An Honest Review of Patrick Ta’s Viral $42 Eyeshadow Duos

The saga that took the beauty world by storm this week? Patrick Ta’s new Eyeshadow Duos. Now, you may be thinking, how the heck can an eyeshadow launch cause controversy? Here’s the rundown: Patrick Ta announced the launch, and some TikTok users were outraged by the price of $42 for two shades. Patrick came with receipts, comparing the price to other brands and explaining the top-tier quality of his product. Oh, and BeautyTok creators Mikayla Nogueria and Jeffree Star naturally got involved with their opinions. Now, if that’s a lot to take in and you just wanna know if the eyeshadow is actually worth the price, that’s where I come in.

I, a shopping editor who tries out hundreds of products and doesn’t have any brand sponsorships, tested the eyeshadows in the name of beauty journalism. No filters, no ads, and definitely no professional makeup artist skills.

Ahead, my unfiltered thoughts and official review of the new Patrick Ta Major Dimension Eye Illusion Eyeshadow Duos. (That’s a mouthful.)

Courtesy of Jasmine Hyman

Eyeshadow Duo Talk To My Team

Jasmine Hyman / Sephora$42 at Sephora

I absolutely loved the shade “Talk To My Team.” As someone who prefers using my fingers over a brush (due to my lack of makeup skills), I found that the formula transferred onto my lid so easily. In the pan the color looked a bit more pink but it had a surprisingly orange reflection at certain angles—which I’m not complaining about since it looked like I intentionally added a multi-chromatic effect with no effort. And in direct sunlight, my entire eye looked super shimmery and sunset-esque. The application was truly so easy and boasts a professional-looking payoff.

I also love that it comes with a mirror (unlike other single-shadow pots) so I wasn’t blindly applying and hoping for the best. However, over the course of the day, I did find there to be some fallout into my eyelashes. It didn’t impact the pigment on my lid, and it’s something I definitely notice with most of my glitter shadows, but there was enough shedding to notice.

Eyeshadow Duo Still At The Club

Meg Uy$42 at Sephora

“I've worn eyeshadow pretty much everyday of my life since since I was 17, so I'm pretty particular when it comes to the quality of an eyeshadow,” says associate shopping editor Meg Uy. “Overall, I loved the Still In The Club palette. It has a purple and brown pigment that created a subtle smokey eye on my warm-toned, brown skin. It feels pretty light on the lid and the pigment is solid while still being buildable. I like that the shimmer isn't too intense, and you can take it to the next level with a few extra layers for a full glam look. The expensive price tag is the only thing deterring me from giving it an all-around 10/10, but I loved it and will definitely be using it again!”

Eyeshadow Duo Do You Know Who I Am

Hannah Oh/ Sephora$42 at Sephora

“I swept the deeper shade of the Do You Know Who I Am duo across my entire eyelid and popped the lighter shade in the inner corners, then added a little bit of the purple color from the Still At The Club duo to the outer crease to darken the look,” explains shopping editor Hannah Oh. “It was surprisingly easy to get good color payoff with my finger, although I think it would’ve looked better if I used some primer and a brush, and the color options were seriously beautiful.”

“To be honest, the glitter was not as smooth as I expected and there was a decent amount of fallout within 3-4 hours (again, no primer) that I wiped off in the office bathroom, but the actual eyeshadow held up nicely! I probably won’t be pulling up to work in a glitter smokey eye on the reg but it’s definitely a really luxe, gorgeous product for days when I want to go all-out with my makeup.”

Eyeshadow Duo We Need Better Lighting

Daisy Maldonado$42 at Sephora

“The pigment on this is Next. Level. I did a very low effort moment here and swiped on the product directly on my eyelid with my finger,” says associate editor Daisy Maldonado. “It only took two swipes to fully dab on the color desired. The silver shade in We Need Better Lighting looks luminous and has a super gorgeous glow. I love that this shade can double as both a subtle daily look and an amped up moment for special occasions.”

Pros

• Applies easily with fingers
• Doubles as a highlighter
• Very pigmented
• Great color options

Cons

• On the pricier side
• Can’t customize the palettes

The bottom line…

If you’re looking for a high-quality glitter shadow, Patrick Ta’s version is that girl. And while two shades for $42 is pretty pricey, it’s comparable to other luxe beauty brands like Charlotte Tilbury (one shade is $35) or Hourglass (one shade is $30). We also loved all the color options, but wished we had the ability to mix and match different hues in a custom palette built to our liking. Overall, if you want an easy-to-apply shimmer and are willing to splurge for more full glam and nighttime looks, Cosmo’s shopping team would def suggest these viral duos.

Jasmine HymanAssistant Shopping Editor

Jasmine Hyman is the assistant shopping editor at Cosmopolitan where she covers all the best things you can add to your cart. She loves writing about everything from fashion to politics, and you can definitely find her listening to Harry Styles' entire discography on loop while doing so. She’s also probably in bed either reading or endlessly scrolling through TikTok (most likely the latter). Feel free to follow her on Insta to be inundated with pictures of her meals.