Tarte Call of the Wild Palette

(If you haven't already, don't forget to check out my blogiversary giveaways.  You can read about #1 here and #2 here. This palette is actually a prize in the second giveaway so you definitely want to check out the review. Thanks to everyone that's already entered!) 


I love plenty of Tarte's products -- the Amazonian Clay Blushes, Maracuja Creaseless Concealer, and Lights, Camera, Lashes! Mascara are probably my top three -- but I feel like their eye shadows are seriously underrated.


Now, that's not to say that Tarte shadows have the best formula that I've ever used or come in really unique un-dupeable colors. 


It's just that they're all really easy to work with and because the shades tend to really muted, it's easy to create a really polished, pretty look in a hurry.  I have several of their palettes and I use them quite a bit.


And when I saw the colors in the Call of the Wild Palette ($36), I kind of knew it had to be mine.

I held out for a couple of months, but eventually I caved and picked it up back in December when I got my Sephora VIB giftcard. For some reason, I never got around to reviewing it but I figured now was a good time since it's one of the prizes in my second blogiversary giveaway.


The palette contains eight shadows: Meow, a shimmery light golden bronze; Jungle, a shimmery chocolate brown; Call, a satin-y peach shade; Instinct, a shimmery ivory; Wild, a shimmery purple/burgundy brown; Lynx, a matte gray taupe; Primal, a matte blue gray; and Roar, a matte navy blue.

Tarte Call of the Wild Palette

Tarte Call of the Wild Palette (from top to bottom l. to r.): Meow, Jungle, Call, Instinct, Wild, Lynx, Primal & Roar

Tarte Call of the Wild Palette (from top to bottom l. to r.): Meow, Jungle, Call, Instinct, Wild, Lynx, Primal & Roar

The name of the palette may seem a little off at first since none of the colors are what I'd call "wild," but I think Tarte is going for a natural but sultry, sexy color palette -- and they've definitely nailed it.


The colors are somewhat muted, but they have a really pretty smokey look on the eye that gives them a little more oomph than your usual natural or nude shades.  I also like that Tarte not only include a mix of shimmery, satin and matte shades, but threw in a few cool shades to balance out the mostly warm color palette.


As a blue eyed girl, I love all of the warm shades -- Meow, Jungle, Call and Wild -- when I really want to play up my baby blues.  However, I also really like the way the cooler tones look together -- I like to wear Lynx on the lid, Primal in the crease, and Roar in the outer V for a soft smokey eye.


The only shade that's pretty sheer is Instinct, the ivory shade, but I'm not a fan of heavily pigmented white shimmer shades -- I think they look too frosty and stark on the eye -- so I like it as a brow or inner corner highlight or even from lashes to brow as a base color for a really bright-eyed look. 


Certainly, you wouldn't have much trouble duping these shadows in other palettes or singles but I love the convenience of it -- it would work well for travel since you can create both day and evening looks -- and as I said earlier, the Tarte shadows are ideal when you're in a hurry and don't want to fuss too much with your eye makeup. 


If you're in the market for a palette with totally wearable natural shades that are still sexy and sultry, I definitely recommend it. 


Are you a fan of natural or muted shadow colors?  Or do you prefer bolder, brighter shades?