GOSH AW16 Launches!

Back when I wrote my last post on the GOSH cosmetics products that I love, I ended up being in contact with the lovely Sophie from their PR team, who told me that there were some exciting new launches coming for AW. I love AW fashion and beauty, and I can tell it's going to be a good season this year! Being a very new and small blog I wasn't expecting to be too involved in the campaign. but she actually sent me 3 of the launches to try out and review, for which I am so so grateful! 

The Velvet Touch Matt Lipstick in Grape, Foundation PLUS + in 004 Natural
 and the Giant Pro Liner

The Foundation PLUS + in the shade 004 Natural is the first thing I tried out. It claims to be a foundation and concealer in one, which means it's medium to buildable coverage, while being light and natural. It's formulated to be pigmented with active ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, liquid sea minerals and seaweed which makes the foundation nourishing and light on the skin whilst still providing good coverage, and has a satin finish.

GOSH Foundation Plus + in 004 Natural (photo from Superdrug website)

I was so looking forward to trying this foundation, but when I received it the shade is far too dark for my skin. From swatching it on my hand I was able to get a good impression of the coverage of the foundation, which is definitely medium buildable, as it's so lightweight! I had to mix it with my GOSH X-ceptional Foundation to lighten it, which did make the coverage slightly lighter but I am building up my tan with the Garnier Summer Body and Utan Gradual Facial tan so hopefully soon I'll be able to use the foundation on its own (or at least mostly). I absolutely loved the finish of the foundation, it blended beautifully into the skin and looked so natural but with great coverage, and it didn't settle into any dry patches. The foundation is £9.99 for 30ml, which is an absolute steal for this foundation!

The next new release I tried is the Giant Pro Liner, which I have to admit was a little scary because the nib is quite thick, but I have to say it gave me such a quick and accurate application! You can use the fine point to draw out your line and use the thicker edge to fill it in. It's a nice, strong black and I was surprisingly impressed! It retails at £6.99. A little tip GOSH suggest is if you're new to applying eyeliner, you can use their kohl white liner to sketch where you want the liner and trace over the top with the Giant Pro liner. You can also use tape to get sharp and symmetric wings!

GOSH Giant Pro Liner

If you read my previous GOSH post (link) then you'll know that the formula for the GOSH lipsticks are possibly my favourite of any I've tried, especially with the matte lips, so of course I was so happy to find one in the little PR package. The one I received is the Velvet Touch Matte liptick in the shade 'Grape', which is a beautiful deep wine red with a hint of berry, it's bloody gorgeous and I feel like it's all I'll be wearing on my lips in autumn and winter. They're made with natural waxes and hyaluronic acid to moisturise and smooth the lips. They're creamy, long lasting, and beautifully pigmented, as usual. There are 4 new shades in total and they're all beautiful.

The GOSH Velvet Touch Matt Lipstick in Grape swatched - such a beautiful deep colour!

Velvet Touch Matt Lipstick in Grape

The range also includes a few things I haven't yet tried. 

One of the products I don't yet own but will definitely be purchasing soon is the Overnight Primer Oil Essence (£14.49), which is ideal for prepping your skin the night before applying makeup. It's slightly more pricey than other items in the range but it's definitely worth it if you're looking to really pamper your skin. Your skin regenerates at night, and we usually use serum to give this process a boost, but for a little extra nudge this is perfect. It's full of anti-oxidants, fatty acids and oils which help to provide moisture, vitamins and minerals so you wake up with glowing and primed skin! It can be applied before night cream or alone, but I'd probably apply it before night cream in place of my serum. 

Overnight Primer Oil Essence (photo from Superdrug website)

The Lash Sculpting Fibre Mascara (£9.99), contains fibres up to 2mm long which add an amazing amount of volume, and the wand is formulated to scuplt and define the lashes with the fibres.

Lash Sculpting Fibre Mascara (photo from Superdrug website)

They also released a Brow Sculpting Brow Gel (£6.49) which helps create full, groomed brows using the fibres to make thicker brows. There are currently 2 shades (Nutmeg and Chestnut) in the range, but again I'm yet to try this. I like that the wand isn't super short, and that the bristles are super tiny which will really help to get into the hairs. 

