Pat McGrath Labs | MTHRSHP Subliminal, Subversive, Sublime "mini" Palettes
Pat McGrath Labs introduced three new palettes based off her initial release of the Mothership palettes that took place this past Fall/Winter. These new palettes are miniature versions of those initial palettes and are more user friendly and easier to digest price-wise. I have a lot to say about these new releases so please bear with me!
An overview of the palettes, there are three: one that's neutral warm tones, one that's neutral warm-cool tones, and one that's colorful. Each palette has six shades: one matte shade and various satin, duo chrome and metallic toned shades. They retail for $55 each and contain 0.42oz of product. They are labeled as Limited Edition so it's undetermined how long they will be around for. I hope they are made permanent as they are pretty solid staple products.
Subliminal Platinum Bronze (cool+warm-toned neutrals)
Sublime Bronze Ambition (warm-toned neutrals)
Subversive La Vie En Rose (colorful)
First off, everyone was obsessing over the $125 palettes that were released last Fall (or Winter I can't remember). These are the 10-pan versions of these mini palettes and contain 0.47oz of product. They are known for having "special shadows" that transform when used on top of other shadows in the palette. Each palette contains a black shade which seemed to throw consumers for a loop as many did not want "just a boring old black shade" in a palette that costs $125. However, the black is meant to be used to help transform the other shadows in the palette, making them more vibrant and influencing the color and color payoff..
The problem I had with these palettes was that, while I did want one, I could not pick just one to buy. Each palette seemed to offer a couple of shades that drew me in, but then the rest of the shadows didn't. It wasn't that I didn't like the shades, it's just that I liked shades in the other palettes better. In essence, I wanted to mix-and-match. I wanted to pick one or two special shades and then pick whatever other shades from the other palettes I wanted to use. I personally think it would have been really neat if Pat McGrath had sold these as singles to fill out the 10-pan palette however the user wanted instead of having predetermined sets of shades which the user may or may not want. Just my two cents and this preference could be used for basically any palette on the market.
On top of that, I could not really visualize myself using any of these regularly, and for $125, I want a palette I will use regularly and not just two or three times per year for special occasions. Every time I looked at these palettes, I found myself wishing they were slightly different; that I could swap one shade for another in a palette I liked or that I wanted one more matte shade or that while I loved this one shade I didn't love this other shade that came in the same palette. Basically, they were close to being a win for me but they weren't quite what I wanted and at $125, they better be something I really, really want.
Enter the "mini" palettes!
Something else I really like about these mini palettes is that the cover artwork does not go to waste. With the 10-pan palettes, you get a gorgeous, very luxurious black, glossy case and the fabulous artwork is, essentially, the box that covers the case. So if you keep the box, you have to remove the palette from the box every time. But the box is so nice I certainly don't want to throw it away. With the mini palettes, that box IS the case, so you just open it up and the shadows are nestled inside. Sure, you don't get the highly glamorous glossy black palette case, but I think the artistically designed box pairs more nicely with the shadows than the black casing does anyway.
To me, two of these mini palettes are workhorse palettes (the two neutrals) and one is a supporting palette (the colorful one). The colorful palette works nicely with either of the other two palettes. Sure, you will have to grab two palettes, but $110 for two of these palettes is, for me, a much better move than $125 for one of the other 10-pan palettes where I can't see myself using it often.
Now onto the performance of the shadows!
There is only one matte in each palette. For a lot of users, this is the first thing you'll notice and will balk at. "Where is my transition shade?!" you might cry out. While I too LOVE a handful of neutral matte shadows to be at my disposal at all times, the mattes in these palettes do blend and sheer out extremely well. In short, you can use the one matte both ways: blend it out for a more sheer transition shade or don't to add depth in the outer v and crease. The matte shadows feel smooth and almost damp, though the damp feeling is quite subtle. They feel the opposite of something powdery, like "Modern Renaissance" by Anastasia Beverly Hills. Similar to "Modern Renaissance", a little goes A LONG way. I suggest barely dipping your brush into the shadow at first and apply in small doses.
