The Pat McGrath Labs Opulence Collection Holiday 2018 is the most glamorous beauty launch I’ve seen all season. Nobody does it quite like Pat McGrath! There are three new limited-edition MTHRSHP Palettes ($55 each for 6 shades for 12 g/0.42 oz, made in USA) along with repromoted MatteTrance Lipsticks ($38 each for 4 g/0.14 oz) in corresponding colored packaging pink sapphire, aquamarine and ruby. I’ve put everything to the test for the past week and the entire collection is solid. As usual she has a number of different sets and bundles available on her website, usually at a price break rather than ordering items individually.
With the lipsticks she has Flesh 3 in each of the packaging colors and then two other repromotes with each corresponding packaging. Colors in the launch include:
- Aquamarine packaging:
- MTHRSHP Subliminal Eyeshadow Palette in Dark Star
- MatteTrance Lipsticks in 1995, Flesh 3 and Guinevere
- Ruby packaging:
- MTHRSHP Sublime Eyeshadow Palette in Bronze Temptation
- MatteTrance Lipsticks in Omi, Flesh 3 and Elson
- Pink Sapphire packaging:
- MTHRSHP Subversive Eyeshadow Palette in Metalmorphosis
- MatteTrance Lipsticks in Christy, Flesh 3 and Forbidden Love
The Pat McGrath Opulence MTHRSHP Palettes are on the bolder side but still very wearable, even for my neutral-loving self. I put each one to the test for separate full days and found they all performed well. Colors have a variety of finishes and textures. Pigment is intense and application is smooth! The shades layer beautifully together. In general I find her 6-pan MTHRSHP Palettes better than her 8-pan palettes for me because they’re easier to use and don’t have the super glitzy glitters that are so popular but challenging for me to wear. Some of you e-mailed me that you were disappointed in her latest Mothership V Bronze Seduction because of the glitter. The sparkle is indeed very intense there. With the MTHRSHP Palettes there aren’t any strong chunky glitter shades, although there are sparkles. The sparkles are more refined.
The MatteTrance Lipsticks are among my favorite lipstick formula, especially for mattes. I’ve had numerous chats with friends about these and they all agree that these lipsticks are THE best for mattes because they’re so opaque, feel light and whipped on the lips, but give full smooth coverage without drying or making your lips look shriveled. I think they’re 100% worth the price – I’ve bought many on my own. No regrets with any of them.
Opulence: The Collection in Aquamarine
I’m splitting the photos and swatches by color grouping. Up first are the items in the turquoise packaging including the MTHRSHP Subliminal Eyeshadow Palette in Dark Star and MatteTrance Lipsticks in 1995, Flesh 3 and Guinevere.
The first palette I tested was the MTHRSHP Subliminal Eyeshadow Palette in Dark Star – I thought this was the most interesting combination for a cool and warm smokey eye. I tend to avoid cooler tones as they often clash with my olive skin but this one was my favorite in the bunch. The mix of gold, grey, plum and violet blue make for such a pretty eye look.
Colors include:
- Entice is a sparkling champagne with flashes of pink and opal
- Deep Space is a soft matte dove blue grey, it’s matte but the flash added a subtle sheen to the swatch photo
- Enraptured is an antique sparkling gold metallic
- Dark Matter is a deep satiny black
- Metroplis is a shimmering plum
- Interstellar is a glistening violet blue iridescent sparkle with tiny flecks of micro glitter
The Opulence Aquamarine Packaging MatteTrance Lipsticks in 1995, Flesh 3 and Guinevere are all repromotes. 1995 is a neutral-cool nude pink with hint of mauve, Flesh 3 is a deep rose brick (on me it pulls reddish) and Guinevere is a matte crimson red. They’re matte but not flat. As usual I take all my photos with a flash because the colors pull better when I use the flash, but it adds a bit of sheen/shine to the finish.
Opulence: The Collection in Ruby
Next are the ruby packaging items MTHRSHP Sublime Eyeshadow Palette in Bronze Temptation and the MatteTrance Lipsticks in Omi, Flesh 3 and Elson.
