♡ Ellie Goulding x MAC Review ♡

If you follow me on my social media (particularly Twitter), you may have seen that I recently purchased some items from the Ellie Goulding x MAC collection. Well, I purchased two out of my three items myself and received the third item for Christmas from my lovely parents. I would just like to say that I am a huge fan of Ellie Goulding and when it was revealed back in June, that she was collaborating with MAC, I was absolutely and completely thrilled. I'm not lying when I say that I was checking the MAC website on a weekly basis, frantically searching for a release date - so I think it's safe to say that I had very high expectations.

I'll start with packaging. I personally think that the packaging of the entire collection is stunning. The boxes in particular are gorgeous, and the packaging doesn't have that iconic matte finish that MAC products typically do - the finish is more of a smooth, shiny finish. The colour choices for the packaging are super pretty and I think that the black and gold look perfect together. So the packaging definitely gets a big thumbs up from me. 

The first product that I purchased was the powder blush duo in 'I'll Hold My Breath'. The compact consists of two shades (obviously) - a bright salmon pink shade, and a bronzer-like shade. I love the formulation of the product but, for me, I find it a little hard to wear. It's no secret that I'm not really a huge blush fan but I do like to wear it on more special occasions. I definitely find the bronzer shade a lot easier to wear than the pink shade and, if I was wearing the pink shade, you definitely don't need a lot. As you may assume, the shade is very bright and very pigmented. The bronzer shade, however, is a lot easier to wear as a contour - although, I still wouldn't say you need a lot of product. With that being said, I do still really like the product - it's just definitely not for an everyday purpose. 

I also own the two lipsticks from the line -  'Only You' and 'Without Your Love'. Both lipsticks are pink shades, with 'Only You' being slightly darker than 'Without Your Love'. I'm not going to lie, I originally thought that 'Only You' would be my favourite shade out of the two, but I'm actually preferring 'Without Your Love' - I just find it easier to wear, and I'm not completely sure why. The formulation of the lipsticks is nice but my only negative point is that both are cremesheen finishes, and I would rather them be matte finishes. I just tend to find that cremesheen finishes feel wet and sometimes stick on your lips, however, this doesn't change my opinion of the product in general and I still do really like them. 

So overall, I think it's clear to say that I really like the collection - at least the products that I do own. I would really recommend the products and would love to purchase more from the collection given the opportunity. Although MAC products are on the expensive side (the Ellie Goulding lipsticks were £17 each and the powder blush duo was £23), I definitely think they're worth the money.