MAC Future Forward: Tinashe Eyeshadow x 9 Palette

Last week, MAC launched their first product in a collaboration project called Future Forward: "MAC teams up with the next generation of women shaping music's future in a series of exclusive collaborations. Each female visionary taps into her creativity with a limited-edition colour statement." The first collaboration is with Tinashe, "an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, actress and former model. She began her entertainment career at the age of 3 when she began modeling and acting... Her debut studio album Aquarius, released in 2014, was universally acclaimed and noted by music critics as a 'solid' debut by a new female artist in years."

MAC's collaboration with Tinashe for Future Forward is a new and limited edition Eyeshadow x 9 Palette that is described as "a well-edited palette of steely neutrals and simmering night shades." This palette is an online-exclusive product. It is housed in a regular black clear-lidded square compact, but with special edition exterior cardstock packaging featuring an abstract art design and Tinashe's signature on the front. Each palette contains a total of 7.2 grams of product, and retails for $42. 
Gleam, Midnight Sun, and Revelry

Gleam is a light-medium warm peachy pink with gold pearl in a Lustre finish. This is a permanent shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. Due to the sparkly nature of the finish, there is some minor fall out. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker and more pink than Naked Lunch, lighter and more sparkly than All That Glitters, and lighter and more muted than Expensive Pink.

Midnight Sun is a medium-dark warm mocha brown in a Frost finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is warmer than Bronze, similar to Twinks, and lighter than Mulch.

Revelry is a dark cool plummy brown in a Satin finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is more plum than Brun, cooler than Mystery, and warmer and more plum than Concrete.

Vulnerable, Quarry, and Amethyst

Vulnerable is a light cool silvered lilac in a Lustre finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. Due to the sparkly nature of the finish, there is some fall out. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is warmer and more pink than Idol Eyes, cooler and more purple than Sweet Lust, and more muted and less sparkly than Kitschmas Pigment.

Quarry is a medium cool rosy taupe in a Matte finish. This is a permanent shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is cooler than Haux, more matte than Shale, and lighter and more muted than Blackberry.

Amethyst is a medium-dark cool muted indigo purple in a Satin finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a slightly drier texture, but goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque to opaque buildable colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is more blue than Nocturnelle, lighter and more muted than Indian Ink, darker and cooler than Satellite Dreams.

Flame, All Hands on Deck, and Black Water

Flame is a pale cool-toned brightened mint green in a Veluxe Pearl finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter and less metallic than Silver Sun, brighter and less sparkly than Greenluxe #2, and more green than Forgery.

All Hands on Deck is a light-medium warm muted mossy green in a Veluxe Pearl finish. This is a new and limited edition. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter and more green than Sea Worship, and darker and more green than Greenluxe #3.

Black Water is a dark muted black with fine gold shimmer in a Veluxe finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker and more sparkly than Carbon, warmer than Black Tied, and more sparkly than Dark Dare.

This is a surprisingly unique palette, not just in the shades themselves, but in the combination of shades as well. This palette pairs purples and greens in a way that makes them versatile and wearable, and covers warm to cool tones as well, so you can really create a multitude of looks with these nine shades. It's more interesting than a neutral palette, but it has the ease of use of one. There's an excellent variety of finishes from sparkly to matte, and I think MAC has re-formulated their Lustre finishes as well because they are a lot more pigmented and have a lot less fall out than previous iterations. I'm especially impressed with the colour pay-off and blendability of Black Water given how dry and patchy Carbon goes on. Overall, these nine shades performed really well — smooth, blendable, with good colour pay-off. Whether or not you're a fan of Tinashe, MAC has really stepped up their palette game recently; this one is tasteful and surprisingly wearable, and is a really excellent gateway palette for neutral fans to get into more colour.