MAC Vibe Tribe: Call of the Canyon Eyeshadow Palette

Last Thursday, MAC launched their major summer colour collection called Vibe Tribe: "Open up to the eternal energy of the sun. Sound and self-expression converge in the vast canvas of the desert. Animated by art, music, creativity and soul, an exhilarating festival unfolds." Vibe Tribe includes a total of 32 products, of which 18 are new and limited edition, four are re-promotes, and ten are permanent. This collection sees the release of two eyeshadow quads, both of which are new and limited edition. They are housed special packaging with "graphic geometric patterns woven in eye-catching hues." Each palette contains a total of 5.6 grams of product and retails for $43.50.
Clockwise from top left: Call of the Canyon, Fool's Gold, Summer Sun, and Thunderbolt
Call of the Canyon, Fool's Gold, Summer Sun, and Thunderbolt

Call of the Canyon is a light warm brightened champagne beige 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 slightly more muted than Nylon, brighter than Dazzlelight, and brighter and more yellow than Shroom.

Fool's Gold is a light-medium cool brightened champagne gold 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 more muted and less yellow than Goldmine, warmer than Retrospeck, and lighter and more yellow than Woodwinked.

Summer Sun is a medium muted warm orange-coral with a gold shimmer-sheen 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 more orange than Expensive Pink, more orange than Paradisco, and more orange and less sparkly than Melon Pigment.

Thunderbolt is a dark cool charcoal-taupe with gold shimmer 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. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker and warmer than Print, warmer and more shimmery than Typographic, and cooler and more shimmery than Concrete.

I found all four shades in this palette to be incredibly finely-milled, pigmented, and easy to layer and blend out — I had no issues with fallout or powdery kickback, even in the Lustre finish shade (which is unusual, since Lustres have looser glitter particles in them which cause them to go on sheerer and dustier). The shadows go on smoothly and are beautiful as individual shades; Call of the Canyon, Fool's Gold, and Summer Sun work beautifully together to create a cohesive look and really go well with the overall colour story of this collection. However, I wish that they had included a warmer, more red-toned darker shade (something similar to Brown Script or Swiss Chocolate or even Embark) rather than a cool-toned taupe — it seems rather out of place in an otherwise very warm palette. I also wish that they had included a matte in this palette; I've found myself reaching for matte shades outside of this palette to create more dimensional looks. That having been said, the quality is there, so if you like all four shades in this palette, it's worth getting. Do note, however, that building a custom four-pan eyeshadow palette at MAC is now cheaper than buying a pre-made quad like this, so if one or two shades here don't appeal to you, you can always find dupes within MAC's permanent range of the shades you do like.