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MAC Cult of Cherry Review

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.

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meagan Avatar

Hi Christine! Great review – what are you going to pick up from the collection?

I loved EVERYTHING. I wish I could have pulled off Bing* – I looked like a corpse, even with some gloss layered over it. I think its because I have black hair and fair skin – it was “a lotta look” as Tim Gunn would say. Kirsch turned out to be the perfect dark shade on me, so I picked up that plus So Scarlet, Jampacked, Cherry Blossom, Illegal Purple nail lacquer and the Spiced Chocolate Quad (absolutely stunning!). I think I got a good mix and its so hard to pick what to wear! Thinking about going back for Lightly Ripe because I really love the Lustre finish lipsticks.

* For other ladies who loved Bing but found it too intense, check out Urban Decay’s new lipstick in Apocalypse – basically the sheer version of Bing and very wearable!

cloudburst Avatar

Bing has an almost grayish cast to it, which I can see posing a problem for many people. I dabbed mine on over chapstick with my finger – it was sheer, but still matte & surprisingly dark. I’ll be pairing it with warm blush and mascara.

Christine Avatar

I ended up getting Cult of Cherry lipglass, Liqueur lipglass, Rich & Ripe lipglass, Blooming blush, Spiced Chocolate quad, and Lightly Ripe lipstick 🙂

Bing makes me feel like I look corpse like, no matter what others say, LOL. I know how you feel!

Courtney Avatar

going to Macy’s after work to pick up a few things 🙂 probably the Shadowy Lady quad (i heart purples!), Jampacked or Rich and Ripe lipglass (can’t decide!!), and maybe Blonde’s Gold and Orpheus kohl……..my wallet is already mad at me!

Nartian Avatar

I do love the whole collection, but because I have or can dupe the colors in the Tempting & Shadowy Lady quads, I ended up with the Spiced Chocolate quad only. Surprising since I don’t have close dupes to this quad already .

I like how the Berkeley store MA paired Cream Cerise with Caramellow liner for me. I’m skipping the dark lips as I did that look in the 90’s and I probably shouldn’t repeat that look. :p

Stephanie D Avatar

Most of this collection didn’t grab me (just by looking at images online) but I didn’t want to make my mind up until I went to see it in person. The only thing I ended up buying was the Lightly Ripe listick which is really pretty. The quads just didn’t look to exciting and I have some of the colors that are in them anyway. I didn’t check out the blush and after seeing your swatches of them Christine, I wish I did! Blossoming looks beautiful!

Anyway, I did pick up Antique Green, Vintage Gold, Heritage Rouge and Mega-Rich pigments. These all are such awesome jewel tones for fall!!!

Heids Avatar

I agree with you Christine, I think this collection is amazing for lips – loving every colour of lipsticks, lipglasses and mattenes! Cannot wait for them to come out in the UK.

Thanks Christine!

Erin/slipnslide Avatar

Lightly Ripe is pretty much like a sheerer Mellow Mood (love Mellow Mood, but skipped it!). Cream Cerise is just a browner 4N (totally got it anyway.). Ultimately, once you know your colors everything is either similar or dupeable, right? There are only so many shades of pink!
Still rocking out the Spiced Chocolate quad today, love it as much as I suspected I would.

victoria Avatar

i agree with you as well christine. the quads are lovely and i thought the texture wasn’t bad. like sometimes in palettes you’d have one of two colors that had bad pay off, these are great if you don’t have similar dupes which is why i didn’t get the palettes. the lips did catch my attention though, love so scarlet,i’m so used to wearing darker plum shades that this one didn’t seem too intense to me. it is quite beautiful but good for fall and winter, not summer.thanks for the review.

Miss QQ Avatar

Hey! Yeah I totally agree that Cult of Cherry is all about the lippies! They look so lovely but I’m not sure if I’m comfortable wearing the dark colours.

Tekoa Avatar

It would be easier to list what I didn’t get. Silverstruck is the sleeper favorite for me. Its a great taupe/grey that I can wear to visit my parents without them looking at me oddly.

Tina Avatar

I bought:
Spiced Chocolate Quad
Kirsch (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE), Chock-ful, Bing
Illegal Purple

I haven’t bought this much from a MAC Collection in over six months! The Spiced Chocolate quad is really nice. However, Kirsch really brought it all together.

I might get a back-up of Kirsch! It will go perfect with any neutral looks I try. (NC50)

Haydee Avatar

Hi Christine, I went to the MAC store and had a view of the collection. Its funny cause everything looks so different in person. You are so hands on with your review. Honestly I really dont want to spend 14.50 on a lipstick I hardly would wear. In this case a Wet&Wild lipstick in a dark shade for 99 cent should do the trick. Once again you are right, Sharp from the tempting quad looks similar to Sour Lemon which I have so I pass on that quad. I know I am going to go back for the Spiced C. Quad. What do you really think about Blossoming? It’s very pretty. Any other blush alike 🙂
Anyway this is what I left with…
Feline-because of you and yes this is a must have! So black! You Rock C!
M.S. Nuance and Dainty- happy I changed my mind about these.
COC Nail Lacquer Silverstruck, Ill go back for Illegal Purple 🙂
Still not done, warming up to this collection. We’ll see.

Cosine Avatar

I really love pinks (I have far tooo much pinks) but I’m wondering if I should get Cherry Blossom since I have Sweetness (from Barbie) and I think they look pretty similar. Any idea how different are they? Should I get it?

Meagan Avatar

I bought Cherry Blossom and I also own Sweetness. Sweetness seems like much more of an icy white pink. Cherry Blossom kind of has some peach to it – more warmth than Sweetness. Both are really pretty!

Jen Avatar

I bought all 3 quads, plum du bois blush, cherry blossom lipglass, O lipstick and 2 Creme Cherise lipsticks, I wanted a backup as this makes a beautiful nude lip when you add lipglass over it. I haven’t bought this much from Mac in a while!!

kat Avatar

For now I just bought the spiced chocolate quad. I wanted the cherry blossom and cult of cheery lipglass, but the cherry blossom seemed similar to En Pointe, which I happened to have in my purse so a quick swab convinced me they were too similar. I thought the cult of cherry was quite red so I’ve been mulling it over. I may go back and get it along with another one of the mineralize blushes. I only got Dainty, but I adore it!

Kristie Avatar

I only purchased spiced chocolate quad and silver struck polish. But if silver struck comes through sheer like Christine says, then it will be returned. I want it to look on my nails like it does the bottle.. It looks amazing in the bottle! I may go back for a lippie or two. I just have so many….

lewed Avatar

Hey there. i must admit my sister and i have been looking at these swatches oh probably for 100 times a day. GREAT SITE!!

The CUC was just launched here in my country, and i had my sister run to get the plum de bois. i was just shocked at how brown it was. It was great on your skin.. i’m worried if it’ll be too dark for me. I’m probably a nc25-30. Hope to get some advice, Christine.

Thanks in advance!

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