It’s weeks later, and I’m still discovering sparkling blue sequins in places that sequins have no business being. This is the doing of Pat McGrath, and her Dark Star eye makeup collection.
I waited until recently to pick up this eye kit, having seen it dramatically reduced in price on Net A Porter. Everything about this makeup kit is over the top – in a good way. Think eye-catching sparkle, unicorn tones, deep inky blacks, gloopy gloss, and rich pigments. The true beauty of this kit, in my eyes, is its versatility. Yes, you can take it straight to the 80s and have a glistening multi-coloured violet-blue and gold shimmering eye in no time, or you can hold it back – way back – and do a simple black eyeliner, or smudge it out for a smoky eye, or do a simple all-over bronze shadow. You can easily manage a classic eye look with this kit – brown lid and black liner – or rock a modern, editorial vibe by keeping the lids bare and just applying a light layer of the fluro-gloss. The possibilities are seriously extensive.
The inclusion of an eyeshadow brush is a nice thought but unnecessary in my eyes. Most of us have a couple of brushes on hand, and this fluffy brush isn’t going to work with all the textures in this kit when a firmer, blender brush would be better. With glitters and glosses, I find that more often than not fingers are the best application tools.
I want to talk about the two unicorn products, as I call them. The shimmery eyeshadow ‘Astral White’ that has a blue-green-purple holographic shift to it and the fluorescent-feeling ‘Cyber Clear’ eye gloss are not going to be for everyone, but these are a bit of playful, not altogether unusable fun that is sometimes lacking from mainstream makeup releases. Try the gloss on a bare lid with just a slather of waterproof mascara, for the most subtle wearability, and try pressing the shimmering powder into the inner corners or your eyelids for a pop of brightness to an otherwise natural eye look.
Also within the kit is the dark, ever so slightly shimmery black pigment ‘Dark Matter’, a super-black cream eyeshadow stick, and a shimmery gold-metal shadow ‘Mercury’ that is one of my new favourite shadows. In fact, I really wish this shade in particular – and each of these products – were available to purchase individually. While some might love a smokey eye, others will never touch a black cream shadow stick and an uber-black shadow, and the cost of the whole kit will make this unattainable for many of us.
The deep ‘ultra suede’ brown is such a beautiful ‘suits everyone’ shade but I really, really wish it was available to purchase together with the ‘ultra violet’ blue shadow without having to purchase the entire kit again. And this is where my annoyance lies. Pat McGrath has released two of these eye kits, both identical except for this one eyeshadow – brown or blue. In order to have both the usable brown, and the striking blue, you have to purchase six other products that you already have. Why, oh why?
Back to the sequins. This packaging is no doubt fun; childlike, sparkly, holographic fun. But after you’ve cleaned up sequins for weeks on end, and found them on the inside of your eyeshadow pan, the fun wears off a little. I think it would have been spectacular for a debut line, but would happily see it retired for future releases. How many sequins does one girl need, is where my mind is at. These products are beautiful, unique, and seriously high performing and they speak for themselves without needing to be served up in ott plastic.
Find Pat McGrath on Net A Porter