Pat McGrath, The Mother Of Make-Up, Shares Her Backstage Beauty Tips With Grazia

Creator of the make-up masterpieces at 23 shows for Autumn/Winter’20, it’s safe to say that the ‘mother of makeup’, Pat McGrath has a trick or 200 up her sleeve. We caught up with her at The Ritz in Paris, where she shared her top backstage beauty secrets and unveiled the brand new product (her first ever concealer)…

Get the glow:

‘Skin is always important at the shows – it must be transparent but exquisite, light and not heavy handed. Even if you’re wearing heavy foundation, you can give the illusion it’s light by adding balm on top. It’s contouring with light rather than contouring with dark.’

The Shine Scale:

At Chloe, Paco Rabanne and Maison Margeila, Pat drenched the models’ skin in luminosity using her Skin Fetish: Highlighter Balm Duo, £45. ‘You can use the highlighter stick on its own for a pearly highlight, add the balm on top for a sporty finish – so it looks like you’ve been to the gym, or you can add a pearl powder on top of this for a real angelic couture look.’

The Big Smoke:

‘This season we’ve definitely seen the return of the smoky eye. To add dimension try pressing the balm from Skin Fetish on top the shadow for that beautiful sheen.’

Lip Love:

‘A comfortable matte lipstick never existed in the past. Which is why we developed MatteTrance – it feels moisturising but gives off the finish of a matte. Try using it just in the corners of the mouth to a add a little bit of depth and give the lips extra shape. It’s so light you can apply it on cheeks, too – a la Loewe AW20.’

Mix It Up:

‘Gold 001was the first product we launched, and it sold out in seconds. It works wonderfully well dry, wet, on top of creams – you can make it into an eyeliner and lipstick. For Valentino SS20 we made it wet and packed it on for a beautiful liquid gold eye.’

Grazia Review: The New Pat McGrath Labs Sublime Concealer

BIG news: Pat McGrath Labs has launched its first ever concealer - Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Concealer, £26. Available in 36 shades, the creamy formula has light diffusing pigments to brighten dark circles and disguise blemishes. 'It's easily buildable from light to full coverage and contains healing properties to help tackle fine lines,' explains Pat McGrath.

Grazia's Beauty Writer, Emma Stoddart, road-tested the concealer (because someone has to, right?) and here's her honest review:

'If you like the sublime foundation, you will love this concealer. I just dotted a little under my eyes, around my nose and down my t-zone - where I need more coverage - and blended it in with my fingertips. The first thing that struck me was the texture - it's not too thin that it spreads everywhere, and not too thick that it looks caked on. It's the perfect medium coverage consistency that dries quite matte (so covers blemishes) but the light reflecting pigments give a radiant illusion. I'm a BIG fan.'

You can also buy the brush - Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Concealer Brush, £25, which has been designed to mimic your finger tips and really melt the product in. Then there's the Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Under Eye Blurring Powder, £23, to set the concealer with a sheer veil of translucent powder.