Brow Sculpting Fibre Gel (photo from Superdrug website)

The last release that I haven't tried is the Contour & Strobe kit (£12.99), which contains 2 bronzers (which is a really nice touch, as you can mix them to make your perfect customised bronzer), a semi-matte blusher and of course a highlighter. There's a Light option and a Medium one. I really like the blush choices in these. In the light one it's a pretty peachy-coral colour, which is so flattering on pale skin, and then the pink in the medium kit is equally flattering on medium and darker skin tones. They claim to be ultra-light, soft and creamy to make them easy to apply and blend, and I can't wait to try this. 

Contour & Strobe kit (photo from Superdrug website)
L - Light
R - Medium

Finished look using the Foundation, Liner and Lipstick! 

All of the products mentioned can be found here: Superdrug Website and GOSH is currently on a 3 for 2 offer so snap them up quickly while you can get an item free!

I'm sure it won't be long before I've bought the rest of the range, so look out for my review of those, but for now I hope you enjoyed this and thank you to GOSH for letting me try a few things from the launch! 

See you again soon! 

Paige x

This post contains PR samples.

How To Use: Sleek Cream Contour Kit

After I posted the Sleek cream contour palette review, people requested that I do a little 'how to' post, with pictures of me applying it. Now, I'm definitely not a pro when it comes to applying my makeup. Neither am I 100% confident in my skills. However I thought I'd be brave and give it a go! 

Some of the products I used for this look, and a treat for editing!

I both cleansed and exfoliated my face, using the B. Men Charcoal Face Scrub from Superdrug, which is technically my boyfriend's but I wanted a nice deep cleanse and it was the best I had to hand. The product itself is branded as a man's face scrub but lets be honest, it's just a decent charcoal scrub, who cares who it's meant to be for. I then applied my Olay Hydration and Radiant Glow moisturiser, which is a nice light moisturiser for summer as it contains SPF 15 and adds some radiance to my skin. 

After I'd given time for that to sink into my skin, I applied my base products. I used the Primark Miracle primer (of course), and then my X-ceptional Wear Makeup Foundation from GOSH, which is good for a light, sheer base (even though you can build it up), and then applied the Maybelline Eraser Eye concealer on my blemishes. 

This is my face with only the base products applied

 I then went in with the contour kit, following the guide that they supply with each palette.

It says on the sheet to use an angled contour brush. I do own the Real Techniques contour brush but I find it a little too large as my face is quite small, so as I said in the last post I use a MAC angled flat foundation brush, which is MAC 193. 

Cream Contours when initially applied

As you can see, my lines and shames really aren't that neat at all, but once you've blended them it doesn't matter. You really don't have to be a pro to apply these! If I can, anyone can.

Cream Contour after blending

I blended all the shades using a damp beauty blender, starting with the light shades and working into the darker shades.

Here I've set the creams with powder

After this, I applied the GOSH Velvet Touch prime 'n' set loose powder over my highlighted areas, and applied a Makeup Revolution contour powder over the top of the cream to set it all in place. I then went ahead and did my eye makeup (taking photos of my eyebrows in the state they were in was almost traumatising). While I did this, the translucent powder worked to both set and lighten the cream highlight. Once the rest of my makeup was done, I brushed away the setting powder and 

applied some blush and my MAC mineralize skinfinish in Lightscapade as a highlight. 

The finished look

This was the finished look! I think it really slims my face, and I just like how it looks. It's a bit nerve wracking to post photos of me actually using the products and I was a little hesitant to post this one, but hopefully you all enjoy it! 

Would you try the cream contouring kit? Let me know if you have and how you found it. 

Paige x

GOSH cosmetics

I don't often see much hype around the GOSH products, but working in a store that sells them means I've had a chance to fiddle around with the testers, and I really liked the look of the lipsticks, particularly the matte ones. Somehow, I ended up with 3 lipsticks, a lipliner, a setting powder, and some foundation, and having tried them all I knew I'd want to blog about them. When I bought them there was an amazing offer of £2 off all products, which has since ended. They're now buy 1 get 1 half price in Superdrug though.

