Honey.

I couldn’t resist the outer packaging and although the shades are pretty, by this point the gold, pink, and orange shades from Pat Mcgrath feel redundant. The color story is pretty enough, but this palette lacks that wow factor. If you already have Divine Rose 2, I don’t believe you will be missing out on these shades. However, if you skipped getting Divine Rose 2 and are looking for a more curated version and lower-priced alternative, this could be a decent option. I personally would still choose the Celestial Divinity palette over this one because of the greater variety. Here are some shade comparisons between Rose Decadence, Divine Rose 2, and Celestial Divinity.

Finger swatches of the shimmer shades on bare skin. Brush swatches of the matte shades on bare skin.

Pat Mcgrath Blitz Astral Quad in Nocturnal Nirvana

This quad was released last year during the holidays, but I didn’t purchase it until the end of August when it was $25 off. The purple shade felt dried out to the touch and is hard to pick up product with my finger and brushes. I’m not sure if it was meant to be like that or if mine has an issue. It’s so pretty but a pain to use. The others aren’t like that and feel the way I’m used to with Pat’s “special” shades, the last 4 shades in her 10 pan palettes. Despite the discount, this quad wasn’t worth the price for me. VR Emerald is an absolutely stunning shade though and I’m glad to at least have it in my collection. It reminds me of Verte from Clionadh Cosmetics, but without as strong of a shift. If I use this quad again, it will be purely for VR Emerald.

Eye Look Examples

As a makeup collector, I see all these shades so similar they may as well be repeats (plus all the actual repeat shadows), and I can’t help but be disappointed. However, I’ve come to realize that perhaps Pat Mcgrath shouldn’t be one of those brands people try to collect every eyeshadow palette from in their line. Maybe I should look at them like Clionadh shadows. Clionadh has similar looking multichromes with blue, purple, and green together in one pan, but one may have a stronger teal shift, green shift, or purple shift. It’s intended for people to possess the perfect shade they’ve always dreamed of, not to feel compelled to own them all when you’ll probably only use a few. I already had my ideal pink palette in Divine Rose 2, but I didn’t stop there. I should have skipped Rose Decadence, but I learned a valuable lesson and will remember this when future palettes launch.

That concludes the post! Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