Last updated on 28th August 2023 by Sarah Sarsby
In today’s blog post, I’m going to be sharing my thoughts on my first ever Pat McGrath eyeshadow palette – the Rose Decadence Eyeshadow Palette.
Pat McGrath is a highly coveted luxurious makeup brand, known for its outstanding formulas, intense pigment and artistic products. The eyeshadow palettes are well-known by makeup lovers for having one of the best formulas ever.
I’d been dying to get my hands on one of the Pat McGrath palettes and when the 6-pan Rose Decadence palette launched recently, I knew it was the one. I love pinks, peaches and golds, so this palette is very me. When my boyfriend bought it for me, I was ecstatic.
But does the Rose Decadence Eyeshadow Palette live up to the hype? Or is it overpriced and overrated? Keep on reading for my honest review of this product.
What is Pat McGrath?
Pat McGrath is a high-end makeup brand founded by legendary makeup artist Pat McGrath. She is widely recognised as one of the most influential makeup artists in the world, with her makeup collection being just as iconic and creative as her.
You can read more about Pat McGrath in my black-owned beauty brands post.
Product claims
A six-shade love letter to ravishing roses, this Limited Edition palette is rendered in a swoon-worthy array of cream mattes, incendiary shimmers, and one divinely decadent duochrome.
Pat McGrath
According to Pat McGrath, the palette contains 6 lightweight and blendable shades that aim to evoke the brilliance and splendour of legendary royal gardens.
Rose Decadence promises to: provide intensely pigmented eyeshadows, not crease on the lids, give a bright and multi-dimensional finish as well as opaque colour saturation.
Pat McGrath Rose Decadence Eyeshadow Palette swatches
To give you a better indication of how the palette performs, I swatched each shade.
The 6 shades are as follows:
- Pink Champagne – Warm Rose Gold Shimmer
- Peach Dust – Coral Satin Matte
- Fuchsia Flame – Warm Fuchsia Duochrome
- Hedonistic Rose – Rose Plum Matte
- Scandalous – Copper Metallic
- Golden Honey – Antique Gold Metallic
Swatches should never be used as your ultimate decision as to whether to purchase a product or not as eyeshadows can perform better on the lids and makeup is very much down to the individual’s preference. However, swatches can help you see how pigmented a particular product is and what the formula is like.
Here are my swatches of the Pat McGrath Rose Decadence Eyeshadow Palette:
How GORGEOUS are these swatches? Honestly, the eyeshadows were so buttery and pigmented. The shimmers, in particular, blew me away. They’re soft shimmers but still pack a punch.
The duochrome is also so interesting. It’s very multi-dimensional when it catches the light to give the most stunning effect. The way it catches the light is simply divine.
From these swatches alone, I was certain the eyeshadow palette was going to be easy to work with.
My thoughts
Firstly, I really love the packaging. Although it’s cardboard, it feels sturdy and thick, which would make it a very travel-friendly choice. The inside mirror is always a bonus for when you’re on the go as well.
Like all Pat McGrath eyeshadow palettes, the Rose Decadence artwork is just out of this world. The eyeshadow palette is so pretty and aesthetically pleasing. Along with my Huda Beauty New Nude Eyeshadow Palette, this is easily the most appealing eyeshadow palette to look at in my collection.
I’m also totally in love with the colour story. Is it revolutionary? No, we’ve definitely seen a lot of these pink- and gold-toned palettes in recent times. However, these are the shades that speak to me the most and I find the easiest to use to create eyeshadow looks, so this was a pretty easy sell for me lol.
When using the Pat McGrath Rose Decadence Eyeshadow Palette, there was very little fallout in the pan. Fallout isn’t a major issue in my eyes anyway, but definitely worth pointing out to those who hate fallout.
The mattes in the eyeshadow palette are so creamy, pigmented and blend out like dream. I didn’t need to put much eyeshadow on my brush to get fantastic colour payoff. Plus, I found the mattes easy to manipulate on my eyes, blending with ease without looking patchy.
