Review: Gosh Smokey Eye Palette in Plum

You know there are some brands that you just never get around to trying for some reason or another and then one day, you try one of their products and wonder why it took you so long?!  Well Gosh is one of those brands!

A little while ago, I won a giveaway from the lovely Joanne at Beautylicious Love of my choice of Gosh Smokey Eye Palette.  Gosh have released three palettes: black, brown and plum so there should be a palette to suit everyone.  As I already have a wide assortment of neutrals and greys in my stash, I decided to plump for the plum and I’m very glad I did!

The palette contains four individual generously proportioned shadows, encased in a square palette.  The packing is very clean and minimalistic, nothing fancy but it does the job and with the transparent lid, you can easily see what shades it contains.  The only slight issue I have is that the metallic closure seems a little flimsy but it hasn’t yet burst open in my make up bag and I’ve been toting it around with me for over a week. There is also no applicator included, which to be honest, I am quite glad about as I usually just fling these to one side instantly as they are hopeless for applying shadow and they only take up space in palettes.  Why brands like Chanel persist with them I have no idea as it just cheapens the product, but that rant is for another day!

 

With Flash



Included with the palette is a plastic insert which gives handy hints for where to place all of the shadows.  Perhaps not overly necessary but it’s a nice touch.  The four shades included are:

• A pale, cool toned lilac which doubles as a highlight shade
• A light, murky purple shade with sparkle which has an iridescent look about it.  It reminds me of a lighter Mac Club.
• A darker dirty taupe / purple which is fabulous for smoking out at the outer corners
• An darker purple with sparkle which is great to use for lining.



Natural Light



Out of the four shades, the stand out for me is the second one as it seems to shimmer and sparkle in the light and looks different depending on how you view it.  All shades contain an element of sparkle, with the dark purple liner shade containing the most sparkle and the highlight being the most subtle.  One good thing to note about the element of sparkle is that it doesn’t migrate and once applied, it generally tends to stick.    

 



Natural light L to R: Liner, highlight, second shade, third shade



I’ve been wearing this palette in a number of ways.  On some days, I just apply the second shade all over the lid with a  little smudgy grey kohl and on others, I go the whole hog and apply all of the shades in the way indicated on the insert!  The shadows last around 5 hours on me without primer and about 7 hours with primer which I find to be pretty good going on my oily lids.  The shadows blend well and didn’t seem at all chalky, indeed they were fairly highly pigmented.  One note of caution I would say is that you don’t use the purple liner shade too close to your waterline as the sparkle did tend to irritate my eyes a little but that is always the case with my sensitive eyes. 

 

Direct Sunlight L to R: Liner, highlight, second shade, third shade

Verdict

I really enjoy discovering new brands and it is even better when they are so affordable.  Whilst not really breaking new ground with these shades, this palette is very good quality and the shades are very easy to wear and can be built up in intensity where required.  You will not get a dark sultry super smokey look from this Gosh palette but you will get an eminently wearable, pretty soft focus look.  This is definitely worth a look!

4/5

 

Price - £7.99
Where to Buy - Superdrug

Review: NYC Nail Polish in Sidewalkers

Before Christmas, I won a giveaway from the lovely Emma at Fluff and Flipperies of a selection of NYC products. Including nail polish, an eye shadow palette, lipgloss (reviewed here) and mascara. Today I am going to show you the nail colour in ‘Sidewalkers’.

The polish looks to be a deep concrete grey in the bottle and colour translates very well to the nails, only looking a little darker in the swatch. Application was easy and smooth, as the brush fanned out over the nails, which meant that only a couple of strokes were required to cover the entire nail. I did find that the polish had quite a strong smell though, compared to others such as OPI and Essie, but this is because it is not 3-free (free of formaldehyde, toluene, and DBP). 

Excuse the fluff on the swatch, I didn't realise until afterwards!

The liquid is of thin-medium consistency and glides on to the nail easily, with only 2 coats required for complete opacity. It dries fast, and there is no need to wait a while before doing a second coat as by the time I had finished the first coat on my right hand, the left was dry and ready for a second coat. These were swatched without a topcoat and really this shows the shine and gloss achieved. I don’t tend to wear polish for more than a couple of days before getting bored and moving on to the next colour but I did find that this wore well with no major chips over the two days.

Initially, I thought that I had several similar polishes in this shade but I have found it is a darker grey than others I own. I have done a comparison with Essie Chinchilly (more of a brown-based, mink colour), Essie Playa del Platinum (much lighter, a creamier grey) and OPI Stranger Tides (similar to Playa del Platinum but slightly lighter).

Verdict

For a cheaper brand, I was very impressed with this polish and I found the wear time and consistency similar to high-priced products. I will be checking out other polishes from the brand

4/5

Price – £1.79

Where to buy – Superdrug, although I can’t see this particular shade in stock at the moment it should be available in larger stores.  

Review: NYC Lipgloss in Brighton Beach Peach

Before Christmas, I won a giveaway from the lovely Emma at Fluff and Flipperies of a selection of NYC products including nail polish, an eye shadow palette, lipgloss and mascara.  Today I am going to look at the Liquid Lipshine lipgloss in Brighton Beach Peach 575.

 

NYC Cosmetics were a brand that I had vaguely heard about but hadn’t really been on my radar much until now, so I didn’t have many preconceived ideas when it came to trying out the products.  The packaging of the gloss is your standard high street packaging with a doe foot applicator. It tends to be a personal preference as to whether you prefer doe foot applicators or brushes but I prefer these as I find they seem to hold together better and they pick up more of the product. The colour in the tube is an iridescent, light peachy-pink which looks almost golden coloured in certain light.

For those of you with uber-sensitive noses, you should be aware that this gloss does have a fairly significant vanilla scent, not dissimilar to the scent found in Mac’s lip products. However I quite like this and the hubby certainly seemed to appreciate it, especially as he usually runs away from me when I am wearing lipgloss as I threaten to plant a smacker on him and cover him in glitter!

The product glides on smoothly, providing more than a hint of peachy colour. It is a warm-toned shade, which I have found works well for day and night and I can see it working well on both darker and fairer skin tones. I have been wearing it in many different ways, paired with my Chanel Illusion d’Ombre in Emerveille or a bronze-toned cream shadow. As it is a lipgloss, it does not go on opaque, but is not super sheer either and the pigmentation is better than expected for an affordable gloss. It is rather sticky though so maybe one to avoid wearing on windy days....! I found this lipgloss very easy to wear although it only hangs around for about 1.5 hours on me before needing to be reapplied.

Verdict

A surprise hit from NYC, and although not especially unique, (I think I probably have a couple of other shades very similar to this in my gloss drawer), it is very easy to wear and great value, so I am prepared to overlook the short wear time.

4/5

Price – £1.49

Where to buy – Superdrug, although I can’t see this particular shade in stock at the moment it should be available in larger stores.