The shade file

PAT McGRATH LABS, beyond the shade name.

Compare the brand’s descriptions with readings from published swatch images.

102 shades3 products102 swatch readings

Illustrating the fit question · AI-created image

What do the numbers mean?

L* describes lightness; a* and b* describe color axes. ITA° is calculated from lightness and the yellow–blue axis to group the swatch into a depth band. None of these readings measures coverage, wear or how a formula will look on your skin.

PAT McGRATH LABS names an undertone for 32 of these shades. Read off the brand’s own swatch under D65, 23 of them — 72% — land in a different undertone than the name claims. That is not an accusation of bad faith: undertone is a word, and a word is not a measurement. It is why the house publishes the number beside it.

Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Foundation33 shades

PAT McGRATH LABS Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Foundation published swatch readings
Shade	Brand says	L*	a*	b*	ITA°	Depth band	Swatch reads
Light 2	— · light	85.63	6.96	26.19	53.68	light	warm
Light 3	— · light	84.56	7	26.27	52.76	light	warm
Light Medium 8	— · light	83.71	13.63	31.05	47.35	light	warm
Light 5	— · light	82.29	10.03	21.52	56.32	very_light	neutral
Light 6	— · light	80.96	9.85	29.74	46.15	light	warm
Light Medium 11	— · light	79.64	13.46	29.6	45.04	light	neutral
Light 4	— · light	79.43	14.38	25.58	49	light	neutral
Light Medium 10	— · light	79.23	12.27	23.64	51.04	light	neutral
Light Medium 12	— · light	77.8	15.91	35.6	37.99	intermediate	warm
Light 7	— · light	75.46	10.07	26.86	43.47	light	warm
Light Medium 9	— · light	75.22	12.28	24.97	45.29	light	neutral
Light Medium 14	— · light	72.6	11.74	30.46	36.57	intermediate	warm
Medium 16	— · medium	70.52	16.3	38.44	28.09	intermediate	warm
Light Medium 13	— · light	70.33	15.88	33.39	31.34	intermediate	neutral
Medium 15	— · medium	67.92	16.61	36.06	26.43	tan	neutral
Medium 18	— · medium	66.53	14.2	35.18	25.17	tan	warm
Medium 17	— · medium	65.1	18.6	40.35	20.52	tan	neutral
Medium 19	— · medium	64.13	16.4	40.57	19.2	tan	warm
Medium 20	— · medium	61.99	20.01	37.41	17.77	tan	neutral
Medium 21	— · medium	57.89	16.38	37.81	11.79	tan	warm
Medium 23	— · medium	53.49	20.33	38.73	5.15	brown	neutral
Medium Deep 24	— · medium	53.49	20.33	38.73	5.15	brown	neutral
Medium Deep 25	— · medium	50.52	22.52	37.22	0.8	brown	neutral
Deep 29	— · deep	49.45	17.54	36.2	-0.87	brown	neutral
Medium Deep 27	— · medium	45.81	21.78	35.05	-6.82	brown	neutral
Medium Deep 26	— · medium	45.59	20.88	38.94	-6.46	brown	neutral
Medium Deep 28	— · medium	44.56	21.81	32.92	-9.38	brown	cool
Deep 31	— · deep	42.75	21.34	31.71	-12.88	brown	cool
Deep 30	— · deep	41.57	20.29	30.16	-15.62	brown	cool
Deep 32	— · deep	36.74	22.28	29.79	-23.99	brown	cool
Deep 33	— · deep	33.84	22.61	27.87	-30.11	dark	cool
Deep 34	— · deep	25.42	18.53	25.34	-44.13	dark	cool
Deep 36	— · deep	20.95	13.32	22.56	-52.17	dark	neutral

Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Weightless Foundation33 shades

PAT McGRATH LABS Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Weightless Foundation published swatch readings
Shade	Brand says	L*	a*	b*	ITA°	Depth band	Swatch reads
Light 2	neutral · light	89.31	4.29	10.33	75.28	very_light	warm
Light 3	— · light	88.97	2.6	11.91	73.01	very_light	warm
Light 4	warm · light	88.38	6.32	11.64	73.13	very_light	neutral
Light 5	neutral · light	88.12	5.24	11.25	73.56	very_light	neutral
Light 6	neutral · light	88.1	4.85	13.85	70.02	very_light	warm
Light Medium 8	warm · light	86.41	5.25	14.05	68.9	very_light	warm
Light Medium 10	neutral · light	86.4	6.94	12.47	71.09	very_light	neutral
Light 7	warm · light	85.76	5.49	14.7	67.65	very_light	warm
Light Medium 12	warm · light	85.4	8.47	15.84	65.89	very_light	neutral
Light Medium 11	neutral · light	85.22	6.46	12.87	69.93	very_light	neutral
Light Medium 9	neutral · light	84.13	8.03	11.84	70.87	very_light	cool
Light Medium 13	neutral · light	84	8.47	17.54	62.71	very_light	neutral
Light Medium 14	olive · light	81.94	7.6	15.06	64.76	very_light	neutral
Medium 15	neutral · medium	80.75	6.93	17.63	60.17	very_light	warm
Medium 16	warm · medium	80.49	8.85	18.37	58.93	very_light	neutral
Medium 17	neutral · medium	77.56	10.12	20.66	53.14	light	neutral
Medium 18	olive · medium	77.03	6.53	18.19	56.06	very_light	warm
Medium 19	warm · medium	76.89	8.85	20.75	52.34	light	warm
Medium 20	warm · medium	76.38	11.23	21.7	50.56	light	neutral
Medium 21	olive · medium	74.9	6.72	19.47	51.98	light	warm
Medium Deep 23	olive · medium	70.99	8.76	22.69	42.77	light	warm
Medium Deep 24	neutral · medium	69.4	13.1	21.66	41.85	light	neutral
Medium Deep 25	neutral · medium	67.78	15.73	20.54	40.88	intermediate	cool
Medium Deep 26	olive · medium	64.68	12.25	23.28	32.23	intermediate	neutral
Medium Deep 27	warm · medium	64.15	13.42	20.33	34.84	intermediate	cool
Medium Deep 28	warm · medium	63.26	12.83	21.29	31.92	intermediate	neutral
Deep 29	warm · deep	63.08	13.55	22.18	30.53	intermediate	neutral
Deep 30	olive · deep	60.3	13.41	19.94	27.32	tan	cool
Deep 31	neutral · deep	59.53	14.97	19.46	26.09	tan	cool
Deep 34	olive · deep	57.68	11.32	12.68	31.2	intermediate	cool
Deep 32	neutral · deep	57.65	12.55	14.98	27.05	tan	cool
Deep 33	neutral · deep	55.75	12.57	17.45	18.24	tan	cool
Deep 36	neutral · deep	49.78	11.52	10.58	-1.19	brown	cool

