All That Glitters Isn't Just Gold With Pat McGrath's Newest Product

For the past month I've been keeping a secret. I was backstage at Versace's spring 2017 show in Milan, and while waiting to interview hairstylist Guido and makeup artist Pat McGrath, I spotted it. A glittery pigment identical to McGrath's first launch ever, Gold 001, except in a brilliant shade of silver. And sitting there in plain view, among all the other models walking the show, were two girls covered in the stuff—their lips coated in what looked like pure chrome, their lids twinkling like disco balls (in a good way). And then in an instant, the models and the pigment were gone, whisked away to a secluded area of backstage, never to be seen again. As I continued to walk around, I then realized that all the models were wearing silver, albeit only a touch of it along the inner corners of the eyes. At first, due to hunger, jet lag, and my brain taxed from trying to recall my three years of college Italian, I didn't realize what I had seen. It took a mischievous wink from McGrath herself for it to register that I just mistakingly received a super sneak peak of her next launch, a launch that hadn't even been announced yet. After the show, McGrath took to Instagram to let the world know she would be coming out with another limited-edition product. I, on the other hand, kept my mouth shut.

I kept mouth shut as the social media savvy makeup artist began dropping hints on her Instagram and Snapchat accounts on a weekly basis. I kept it shut when she broke out the silver pigment yet again at Maison Margiela, spreading the stuff all over the lids, lips, and even along the brows. I kept it shut for nearly a month—until now.

Nearly a full month later (and almost a year since the creation of Pat McGrath Labs)‚ I can finally share with you what I saw backstage in Milan—and more. Turns out, I only previewed a tiny bit of what McGrath had in store for us. Yes, she's developed a silver pigment (Silver 005 pigment), but she's also coming out with two more—Bronze 005 pigment and Copper 005 pigment—and bringing back her very first product launch, Gold 001. "She's back by popular demand!" McGrath said yesterday at the press preview for the launch. "I always wanted to re-release her, but I wanted to wait until I could make all the makeup metals and put them in a kit."

And that's exactly what McGrath did with Metalmorphosis 005. After creating a silver look at Maison Margiela last year, she worked tirelessly for the next twelve months to create a silver, bronze, and copper color that were all rich and "super super metallic." But McGrath didn't stop there. Once she came up with the perfect bronze, copper, and silver pressed pigments, she made a metallic cream shadow to match each one (Bronze 005 cream, Copper 005 cream, Silver 005 cream, and Gold 005 cream) that can either be worn on their own or layered with the powder to create an out-of-this-world, megawatt metallic finish. "I included the creams because the whole point of the Lab is to show people how we really work backstage. Just like Lush 004, this launch is basically the kit that I work with backstage and exposes the way I would work at a show: play with the cream and add a powder to it, use the bronze or copper as a highlighter, turn the powder into a liquid with the mixing medium and draw with it, or use them wet as lipsticks."

Sophia Panych

Like her last product launch, Metalmorphosis 005 will be available in a few forms. There is Version: Everything ($165), which gives you all four pressed pigments, all four cream shadows, Mehron mixing liquid (which allows you to turn the powder into molten-like liquid paint), and a dual-ended black felt-tip eyeliner with one tip that's thin and tapered, the other thick and angled. Then there's the individual color kits—Version: Gold, Version: Silver, Version: Bronze, Version: Copper—each of which contain a pressed pigment, the analogous cream shadow, along with the mixing liquid and black liner ($60). And since McGrath is feeling particularly generous this time around, she's also selling the liquid liner separately on its own for $24. "It's incredibly long-lasting," she said as she tried rubbing the black pigment off her hand. "It's not going anywhere until you want it to."

As a beauty editor, I've seen a lot of metallic shadows in my day, and I can honestly say these are some of the best you're ever going to get. The colors are spot on (McGrath developed them so they look good on all skin tones), the pigments are incredibly rich and opaque, and they have an intensely metallic finish that doesn't wear down for hours. And while you can wear them full-on, all over your lids or as a lipstick for a wild and crazy look, they can also be extremely useful to your daily makeup routine. "Thin applications and small amounts in the right places is kind of the way to go with metallics for every day," said McGrath. Trace the silver along the inner corners à la Versace for a eye-brightening highlight. Buff and blend the copper or bronze pigments over lids makes a beautiful eye look that's appropriate even in the most tame office settings, and as for the gold, well, I personally think everyone needs a good gold shadow in their makeup kit regardless.

Sophia Panych

"I don't think there's every going to be a time when metallics aren't going to be in," said McGrath. "They're so gorgeous, they bring so much dimension to the face, they're easy to wear regardless of age or skin tone, and really, they're just a lot of fun." The secrets out. Now, you just have to wait a few more weeks until the products are.

Metalmorphosis 005 kits wil be available starting at 12PM on Tuesday, November 15th on Pat McGrath's website, and nationally at Sephora.com on Tuesday, November 22nd.

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