Today, WWD had an article about the video concept today, and here’s an excerpt explaining it…

“We began with the idea of a woman who lives in a white world and suddenly she feels it is lacking sensuality and wants to break free from its monotony,” Gager said. “She craves color, dimension and flavor, so she goes to the experts to help make over every aspect of her life from beauty, fashion, interior decorating and cooking.”

The model starts out in a plain white room, wearing white from head to toe. By the end of the video, she’s sporting a cherry-bedecked couture Erin Fetherston frock, living in a brown-and-white designer room put together by Miller and eating a cherry pie baked by Ruggiero. All are featured in the video, which will be shown at select MAC counters and online at maccosmetics.com.

“The whole concept James developed worked perfectly with this look: an edible, pleasurable concept,”said Balbier. “The look embodies a girl who is slightly Goth punk, but with a sophisticated edge. She’s both sweet and shocking at the same time.” — WWD

What’s your take?

Took some photos of the products I picked up on Friday! Above is Lightly Ripe lipstick (gorg!), and then the other photos include three lipglasses (Cult of Cherry, Liqueur, and Rich & Ripe), Spiced Chocolate quad, and Blooming blush (love this!).

OVERALL, Cult of Cherry seems like a launch about the lips, despite having three quads. There are just so many lip products to choose from, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the choices! Even when I was swatching the quads, I kept looking elsewhere. Personally, the quads don’t get me that excited – I guess they don’t seem as amazing as some of the lip colors do. I love the coppery color in Spiced Chocolate, and Shadowy Lady does nothing for me. Tempting is pretty to look at, but I’m not overly enthused.

Read individual product reviews!

Lipsticks

• Creme Cerise is a brownish nude color that has decent pigmentation, and it is very plain in comparison to the other colors. What I like about it is it can work really well when the eyes are done bold. It also works well in taming some of the bolder glosses!
• Lightly Ripe is a pinkish-berry color, subtle shimmer/sheen, but nothing over the top. For those who find the other lipsticks too intense, Lightly Ripe is a reprieve.
• O is a subtle mauvey-wine kind of color. It’s very wearable, and I think it’s a great way to take this fall’s trend of vampy lips to something everyday.
• Russian Red is a blue-based matte red, and it is part of the regular MAC line-up, so there isn’t a rush to get it. I find Russian Red a bit too intense for myself, but I know others love it. It’s definitely a red worth checking out. It’s not a super drying matte, either!
• So Scarlet is a deep, deep red. It has a little wine in it, but it’s still mostly a dark, vampy red. I find it is a wearable red, though it will certainly cause eyes to stare at your lips! The texture is amazing – very creamy and incredibly pigmented.

Mattenes

• Bing is a deep, cool-toned wine color. It’s incredibly rich and pigmented, and like mattenes, creamy and still matte/semi-matte in the finish.
• Chock-ful is a brown-based color, with a little bit of purple hues in it. Again, good color pay off and smooth to apply.
• Kirsch is a brighter reddish-berry color, still dark and vampy, though, compared to Bing. It’s like Rapturous and Bing had a baby named Kirsch.
• Rapturous is the brighter of the mattenes, but it’s still earns a title of a vampy lip. It’s a deep red, not as dark as So Scarlet (redder).

Lipglasses

• Cherry Blossom is a soft, light pink – almost feels like it doesn’t belong in this collection. It’s just a pale baby pink color, nothing over the top or bright. I think this is a great way to lighten up any of the darker lip choices if you feel you need to!
• Cult of Cherry is a glossy red, great for making those intensly shiny plastic lips. It matches incredibly well with Russian Red, to give you some really va-voom lips! I think this is one of my favorite colors in the launch! It’s such a bright and cheery and almost Christmas-y kind of red.
• Jampacked is a dark, glossy wine color. It’s actually quite lovely alone or on top of a lipstick. Alone, it turns lips into luxe vampy lips without overdoing it.
• Liqueur is a warm brown with subtle gold-brown shimmer, similar to the Creme Cerise/Chock-ful colors. It’s darker tham Creme Cerise, but not as heavy as Chock-ful.
• Rich & Ripe is a dirty coral color. It’s not a bright coral, but it definitely has a coral-red tone to it with some brown in it.

Shadowy Lady Quad

• Deep Truth is a dark, shimmery navy blue. It’s richer in blue than a true navy, which makes me love it. This is a permanent color, and it’s one of my favorite dark blues to reach for.
• Lightfall is a soft, grayish-purple highlighter color. It’s not as light as the other quads’ highlighters, and it goes on a bit chalky for me.
• Shadowy Lady is a smoldering black-brown, which works well in smokey eyes, as well as just for adding depth to the crease.
• Smudged Violet is an icy grayish-purple. It has a decent amount of shimmer, which makes it look prettier than if it had been left matte or velvet. It reminds me a bit of Mauvement pigment.