The foundation I bought was the X-ceptional Wear Makeup foundation, in the shade 12 - Natural. It claims to be 'a soft and creamy make-up that gives the skin a very lasting and even matt glow', and I have to say having worn this for a few days I wholeheartedly agree that it does exactly that. It applies so smoothly, and it really does last for hours. I applied it in the morning, and by the time I'd gotten home from work it was still pretty flawless. It doesn't dry completely matte, which I actually liked, but with a little dusting of powder it is completely matte, without being dull. It's light-medium coverage I'd say, slightly buildable but it doesn't give that fake foundation skin effect that some foundations do when you build them up. I really do like this foundation, I'm only disappointed with myself for buying it in my natural shade just before I applied fake tan, which makes it slightly too light now! It's £7.99, which is a pretty decent price for the quality. As with most drugstore foundations though, the shade range isn't great.

X-Ceptional Wear Foundation - 12 Natural, £7.99

Another product from GOSH that I've actually had for a while is the Velvet Touch Primer & Setting Powder, which is £10.99. This is more than I'd usually spend on a setting powder but I was in the market for a dupe of the Laura Mercier one (I haven't yet tried it but I know it's a holy grail setting powder), and I thought that with it being translucent (it's a very finely milled white powder in the pot) that it would be worth the slight splurge, and I was right. It sets any of my foundations to a smooth, matte finish beautifully, and does improve the longevity of my foundation. I've experimented with using it for baking too, which I quite liked. It doesn't leave an orange tint either like some budget loose setting powders (I'm looking at you, Collection) so it's great for pale skin too. I wouldn't call this a budget loose powder but I'd say it's worth the money and I would repurchase. I haven't used it as a primer because my skin's too dry, but I've been told for oily skin it works really well at creating a matte base to keep oil at bay under foundation.

Prime 'n' set Velvet Touch Primer and Setting Powder - Translucent (£10.99)

Now onto my favourite product to talk about ever. Lipsticks. The GOSH lipsticks were an incredible find, and I know I'll end up buying countless more. I currently own 3 shades of the lipsticks (2 matte and one velvet) and 2 of the lipliners (only one of which I had available for swatching as the other was borrowed). I'll start with the lipliners. I have the shades Antique Rose and Nougat Crisp, and let me tell you, for someone who isn't that fussed when it comes to lip liners usually, I can't get enough of these. They're a total dream to apply; they're so smooth, non drying and beautifully pigmented. I find my lipsticks apply so nicely over the top because they don't budge. Speaking of: 

Velvet Touch lipsticks and Lipliner

Just take a minute to appreciate how sleek and suave the packaging of the lipstick is. Look at them. £6.99! None of that cheap flimsy plastic packaging here. They look far more expensive than they are in my opinion. Don't even get me started on the quality of the product itself. They apply beautifully, they're long lasting (the matte ones in particular), the colours are gorgeous. I'm in love with these lipsticks and I have absolutely no shame about it. I've recommended them to several of my friends who have all agreed that they're incredible. The 3 shades I have are 003 Antique (matte), 010 Smoothie (matte) and 160 Delicious (satin). I could talk about these all day long, but you should definitely go out and get some of these. They're my go to every day lipsticks now. 

Swatches top to bottom - Velvet Touch Lip liner in Antique Rose, Velvet Touch Lipsticks in 003 Antique, 010 Smoothie and 160 Delicious (featuring a half painted nail, well done Jabba)

They're so pigmented, I can't get enough. The shade range for these is incredible, they cater for every desire. 

By the way I'm talking about these products you'd think I was sponsored, but in reality I'm just giving these products the appreciation they deserve. Not only is the quality amazing and the prices decent, but they're cruelty free. Some of their products are vegan friendly, and there is a pdf list of those which are so you can make sure, and I'll link it here: GOSH Vegan Products List. 

I hope you enjoyed this installment of me prattling on about makeup. 

I'll see you again soon!