If you have ever wanted to look like a royal, Pat McGrath's new Mothership IV Eye Palette is going to get you there. It might not come included with a ruby encrusted scepter or a heavy gold crown, but the color swatches are going to make you feel like you have the Crown Jewels dabbed across your eyelids. If you're looking for subtle and minimalist, this is not the palette for you. If you want to be a maximilist and bring some serious bling to your face, continue reading.
This is the fourth eye shadow palette in the Mothership series, and it's appropriately dubbed the "Decadence" palette. Because what kind of indulgent monarch would you be if you didn't surround yourself with decadence? It consists of 10 jewel-tone metallics that seem to shimmer aggressively, just the way a queen would want her baubles to. They come in easy to work with hues (so no lime greens or electric purples,) and instead feature colors like shimmering gold, sapphire blue, deep plum, metallic rust, and cold silver, among others.
You can already imagine all the dark, wintery eye looks you can create with this, especially when matched with deep lipstick colors. Just think of how that gunmetal purple would look with a red lip. It will definitely be "decadent" alright.
Mothership IV Palette, $125, Sephora
If the colors themselves don't make you think of ballrooms and royal treasuries, then the names of them will. Each pigmented shade has an aristocratic name to match, treating us to examples like Gold Standard, Lapis Luxury, Sinful, Sterling, Blue Blood, Inferno, Hedonistic, Enigma, Divine Mink, and Underworld. The swatch labels almost make you think of a Showtime drama about a royal family in the 17th century, all wrapped up in furs and hooking up with people they shouldn't as they try to overtake France or something. It seems fitting.
The palette case itself also feeds into the fantasy, where it's sleek and black, with a royal crown imprinted across it. Gold and ornate with starburst prongs, it's heavy with sapphires, rubies, and diamonds. Looking at it, you definitely get the sense this palette is meant for a real ornate, embellished queen — basically, if it's not flashy, she's not going to be into it. And if you wake up and are in the same mood as the imaginary Lady Regnant in the a.m., then this is the exact palette you're going to want to reach for.
McGrath usually teases her new products backstage during fashion month since she's usually collaborating with the biggest labels, but this time around she debuted the palette beforehand. Since she often times uses her own products during shows, one can assume that she just might create stunning looks on the models with these shadows come February, giving us all fresh inspiration on how to work the palette ourselves at home. It will be interesting to see her vision for the shades she created, and to see if she would whip together smoky eyes with the glimmering shades, or go for something more avant-garde.
Either way, you will be able to make the Mothership IV palette yours on Jan. 18 at noon ET/9 a.m. PT on patmcgrath.com, and then at Sephora.com on Jan. 19, and at select Sephora stores starting Jan. 26. It's a pricier palette, where it will set you back $125, but that's the same price as her previous palettes. Knowing it's an eyeshadow collection inspired by monarchs, it seems fitting there's a price tag fit for a queen attached to it.
You only have a few weeks to wait to make these glimmering shades yours and transform into your own princess fantasy.
