MAC Vibe Tribe: Dunes at Dusk Gleamtones Powder

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 sees the release of one new and limited edition product called Gleamtones Powder, which MAC describes as "a unique colour block of four shades in one pan, from coral through champagne and bronze to tangerine. The final look is well-polished with a sheer veil of bronzer, blush or highlighter that blends effortlessly into the skin." The powder itself features an "embossed graphic design" and it comes in special packaging with "graphic geometric patterns woven in eye-catching hues." Each Gleamtones Powder contains a total of 7 grams of product and retails for $38.50.
Dunes at Dusk
Dunes at Dusk (four shades swatched separately)
Dunes at Dusk (four different pairings mixed together: beige and orange, orange and lilac, lilac and mauve, mauve and beige; and all four shades swirled together)

Dunes at Dusk features four shades in a geometric pattern: a light warm ivory beige, a light-medium tangerine peach, a light cool pink-lilac, and a medium cool mauve. There are several combinations in which you could use these shades; when swirled all together, they create a light-medium muted peach-to-lilac duochrome pearl in a frosted finish. This is a new and limited edition product. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. All four shades have high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. There is nothing similar to this in MAC's permanent range.

I was honestly surprised by how much I liked this. Upon looking at it, I didn't think it was going to be very wearable. As eyeshadow shades, maybe (and I don't recommend it, since it's listed as "not safe for eye area"), but not as a face product, necessarily. I mean, peach with mauve? Really? But seriously, you blend them together, and the shades create the most gorgeous iridescent duochrome effect. It's not one particular shade, so it's kind of hard to describe in words; it will look cooler, more lilac in a certain angle and warmer and more peach in another angle. Under the right lighting, it's absolutely stunning. Under sunlight? It's magical. The greatest part about it is that it will suit everyone because there are equal amounts of cool tones and warm tones. And because it mixes two medium shades with two lighter shades, it always looks soft on the skin; not muted, per se, but it's never too bright. The majority of skintones (like, from light to deep dark) will use this as a highlighter or skin finisher (it looks phenomenal buffed on top of a bold blush). Those who are extremely fair can wear this as a soft gleaming blush. However you want to use it, it will make your skin look flawlessly iridescent; basically, as close as you can get to being an actual pearl.