Sublime Perfection Foundation36 shades

PAT McGRATH LABS Sublime Perfection Foundation published swatch readings
Shade	Brand says	L*	a*	b*	ITA°	Depth band	Swatch reads
1	— · light	93	5.21	8.41	78.93	very_light	neutral
3	— · light	91.29	3.35	13.21	72.26	very_light	warm
4	— · light	90.99	6.83	12.32	73.27	very_light	neutral
5	— · light	89.58	6.44	16.58	67.27	very_light	warm
2	— · light	89.48	6.6	10.63	74.93	very_light	neutral
6	— · light	89	8.78	14.2	69.99	very_light	neutral
7	— · light	88.39	6.02	15.37	68.18	very_light	warm
10	— · light	83.63	9.86	18.64	61	very_light	neutral
8	— · light	83.54	9.49	18.5	61.12	very_light	neutral
13	— · light	82.64	11.43	22.6	55.3	very_light	neutral
9	— · light	82.26	13.39	16.75	62.56	very_light	cool
11	— · light	80.29	12.32	21.4	54.76	light	neutral
12	— · light	77.63	17.58	23.66	49.43	light	cool
14	— · light	74.42	11.87	27.07	42.05	light	warm
16	— · medium	71.7	9.53	30.76	35.2	intermediate	warm
15	— · medium	68.71	9.92	26.09	35.65	intermediate	warm
17	— · medium	64.69	14.73	31.1	25.28	tan	neutral
18	— · medium	61.79	11.28	24.79	25.44	tan	neutral
19	— · medium	61.45	19.63	34.53	18.35	tan	neutral
20	— · medium	60.28	19.78	31.88	17.87	tan	neutral
23	— · medium	55.68	15.81	31.65	10.17	tan	neutral
21	— · medium	53.72	14.45	30.09	7.05	brown	neutral
24	— · medium	51.12	23.36	33.68	1.9	brown	cool
22	— · medium	51.1	19.59	27.32	2.31	brown	cool
29	— · deep	50.91	16.18	25.22	2.07	brown	cool
26	— · medium	48.89	22.55	35.72	-1.78	brown	cool
25	— · medium	47.82	24.36	34.44	-3.62	brown	cool
30	— · deep	47.51	21.06	27.69	-5.14	brown	cool
28	— · medium	46.18	20.64	28.78	-7.56	brown	cool
27	— · medium	46.15	16.29	28.56	-7.68	brown	neutral
32	— · deep	46.08	19.02	26.85	-8.31	brown	cool
31	— · deep	44.99	23.24	32.44	-8.78	brown	cool
33	— · deep	37.13	20.94	27.92	-24.75	brown	cool
34	— · deep	26.41	16.31	20.41	-49.13	dark	cool
36	— · deep	25.31	9.69	16.13	-56.84	dark	neutral
35	— · deep	23.33	13.97	14.88	-60.84	dark	cool

Match a shade you already wear

Colours are read from each shade’s own swatch image published by the retailer, not from a drawdown measured by the house — a screen swatch and a colorimeter are not the same instrument, and the house does not pretend otherwise. ITA° is the open dermatological standard, computed from the reading; no licensed colour library is used. A shade listed without a reading is one the house holds but has not yet seen.

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PAT McGRATH LABS, beyond the shade name.

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PAT McGRATH LABS, beyond the shade name.

Start with what never quite works.

Follow the detail that matters to you.

Boots & shoes ↗

Foundation shades ↗

Pants ↗

Tops ↗

Shoes by comfort & width ↗

Swim ↗

Press-on nails ↗

Dresses & skirts ↗

Coats & jackets ↗

Bras & foundations ↗

Jewelry ↗

Glasses & sunglasses ↗

Boots & shoes

Foundation shades

Pants

Tops

Shoes by comfort & width

Swim

Press-on nails

Dresses & skirts

Coats & jackets

Bras & foundations

Jewelry

Glasses & sunglasses