Spiced Chocolate Quad

• Brash is a rich, pigmented coppery brown. It reminds me of a cleaner, less frosty Amber Lights, with more copper in it. Oh! Coppersparkle pigment is similar, but again, this isn’t as frosty (that’s a good thing) nor as smooth.
• Nanogold is a lightly shimmered pink-based highlighter. This is a repromote from the N Collection. I know a lot of people covet this shade, so I’m sure it’s a good thing it’s being repromoted!
• Spiced Chocolate is a warm, dark, matte brown. It’s very rich and deep, and it would make an excellent crease color. It reminded me a bit of Swiss Chocolate, but I think Spiced Chocolate is darker. Dark browns work really well in the crease, especially when they’re matte or semi-matte in finish.
• Sweet Chestnut is such a lovely shade of reddish-brown with just a touch of shimmer. It’s like a deeper Heritage Rouge pigment. It looks like a combination of Antiqued and Cranberry eyeshadows, actually.

Tempting Quad

• Dark Edge is a cool-toned dark brown with a touch of gray in it. This is a repromote.
• Next to Nothing is a soft neutral highlighter kind of color, a little peachy in its tone. I find it goes on incredibly sheerly, so it’s not a favorite for me. This is also a repromote.
• Sharp is a rich chartreuse green – in the same vein as Overgrown, Sour Lemon, etc. Bitter is similar, though greener, and it is nowhere near similar in terms of texture or pay off. Sharp is rich and smooth, which makes it a lovely shade to own if you don’t already have its dupes.
• Tempting is a dark bronzy color, lovely for sure, though it is a permanent color.

Blushes

• Blossoming is such a pretty neutral pink blush. I think this is a great color for most skin tones.
• Plum du Bois is a brownish-plum toned blush. It looks browner at first, but there is some mauvey-ness to it.

Nail Lacquers

• Illegal Purple is the perfect purple vamp color for fall. I absolutely adore it!
• Silverstruck is a sheer mauve-toned gray. I don’t really think silver when I try this, to be honest. It’s quite sheer, so I found it passable.

First Row: Creme Cerise, O, Lightly Ripe, Russian Red, So Scarlet
Second Row: Rapturous, Kirsch, Bing, Chock-ful
Third Row: Cherry Blossom, Liqueur, Cult of Cherry, Rich & Ripe, Jampacked

As promised, Cult of Cherry swatches bright and early! And just in time – class starts in four minutes, LOL. (Unfortunately, Honolulu’s MAC store (in the airport) did not have the launch in at all.) I didn’t even have time to buy anything this morning – I’ll head back after class to get a few things.

See the rest!

First Row: Rapturous, Kirsch, Bing, Chock-ful
Second Row: Cherry Blossom, Liqueur, Cult of Cherry, Rich & Ripe, Jampacked

Left to Right: Plum du Bois, Blossoming

First Row (Shadowy Lady Quad): Lightfall, Smudged Violet, Dark Truth, Shadowy Lady
Second Row (Spiced Chocolate Quad): Nanogold, Brash, Sweet Chestnut, Spiced Chocolate
Third Row (Tempting Quad): Next to Nothing, Tempting, Sharp, Dark Edge

Apparently it’s Cream Cerise – my bad, LOL. Anyway, some lip swatches as promised!

See lip swatches of Bing and So Scarlet…

Sharp from MAC’s Cult of Cherry Tempting quad has defnitely caught some buzz. While I love a good chartreuse color, it does come housed in a quad with two repromotes and one permanent color. I think the quad is cute, and it stands out, but I just don’t see myself reaching for it too often. Even if I did, I expect I would go strictly for the green or else a more neutral look just using the other three colors. So, what do you do when you LOVE the color but already have/don’t want the other colors in the quad?

Find a dupe! Most of MAC’s chartreuse eyeshadows resemble each other; they will differ mostly in pigmentation and texture. Sharp has a great texture and decent pay off – I’m not dissing on it in any way, I just keep hearing people lament having to buy a quad for just one color. I don’t believe you should have to!

PRO: The closest eyeshadow dupe is Sour Lemon, which is a PRO color–but permanent–and it has great texture and color pay off. I know if you live in the US, you can call up any PRO store and have them ship you products for $7. While you’re at it, True Chartreuse pigment is also a PRO pigment that’s permanent and really resembles Sharp (and it’s one of my favorite pigments ever).

Regular: Bitter is your closest permanent eyeshadow available, though the pay off is not as good, and it might be a little less yellow.

Limited Edition: Overgrown came out quite awhile ago, and it definitely resembles Sharp. It’s a shade or two lighter (not as yellow), but it works for me. I used to have Sour Lemon, but I found it very similar to Overgrown, so I gave it away (otherwise I would have swatched it!). Don’t forget Alexander McQueen’s Pagan eyeshadow and Pharoah paint pot–both chartreuse colors; Pagan is less of a dupe (greener), and Pagan may not be as pigmented.