Hiya everyone, today I’m sharing my thoughts on the new MAC Black Cherry Collection. I believe it officially launches this Thursday (25th March). However, if you have an account with MAC you can get early access.
MAC is an OG brand for me. It’s a brand I can always fall back on, in fact I just made an order this morning. They do do a lot of limited edition collections and they’re not all to my taste. However, every so often I get super excited for an upcoming collection and that was the case with the MAC Black Cherry collection!
I’m not sure if you remember, but a couple of Springs ago MAC released the Boom Boom Bloom Collection. I feel like this is the sister collection to that. The first collection was white with floral packaging, this is metallic and black with flowers. Now, I’m not one to buy something JUST for the packaging… But, if there’s a product I’m already interested in and the packaging is cute? Added bonus!
Let’s get into an overview of the MAC Black Cherry Collection and then I’ll show you the products I purchased.
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COLLECTION OVERVIEW AND PRICES
In the MAC Black Cherry Collection, there are quite a few different products. With MAC collections, you pretty much always get Fix Plus in fancy packaging and a couple of repromoted products. For me, the most exciting parts of this collection were the blushes, Glow Play lip balms and lipsticks. There’s a lip primer, eyeliner and lashes as well that I’m not interested in.
UPDATE – This collection has launched and you can buy the it at Selfridge’s, MAC and Look Fantastic.
There’s no eyeshadow palette in this collection which is a bit refreshing because recently their collections have had a lot of existing eyeshadow palettes that they release in fancy packaging.
The Prep and Prime lip primer is £16. The eyeliner £17.50, the lashes £12.50 and the Fix Plus £22.
The Glow Play Lip Balm is a new release here in the UK and there are shades in the normal range that don’t have the Black Cherry packaging. They are priced at £17.50 each. I was already interested in trying them, so I ordered one from the Black Cherry Collection as the packaging was cute. I got the shade Fleur Coral which is in the permanent range as well. It’s a sheer, creamy, coral pink. There are four shades of lip balm in this collection.
Next up, lipsticks. In the MAC Black Cherry Collection, there are 3 matte lipsticks. These are priced at £17.50 as well. I didn’t buy any of these as the shades were too bright for me.
Finally, let’s take a look at these blushes. These are in the Extra Dimension formula, which is a glowy hybrid formula that “acts like a liquid with the finish of a powder” – I think that’s marketing BS a bit because to me they’re just soft powders. With their Glow Play Blushes you can actually feel that they are a cream. These feel different to that. I hadn’t actually tried the Extra Dimension blush formula until this. I’ve wanted to, but never found the right shade.
I bought two shades; Look Don’t Touch and Dilly Dolly. I ordered Room to Boom this morning as I was impressed with this formula and the colours are gorgeous. There’s one other shade, Under my Plum which I didn’t buy as it’s a bit dark for me.
PACKAGING
I’m a sucker for anything floral and pretty. Both the boxes and the product packaging are gorgeous. The boxes are matte black with flowers on. The individual products are rose gold and black with flowers.
The plastic is quite lightweight and a little cheap feeling, but MAC isn’t known for luxury, heavy plastic. The blushes feel a little more lightweight than the lip balm. I presume the lipsticks are the same as normal and I usually think that the MAC plastic for their lipsticks is some of the better plastic they use.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Like I mentioned above, I ordered two of the blushes and one of the Glow Play lip balms. So, now I’m going to go through my first impressions of the formulas, how they perform and show you some swatches.
Let’s start with the Glow Play Lip Balm. These feel dreamy on the lips. It almost feels bouncy on the lips and not like any other lip balm I own. It’s obviously meant to be sheer in colour and it is, but you can still build it up surprisingly well.
I am obsessed with anything coral in Spring. So, for me at least, it was only natural that I was going to buy the Fleur Coral shade. It looks bright in the tube, but it’s not scary at all because it’s sheer. It really is the perfect Spring colour. It’s hydrating, easy to just grab and apply, I can see myself having one of these in the car for when my lips are dry. The formula is smooth and feels hydrating on the lips. There’s a blend of butters in these lip balms, including: Mango Seed butter, Shea butter and jojoba.
This morning I ordered Sweet Treat from the permanent range and it’s the perfect nude pink. I am 100% putting that one in my car!
Let’s look at the Extra Dimension Blushes next. I ordered Look Don’t Touch, which (you guessed it) is a coral shade. The second shade I ordered is Dilly-Dolly. This is light pink. Dilly Dolly is much more shimmery than Look Don’t Touch, it could almost be a highlighter. The shimmer shifts silver which is pretty cool and there’s a hint of pink.
I do think my favourite shade is Look Don’t Touch. There’s a lot more colour pay off and it still has that glow, but isn’t overly shimmery. I now know why the Extra Dimension blush is a cult favourite though. It’s really gorgeous! There are no chunks of glitter, it just adds this light, diffused glow. The blushes are smooth, pigmented and SO easy to blend. In the swatches I will show you both a finger and brush swatch.
I’ve since ordered Room to Boom, which is described as “light warm apricot” and I’m so excited for it to arrive!!
SWATCHES
Here are some swatches of the products I bought from the MAC Black Cherry Collection. For the blushes, I’ve done both a finger and brush swatch. All swatches done on bare skin with no primer.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Do you need to rush out and buy this collection because it’s life changing? No. However, I do really like the products I bought. I think if you want to try the Glow Play lip balm formula and the extra dimension blushes, and there are colours you like in the MAC Black Cherry Collection, then you won’t be disappointed.
I love the fact that they included a new release in this collection with the Glow Play lip balms. They are really lovely and I can’t wait for my other shade to arrive, so I can wear it all the time! It’s the perfect addition to the Glow Play collection!
One thing I do love about MAC, is that their limited edition collections aren’t like some brands where the formula goes to sh*t because they’re trying to cut corners. Yes, the packaging is a little on the cheap side, but the products are amazing and perform excellently. It’s the perfect, pretty collection for Spring and I’m glad I purchased from the collection.
Fix Plus is something that I use, without fail, every time I wear makeup. So, again, if you’re running out, then absolutely buy the Black Cherry version. I don’t wear liquid eyeliner or lashes, so they really don’t interest me, but I’m here for lip and cheek products!
Overall, I’m impressed with this collection and glad the products live up to my expectations. I can’t wait to wear them all Spring and Summer!
