Best Pat McGrath Products - Editor's Recommendations

Pat McGrath has extended the brand’s offering quite a bit since its long-awaited debut! I’m sharing the best Pat McGrath products I’ve tested and reviewed in this post–that’s 50 of the top-rated products the brand has released and are still available today. Pat McGrath seems to be best known for the Mothership Palettes.  The brand also has a plethora of lip products, which can overwhelming at first glance, so the recommendations below should help!

Pat McGrath Sales & Deals

Best Pat McGrath Products | Top 50 Highest-Rated

Best Pat McGrath Mothership Palettes

More Pat McGrath Recommendations

Over time, I’ve also included roundups of the top-rated shades as the brand has released new formulas or shade extensions, so here are links to those posts for handy reference!

More Pat McGrath Reviews & Swatches

Need more help figuring out what Pat McGrath products are worth the money? See below for quick links to several of the brand’s top selling formulas:

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Wednesday Avatar

My top picks would be

1. Subliminal Platinum Bronze (the 6 pan) continues to be my favourite small palette. If I was really hopelessly restrained to one palette for travel, I would take this one with me. It’s the perfect daytime palette for me and the matte (which isn’t a brown hallelujia) is a an excellent enhancer for my green hazel eyes.

2. Faux Pas is a terrific very wearable purple lipstick

I have to admit this 20% thingee is making me rethink my position of the new Mothership.. ugh

Nancy T Avatar

Sooo tempting! However, I’m just going to have to wait until November Rouge sale to make any of my planned (or semi-planned?) expenditures on one of the Mothership palettes. I’m torn between very fun, cheery (haha) Subversive and the much more sensible, anytime wearable Northern Lights palette. ?‍♀️
Even lipstick has to wait. ?‍♀️

Ana Maria Avatar

I know foundation / primers / concealers are not necessarily in the temptalia realm 😀 but it would be nice to know (given the 20% off code) if `the system` (or parts of it) are worthwhile.
The reviews, especially on the foundation, are all over the place. Especially since I tend to believe some positive reviews are influenced by the fact people like Pat McGraph (or don’t want to dislike her products and offend them), some negative reviews are influenced by the price, and some people won’t review just not to get into `drama`.

Christine Avatar

It’s similar to Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk, but I find Luminous Silk is more consistent in application. Pat McGrath’s foundation sometimes applied and emphasied texture/dryness and other times looked great. It wears down nicely, and it has a good finish after initial application, though it transfers heavily (I don’t really touch my face or anything where transfer is a concern, so it lasted a long time still and looked great after 12 hours of wear).

Z Avatar

I ADORE her LuxeTrance and while I don’t care for matte lipsticks, if I had to pick a favorite matte lipstick formula it would be her MatteTrance.

I like her shadow palettes, but not for the $125 price tag. I basically never reach for my Bronze Seduction and when I do it’s a “force myself because it was so expensive kind of thing”.

However I was really impressed by the little baby palettes at $28 in their plastic packaging perfect for travel. They feel rich, creamy, and each one has at least one shade I wanted from other palettes but wouldn’t buy. So I took the opportunity to snag both at the 20% off.

Genevieve Avatar

PMG certainly produces excellent quality products, but even on sale they are still expensive. What I have noticed, whilst perusing your excellent dupe list Christine, is that many of the lipstick shades have equally good dupes from Colour Pop, Maybelline and Milani (for less expensive options). Also quite a few of PMG’s lippies are dupes of each other – Strange, Flesh 3, Unnatural Natural etc.
So too some of the singles – I don’t think there could be more dupes of Sextrovert than just about any other shade.
The palettes would be a good deal if only you used all the shades….
The Subliminal Platinum Bronze would be my favourite.

dzymzlzy Avatar

This is sort of off topic but it is about Pat McGrath! A few days ago I was in Cost Plus World Market with my 7 year old and we picked up a bunch of books about trailblazing women throughout the ages and one was an A through Z book and guess who was listed under “P”… Pat McGrath! She was right there alongside women like Lucille Ball and Malala and Amelia Earhart and Queen Elizabeth I. I love that the book includes Mother even though makeup is so often viewed as frivolous and verging on anti-feminist.

Genevieve Avatar

The only palette of PMG that I could really wear and use is Subliminal Platinum Bronze. Just love those neutral shades.
I think her lipsticks must be stellar too.
However, it is just far too expensive to buy any of her products internationally, with our very poor dollar, shipping costs and import duty on cosmetics.

h B Avatar

Already have all of her most recent palettes (including order of the Divine Rose Mothership), the full foundation, primer, and powder (which I like except for the primer), a lot of lipsticks, glosses, balms, smaller palettes, just about everything. I did see a set that Celestial, Taupe and some sort of plum Velvet trio of individual colors that looked nice together. After ordering the most recent quads and her new Rose Mothership, I could not justify buying more lipsticks or mascara, but it was hard to resist the sale.

