I’ve never done a post like this, so let me know if you want more of them. This post idea came from the anti-hauls on YouTube but instead of covering new releases, I wanted to cover a specific brand which I happen to feel is not worth the price tag.
To start, I know nothing about Pat McGrath as a person other than her status as a famous British makeup artist. With this knowledge, I am sure she knows more then enough about makeup to recognize good quality and would release nothing less. I respect her and her goal in creating a strong business and makeup company.
With that said, I feel that while her products are likely of great quality, her price tag for the products are too high for mainstream makeup fans. The main item that really enforces this idea for me is her eyeshadow palettes. I realize that color stories play a small part in my opinion as I have not seen a palette that meets my color-loving interests, but even looking as objectively as possible at the palettes, there are only 10 shades in each palette and they retail for $125. That breaks down to $12.50 per eyeshadow. Now while that’s not completely unreasonable if you were to buy an individual eyeshadow, by committing to a full palette, you would have to believe that you will get enough use out of each shade to justify that high price tag per pan.
When it comes to working makeup artists, they are more likely to be willing to spend that kind of money for their kit as they need a wider range of shades to create looks on all types of skin tones, but at that price tag, you can spend $4 more and get 5 extra shades in a Natasha Denona palette, which then gives you more range.
I think that something Pat McGrath Labs forgets is who their clients are. Perhaps they are making these palettes for working makeup artists (I believe the pan sizes are larger in her palettes than in a typical palette) but then she isn’t at the top of the pack because of her limited shades.
And before someone says, “well, she does have smaller palettes”, I’m aware but even those palettes I take issue with. For one thing, and this is absolutely a personal preference, the layout of her smaller palettes is random. The shades zig-zag in the palette which means that they also are wasting space and therefore much larger than they need to be, plus the pan sizes are extremely small. These palettes retail for $28, $3 more then a Natasha Denona mini 5 pan which I would much prefer based on overall presentation.
With all of this said, I’m sure that the products are extremely good as they have continuously gotten great reviews, but I’m not sure who the palette is for. I suppose if you have a gift card or you are willing to spend that kind of money to have only one palette, maybe it’s worth it to you, but I personally would rather spend my money elsewhere. I could see myself looking back into the brand if the prices drop, but for now, this brand is on my watch but not purchase list.
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