International-Make-Up-Artist-Pat-McGrath- was asked what she thought when she first heard the word “strobing” went viral, she laughed.
“Strobing,” she echoed. “We’ve been doing this for 22 years, but it’s great to coin a new phrase!”
It’s a term the celebrity makeup artist, entrepreneur, and P&G creative director will continue to hear. This Spring, she is adding two new products to her makeup line, Pat McGrath Labs. And if you’ve been following her on Instagram, you probably already guessed it: the next iteration is highlighter!
But this is not just one tool to give you a luminous glow: it’s actually a set of three. And they’re game changers. The line — dubbed Skin Fetish 003 — will be available in Nude 003 (silver) and Golden 003 (gold). Each set ($73) contains a buffer brush, double-ended balm stick (sheer and shimmering), and pressed pigment. And unlike her previous launches, which debuted on www.patmcgrath.com (April 26), these will also be available at Sephora (online and select stores, May 10). Even though they will be distributed at a mass outlet, they’re still a limited-edition release — so if you want one, plan now.
“This is my top-secret skin secret weapon for every single editorial shoot and show in my entire career,” Pat told me when we met in NYC. “It’s strobing but in a different way. Strobing is just using the cream. It’s definitely not this, where you’re mixing the balm, the cream, and the pigment. That is real highlighting. We never gave that away. We never told people the real secret, which that yes, there was a cream, but that’s just stage A.”
To create this under-the-radar luminous effect, she relied on layering textures. “I’ve always mixed different things up, making creams in bowls and using very rare pigments,” she explained. Pat is now offering up the tools, so that you can be the makeup artist and create a bespoke highlighter look on your own.
When asked how to mix these formulas, she replied: “Anything you want. Some people might do the balm only. Some people might do the cream 
only. You could do the balm, the cream, and the powder. It’s up to you on whatever level you want to be. It could be sporty or aliengelic.” Yes, she is coining a new phrase — aliengelic — a mix of aliens and angels, and I encourage you start this hashtag with me on Instagram.
To help showcase how they work, she tested them on a model before my eyes. She started with the lightest balm. “On the skin, the balm gives you that wonderful, gorgeous, sheer, kind of transparent glow,” she explained while running it across the top of the model’s cheekbones and eyelids. “Glossy eyelids and thick eyelashes are the ultimate, the new, raw glamour. This is about looking young, fresh, and lifted.”
She topped it with the shimmery cream end of the stick. “It’s not a highlight that’s hard; it’s a glow,” she noted. “It doesn’t sit on top, in the fine lines and wrinkles. It really just melts into the skin. It’s like a second skin in a way.”
Finally, the pressed gel pigment was added for the final pop. “This is how real metal looks,” she enthused. “It gives you a fresh look in a natural way. Just this and mascara — how divine is that?”