For me, the shimmers are what make this eyeshadow palette special, though. They’re very shimmery, lightweight and pigmented, without looking overly glittery. This makes the palette more wearable, as you can build up the shimmers to your desired intensity. I didn’t use a wet brush when using the any of the shimmers and they looked fantastic on my eyes.
Makeup look using the Pat McGrath Rose Decadence Eyeshadow Palette
As always, I created a makeup look using the Pat McGrath Rose Decadence Eyeshadow Palette to truly cement how I felt about the palette. For this eyeshadow look, I decided to go for a spotlight eye, something I don’t often do but felt inspired to do by this palette.
Here’s how it turned out:
I used the shades Peach Dust and Hedonistic Rose to frame the spotlight, which I found gave a beautiful rosy depth of colour.
Then, I applied the shade Golden Honey in the centre of my eye to create the spotlight. This is now one of my favourite golden eyeshadows of all time. It’s a true gold, without being too yellow, which I feel would be universally flattering on all skin tones.
To finish, I took the shade Pink Champagne and applied this in my inner corners and to highlight my brow bone.
I’m really pleased with how this eyeshadow look turned out. Each shade was lightweight, buttery and easy to play around with.
Final thoughts
Although this is my first ever Pat McGrath eyeshadow palette, I somehow don’t think it will be my last. The palette met all of my expectations and lived up to its bold claims. I adore the packaging, colour story and how easy it is to use the shades.
The only drawback is the price, but sometimes, you’ve just got to spend more money for better-quality items.
Rating: 5 stars
A very impressive eyeshadow palette and a great choice for anyone who loves pink and gold tones.
Sarah Sarsby is the owner of A Woman's Confidence. With over 6 years' experience of writing in the fields of beauty and lifestyle, Sarah is passionate about all things content, makeup, skincare, wellness, and lifestyle. She has oily skin, is obsessed with lip gloss, and loves cookie dough.
I’m glad that this palette doesn’t disappoint! For such a cult brand and popular name, as well as for the price tag, it’s great to know the shadows are really impactful. I also love these pink and gold-toned palettes, so it’s one I’d definitely consider buying!
I mean, can you imagine the disappointment if this flopped lol? It’s such an expensive and hyped brand that you’d expect it to perform well. It’s really gorgeous, though, and I love the colour story
Ooooh I love the swatches and the look you’ve created! I was thinking about skipping this palette and just going for one of the bigger Divine Rose palettes but this review made me rethink that decision lol.
Thank you! This product swatched so easily, which made my photography job easy lol. This is a really nice palette. I think it’s a great way to get one of the rose-themed palettes without dropping over £100 lol
Pat reallllllllly killed it with the whole Divine Rose family. I have the two 10-pans, but I feel like this 6-pan did a great job in capturing the aesthetic of both palettes. I’m always so impressed by her formulas and packaging. She truly makes her products an experience!
Love the pink lippie that you paired with the eye look, too. They match so perfectly.
Have you seen the new holiday collection, though? I’m honestly a little disappointed since she basically repackaged the 2 Star Wars 6-pans in the 18-pan palette. That is the one thing to be cautious of with Pat – she repeats shades across collections so often! X_X
I did really want one of the 10-pan palettes, but when she released this one, I think this made sense with my makeup collection the most. I own a lot of eyeshadow palettes, so having a 6-pan was a lot more than a 10-pan palette lol.
I agree! I’d love to try more of her products and my PMG collection is so slowly growing. Thank you! I think it might be NYX Cannes (but not 100% sure as this was a while ago now lol).
Yeah I have. I don’t think it’s very exciting at all and I agree, it seems like something we’ve already seen from Pat. She does seem to repackage a lot of her older products and resell them again. From a business point of view, it’s a very clever move. But can sometimes leaving customers feeling like there’s no point to her newer collections
The swatches look absolutely amazing. And the looks you have created are so beautiful on you, you look amazing.