Pat McGrath Precision Xtreme Duo | Dark Star Mascara & Perma Precision Liquid Liner Review

A few months ago I gushed about the Pat McGrath Fetisheyes mascara in review, and I can firmly say now – that it is one of my top 3 mascaras of all time and the only Cruelty-Free option on that list. I purchased that back around Black Friday and at the same time I also snagged the Pat McGrath Precision Xtreme Duo set containing the Dark Star Mascara mini and the Perma Precision Liquid Liner, so I was very keen to see how these ended up comparing. Naturally, as soon as I had to admit that the Fetisheyes mascara had had it’s barrel scraped to fully empty, the next mascara I decided to open was the Dark Star Mascara and I started testing the accompanying liner at the same time.

Briefly – the Pat McGrath Precision Xtreme Duo comes in one of Pat’s signature foil plastic casings with sequins inside, whilst she’s toned down the sheer amount of sequins (repurposed for craft in this house thank you), I think we all have seen and moaned online about the necessity for this packaging in a world where we should be more sustainable. However, if you’re into it – it is fun and personally, as a bit of a gold fan, I love it more than I should admit.

Pat McGrath Dark Star Mascara

The Dark Star Mascara comes in a chrome-effect gold tube with pink lettering up the side in the brand’s typewriter font. The packaging of the other mascara felt distinctly boring for a brand that has such fun lipsticks and eyeshadow packaging, but this is a version that feels a bit more interesting and in line with the brand. The wand on here is a bristle wand, similar in thickness to Fetisheyes, but with a slight hourglass shape. I usually love a mascara wand shaped like this as I find it helps lift the lashes and provide a curl and this one is no exception.

I will say that I found this mascara a little bit slow to warm-up, finding most mascaras can take a good 7-14 days I think to hit their peak performance once air has circulated in the formula, this one took longer and I wish I had it on the go overlapping with the other mascara as to begin with I felt pretty underwhelmed, however just as I was getting ready to toss this into my empties it hit its stride, so just a word of warning – this mascara does take a little while to get going.

One of the things I liked about the other mascara in the PMG lineup was that it was a great all-rounder, delivering on length, volume – verging on a little bit clumpy whilst still remaining a little fluttery. And this one is pretty similar in effect leaving me wondering why 2 out of 2 mascaras in the line don’t really offer anything different, those who like dramatic length without the volume are left out within this line.

However where this one lets itself down a little is longevity, It has a strong first 4-5 hours before I feel like it starts disappearing quite quickly. Luckily it doesn’t seem to crumble but I do see some wear under the lower lashes. That wear isn’t always particularly noticeable as I go quite dark and smokey under my lower lash which helps hide the transfer, but on eyeshadow free days I do look a little panda eyes. I feel like I’m starting to reach the end of this sample and unlike its sister, I’m not going to be pining after the Pat McGrath Dark Star Mascara once it is finished.

Pat McGrath Perma Precision Liquid Liner

I noticed my current liquid liner was starting to dry out so I started cycling in this Pat McGrath one alongside it. The one I’ve been loving for almost the past year is the Black Off liner from Misslyn, which is a very affordable but great liner I picked up from Beauty Bay after sorting by best reviews on the site and is a fair whack cheaper than the Pat McGrath version and there are things I like separately about both.

Firstly this is incredibly basic liquid liner packaging and again, I kind of expect more for PMG prices – this feels only marginally nicer plastic than the Misslyn one – however that one is also a year old and been rolling around in my drawer. The nib within this is nicely tapered and allows for a decent control – however I find that the tip of this isn’t quite as flexible and it’s not as easy as the Misslyn liner to get an easy wing liner, but whether the Pat McGrath Perma Precision liner will flex up a bit more with time remains to be seen. The application for this isn’t the worst, but isn’t the easiest.

The thing I can’t argue about the pigmentation on this is the pigmentation is absolutely incredible – with a super dark black pigment that goes so dark even over the brightest and most metallic shadows. It has a perfect matte finish looks really nice contrasting against metallics on the eye or alongside matte shadows.

I’ve had pretty watery outer corners recently, a trademark of my hayfever season beginning to hit and unfortunately, this liner doesn’t hold up quite as well as the Misslyn liner. On normal days where I’m hayfever free this lasts well, but if you’re prone to your eyes watering in the wind, a good cry at a movie or pollen attacks, then be warned that this one isn’t the most bulletproof of formulas.

The pigmentation of this wears a little through the day – but I find that more so when I am not wearing eyeshadow, which seems to help lock the pigment intensity down. Just a simple liner and lash day is where that pigment starts slipping away, just a smidge.

At £26 I will use this up, but I think I will also repurchase the Misslyn liner – it’s just more bulletproof for me during summer months with my eyes watering out of nowhere. And it’s less than £8.

Pat McGrath Dark Star Mascara & Perma Precision Liner Applied

I’ve been a big advocate of the shadows, lip products and the first mascara I’d tried from Pat McGrath and think those have been worth every penny, these two have left me wanting and expecting more for the price point. I think I managed to snag these in a Black Friday deal for around £10/12 – and the Pat McGrath Precision Xtreme Duo set is good value by itself and you can pick this up at £20 normally. Whilst is an excellent deal if you do have it tried.

Have you tried these from Pat McGrath? And if you’re intrigued about Pat McGrath I recommend having a look at my Fetisheyes Mascara review.

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