The other shadows are lovely and are what you can use to diversify each look. They apply well; I use my finger to apply but a brush will work as well, especially if you apply with a wet brush to maximize the impact of the shadow. I had zero issues with fallout but I also tend to go in more delicately rather than aggressively, but fallout should not be an issue (unless you go in extremely heavy handed).
Subliminal Platinum Bronze
This palette leans more cool-toned than the Sublime Bronze Ambition palette. It screams the perfect smokey-eye.
Deep Velvet, the red-brown matte shade in the upper right of the above picture, blends beautifully and absolutely works as a crease/transition/outer v shade.
I will say that this palette creased a little on my eyelid on a hot day, and I did wear primer (Mac Paint Pot in Painterly) but it did not crease with my Urban Decay Primer Potion so I am unsure what that was all about. I suspect, because the MAC Paint Pots aren't really primers but are more creamy eye shadows, that on a hot day the oil was just a little too much. Just something to keep in mind.
I like this palette but probably won't use it much as it is summertime and I go wild with warm tones during the sunshine season. For Fall though, this will surely be in my top 5 most used palettes as I use shades like these a lot when the weather gets cooler and the sky is a bit more grey. If you liked Urban Decay's Naked 1 or 2 but want something where the shimmers aren't so messy and prone to fallout, this palette would be a great substitute.
Sublime Bronze Ambition
This is the warm-toned neutral palette. For warm-tone lovers, you will want to grab this one if you don't mind having shades you most likely already own.
I had zero issues with this palette and this, surprise surprise, is my favorite of the three. I tend to pack on "Throwing Shade", the matte shadow (bottom center pan in the above pic) in my crease area, with the light shade, "Guilt Trip" (upper left) applied liberally under my brow bone and any of the other shades on my lid. The dark brown applies nicely in the outer v. I use it very lightly just to add a tiny amount of depth and I like the focus to be on those warm tones to bring out my eyes.
These shades are easily dupeable, but the performance is stellar, the packaging is stupidly awesome and I know I will get a ton of use out of this product. So for me, absolutely worth $55.
Subversive La Vie En Rose
This is the fun palette but it's also the palette I use the least. I use this as a supporting palette to either of the other two.
While I refer to this palette as the "colorful" palette, there are four pretty neutral shadows that you can use to create more wearable, neutral looks. The bottom left and right shades are quite neutral: "Gold Nectar" is a gold metallic and "Pale Fire" is a light, peachy-orange with a peach-pink shift. "Paranormal" and "Euphoria" (upper left and right pans), while not exactly neutrals, are understated colored shades. A nice simple look is to use "Paranormal" which is a cool-toned purple, eggplant matte shade, in the crease, blending well to sheer the shadow out for a smooth transition. Then use "Gold Rush" on the lid. Use "Paranormal" on the lower lash line and that's it. Two shadows and boom you're done.
The shimmers also feel cream-like and apply beautifully with my finger. For maximum impact, apply with a finger or a wet brush (this is a pretty standard rule-of-thumb for any shimmery shadow). "Rose Risque" (bright pink satin shade) is also slightly drier and thinner than the other shadows but this didn't seem to impact the performance of the shadow in comparison to a shade like "Purple Reign" (vibrant purple) which feels more cream-like and thicker. You may have to build up "Rose Risque" a bit more than you will "Purple Reign", but you can achieve full opacity quite easily.
"Paranormal" (upper right) felt more on the powdery and dusty side than the mattes in the other two palettes which felt more dense and "damp". This shadow applies quite well but as is common with many purple shadows, you will probably need to build this one up more than you will with the matte shades in the other two palettes.
Swatches (Left to Right):
Subliminal Platinum Bronze, Sublime Bronze Ambition, Subversive Vie En Rose
 |
| Natural Lighting |
 |
| Indoor Lighting |
Thank you for reading! <3
Comments
Post a Comment