Pat McGrath Labs MTHRSHP Rose Decadence Palette Review

Thanks to a recent sale I was finally able to splurge a bit and place an order from Pat McGrath Labs. I had been eyeing the palettes in the Mothership collection for some time now, as they look gorgeous and I have heard amazing things about the quality, but the price point can be a bit on the steep side. As an independent reviewer, I hadn’t yet been able to justify the cost of one of the full-price larger palettes. Thankfully, along came the MTHRSHP collection that includes this beautiful 6-pan mini palette at a lower price point. It is listed as limited edition but at the time of this writing it is still available. Read on for my no nonsense Rose Decadence palette review.

About the Pat McGrath Labs Mothership Rose Decadence Palette

The MTHRSHP: Rose Decadence palette contains 6 shadows: Pink Champagne (a shimmer very true to its name), Peach Dusk (a medium peachy rose pink matte), Fuchsia Flame (a purply fuchsia duochrome), Hedonistic Rose (a darker purply-rose matte), Scandalous (a bronze metallic shimmer), and Golden Honey (a cool-toned gold metallic shimmer).

The color story is cohesive yet provides enough variety to create multiple looks. The palette only having two mattes can seem limiting but with the gorgeous range of shimmers, there are so many options for looks, ranging from very simple and elegant, to more dramatic, such as a halo eye or cut crease.

The palette packaging is solid, high-quality cardboard with a large mirror. The palette is packaged with a plastic insert that contains the shadow names, but they are not printed on the palette itself (shadow names in photo above were added by me). The shadow names and ingredients are printed on the back of package. At over a half of an inch thick, it’s on the chunky side, so bear it in mind if you prefer slimmer packaging. It all serves to give the palette a nice heft and feel sturdy and luxurious, which one would expect, given the normal price point $65. For six shadows, these can feel like a stretch, as I have paid that much for far larger palettes from indie brands.

Is the Rose Decadence Palette Worth the Price?

So now let’s talk about how these shadows actually perform. Pat McGrath has a reputation for extremely high quality so I went into this purchase with very high expectations. Was it worth it?

The matte formula is quite dry and there is definitely kick-up in the pan when I swatch them or dip in my brush. As you can see below, the mattes don’t swatch as lovely as one might expect such expensive shadows to, but on the eye they apply easily and blend out really well with a brush. I didn’t struggle to get them built up on the lid or to get them blended where I wanted them. Fallout from the matte formula is minimal, and I didn’t find that I had to dig in hard to get sufficient product onto my brush and then onto my eye.

The shimmer formula is also more dry than many I’ve used lately from various indies, and was concerned at how they might perform. Given the photos from the Pat McGrath website, I expected a softer formula. The texture aside, the shimmers apply decently well. Completely dry with a brush, they do produce some fallout and there is definitely some kick-up in the pan. I have preferred to place a glitter primer (I use the one from NYX) down before placing these on my lid to help things stick and stay in place, since I have hooded eyes and things can get messy. I quickly found that picking up the shimmers with the same brush I applied my glitter primer worked fine to pick up the shadow but the application to the lid wasn’t as smooth or nice as I’d like – it created some texture that I don’t like. Using the finger works okay, but you have to be careful about primer transfer into the pan, as I started to get a bit of hard pan in one as a result. The best method seems to be applying the primer and then using a clean, dry packing brush to apply the shimmers onto the primed lid.

Ultimately, for the price I think I expected a little bit more. I would be interested to try the formula in one of the larger, more expensive palettes to compare and see if it’s the same, or better. Based on my experience with this palette, I don’t think I’ll be shelling out $125 for one of the full-sized Mothership palettes any time soon, however. I think these shadows are really pretty and the mattes apply and blend well, but I don’t feel that these shadows perform necessarily better than a number of my less expensive shadows from various indie brands. I look forward to working with these more to see if my feelings change – if my opinion significantly shifts I’ll be sure to update this review.

The Looks

Rose Decadence Palette Review Wrap-Up

To wrap things all up, overall the quality and performance of these shadows is solid. The color story is compact, which helps make the palette easy to navigate and use. I did expect something a bit different with the textures of these shadows, per the price point, and will be hesitant to invest in another palette right away. I am enjoying the palette and do not regret my purchase, especially on sale. If you have the money to spend and enjoy luxury makeup, I can happily recommend this palette to you! If you are saving your money for something truly special, this might not be it.

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