I would say there’s a two-way tie between the blue and ruby palettes. The MTHRSHP Sublime Eyeshadow Palette in Bronze Temptation is one I did not expect to love because of the red and green shimmers, but this one is simply beautiful! Photos do not do it justice. The colors swatch more complex than what you see in the pan – if you try this one move it around in the light at different angles and you’ll see the red and green shift.
Colors include:
- Celestial is a pale cool shimmering beige sparkle (this one is a bit sheer, I had to apply with a very heavy hand)
- Burning Desire is a soft matte tan
- Supernova is a deep forest green, appears to have micro glitters, but they’re super fine and apply without too much glitz (it’s not chunky)
- Dark Paradise is a perfect warm matte brown
- Corruption is the perfect duo chrome red and copper shimmer
- Provocatrix is a shimmering golden tan that shifts into silver and copper depending on the light
MatteTrance Lipsticks in Omi, Flesh 3 and Elson are also repromotes. Omi is a classic medium rose, Flesh 3 is launched in all three colors of packaging, Elson is a vibrant blue based red matte.
Opulence: The Collection in Pink Sapphire
Last but not least are the pink sapphire packaging products with MTHRSHP Subversive Eyeshadow Palette in Metalmorphosis and MatteTrance Lipsticks in in Christy, Flesh 3 and Forbidden Love.
The MTHRSHP Subversive Eyeshadow Palette in Metalmorphosis is very pigmented. The overall mix of warm and cool balance each other out for a beautiful complex eye. I did not expect to love this because of the sharp sterling and gold shades, but when you mix them with the coppery ones they make for a unique mix. If you feel like you’re more of the creative type this is the palette for you.
Colors in this one overall are the most metallic and include:
- Metalurgy is a shimmering light taupe gold
- Copper is a reddish shimmer with an intense metallic sheen
- Sterling is a metallic pale silver
- Smoked Amethyst is a matte deep purple base loaded with flecks of red and plum sparkle
- Bronze is a orange metallic shimmer
- Gold Standard is an intense 24K gold shimmer
MatteTrance Lipsticks in Christy, Flesh 3 and Forbidden Love are the shades for the pink sapphire packaging. I think the pink is such a princess-like pink. Christy is a pink beige, Forbidden Love is a vibrant red.
In the holiday set I’ve already reviewed all except 2 of the colors but thought it would be helpful for another swatch post. For quick reference, I reswatched all the lipsticks swatched side by side with Flesh 5 and Elson 2 for added comparison.
To me Flesh 5 is less intense than Flesh 3 – I prefer 5. Elson 2 is brighter and more orange than Elson. Based on the swatches below and in real life to me Elson and Forbidden Love both look identical on the hand, arm and lips. Maybe if you have lighter or deeper skin you’ll be able to see more of a difference in undertone – I triple checked to make sure and walked my arm around with both tubes to swatch and re-swatch. If you’ve tried both shades let me know if you see the same thing.
Overall the collection is just knock out gorgeous. To me the Pat McGrath Labs Opulence collection has the biggest wow factor out of all the holiday makeup launches that I’ve seen. Everything from the packaging, presentation and colors are so beautiful. I think the palettes are really unique and different. I think Dark Star and Bronze Temptation are the best ones, but my recommendations would primarily be to pick based on your color preferences. I’ve mentioned numerous times that palettes are tricky if you don’t love all of the shades. Quality-wise everything performs to excellent standards in terms of application, pigment, lasting power, minimal fall out. If you don’t like glitter I’d say that the 6-pan palettes are definitely a lot more wearable than her 8-pans. The colors in The Opulence Holiday collection have some intense sparkle and metallic sheens, but no chunky glitter.
All the MatteTrance lipsticks shades are repromotes. You can shop your stash if you already own a lot of colors although the limited-edition packaging colors are super fun and if you haven’t tried any yet but had some on your wishlist she has amazing bundles on her website. You get a nice price break with her sets! I already owned all except 2 of the holiday shades. I’ve already made a serious dent in 1995 and OMI so I’m really happy to have backups now.
The entire Opulence Collection is available now online at Pat McGrath. MTHRSHP Palettes retail for $55 each and the MatteTrance Lipsticks are priced at $38 each. The MTHRSHP Palettes are also available at Sephora. Everything is limited-edition.
Pat McGrath Opulence Collection provided for review.