Lindsey Avatar

I was bummed not to get the rose quad during the Sephora. I guess it worked out for a reason. I was able to get it, the Midnight Sun palette and a few other items at 30% off. Any money I can save is a win in my book. The Mothership VII is on the way to me. From this point on, I don’t see myself making any more PMG purchases. To be honest, I really need not buy any more eyeshadow palettes for quite a while and just enjoy using what I have.

Ingrid Avatar

Thanks for this post – it really helped me differentiate between the products and work out which ones I wanted to take advantage of her discount. I previously bought the Ritualistic Rose set (eye palette and lipsticks) and have been delighted with all of them (I’ve previously bought individual lipsticks in all 3 formulas and am a big fan). I had completely missed the Subliminal Platinum Bronze Palette – I guess because it was a limited edition from a while ago and so must’ve sold out fast if Sephora AU had even had it… which who knows? We only get limited stock of selected items here. Anyway I could get it from her site, free international shipping, plus the 25% discount? That’s a win! These colours are completely up my alley and I would possibly have taken the risk to purchase without being able to read your in-depth review and swatches, but unlikely. So I’m glad I could purchase it through your link. Thanks again for your excellent reviews and product roundups. It is so helpful in an often overwhelming and crowded marketplace!

Lesley Avatar

To be honest, ranking my favorite products from her is a little torturous, and it feels like you’re being asked to pick who your favorite child is. Depending on my mood, depending on the day, it can change! But for now….

My top 5 palettes:
Mothership VI Midnight Sun
MTHRSHP Subversive La Vie En Rose
Mothership II Sublime
Mothership III Subversive
MTHRSHP Subliminal Platinum Bronze

Kristin Avatar

I’m not sure what happened but something took over my pointer finger and I hit “complete purchase” for the Blitz Quad set ?. All 3 quads came to $119 which seems like a steal considering a 10 pan palette is $125 with only 4 “special shades”. Darn Shopify and your easy checkouts.

Kira Avatar

Every fiber of my being is resisting this sale after the Sephora sale, lol. Thirty percent is just too good. I adore Pat’s shimmer lip glosses, am halfway through all her sample size glosses, and have made big dents in MTHRSHP La Vie en Rose and my other color shadows. I don’t use my Pat McGrath LuxeTrance or MatteTrance as much as I thought I would (respectively, LuxeTrance — so pigmented it’s hard to apply for me straight from the bullet without a mirror; MatteTrance — a little clingy feeling though beautiful and crazy long wearing). I think I might pick up her lip balm in Love Supreme, as I just own it in clear. I bought one for my mom for Christmas!

TropicalCowgirl Avatar

I really love Attitude, Flesh 3 and the Flesh 4 gloss. I loved Bronze Sublime palette and one of my only backups. I have four Motherships, soon five. And I’m still kinda pissed at her. I turned my boss onto this brand and she told me about the discount. Then she told me she freaked on Decadence and how weird the website was. I told her about the “flash” releases and if I saw it, I’d snag one for her and me. Then I realized I have to get over her recent snafu, explained it and then we balked at the fact she could totally make bank. That’s what finance analytical people do. ?

Alice Avatar

In an idea world, if I have to pick one palette to buy and use all the time, instead of buying 10 palettes that I would not use, it would be one from Pat Mcgrath.
But in reality, there are just too many tempting launch everywhere that I don’t have enough self control to not buy anything else. I do happen to buy a Pat Mcgrath palette here and there while the sale is good. I force myself to use them once in awhile over my other cheaper palettes and it is always an extremely enjoyable experience.
My new year resolution was to hit pan on some eye shadow so I can justify rewarding myself a nice Pat Mcgrath palette when Thanksgiving hit again later this year.

Genevieve Avatar

My favourite PMG lipstick is Electra – such an original shade for me.
And my favourite PMG eyeshadow palette would be Subliminal Platinum Bronze – the 6 pan. All of her other eyeshadow palettes contain too many shades (like red or pink) that I wouldn’t use or too many mattes.

brendacr1 Avatar

Must not spend money! Can I stick to that? I’m trying very hard. When you put your mind to something you can succeed. I think I’ve talked myself into keeping my wallet closed. I hope everyone loves their purchases and shares what they buy.

Kimberly Avatar

Pat McGrath is one of those “I love you but I can never have you” brands for me. Especially the eyeshadow palettes. It’s a privilege enough that I was able to swatch Bronze Seduction in-store while visiting a friend a few years ago. Maybe if I get a Sephora gift card for Christmas this year I’ll go in on one of their mini lipstick bundles

brendacr1 Avatar

I find Pat McGrath’s products very addictive, I have so many of her products and all of them perform perfectly, that is why I don’t mind spending the money on them. But the time has come when there is a limit to how many products that I can use, so now I just enjoy reading about how people are discovering her products and enjoy using them as much as I do.

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