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.

Matte Liquid Lipsticks

I'm jumping on the bandwagon a bit here. I've wanted to do a post about matte liquid lipsticks for a while, but I wanted to wait until I had a decent range of them that are easily accessible to UK shoppers, because like many I'm a bit unsure when it comes to purchasing from outside the UK. I've ended up with 6 in my collection so far, each from different brands, but I expect I'll be getting my hands on more soon because I have to say I'm a big fan of matte lips, particularly nudes, and I love the feel of the liquid ones.

Tranquility, MUA LUXE - £3
This is a slightly brown nude shade, which is the shade Tranquility by MUA LUXE, from their Velvet lip lacquer range. The packaging kind of reminds me of the Gerard Cosmetics Hydra Matte lipsticks, with the frosted glass and gold lid. It's a very pretty nude shade. I did find the formula was a teeny bit thin, but still opaque when applied to the lips. As you'd expect with budget liquid lipsticks, I did find this a little drying after an hour or so of wearing, but nothing a little bit of lip balm can't fix. Although I do prep my lips with a scrub and some balm I always find my lips to be a little dry anyway, so I can't blame the lipstick entirely. In terms of longevity, this did need touching up quite a bit, and if you wanted to keep it perfect you might have to remove it and reapply it completely after a few hours, especially after drinking, but for the price you really can't complain.

Tranquility

Stockholm, NYX - £5.50

The next shade is a slightly more peachy toned nude, Stockholm by NYX from their Soft Matte Lip Creams. The colour is beautiful, and I didn't expect one so light to suit me, but I actually find myself reaching for it quite a lot. The little doe foot applicator allows it to be applied precisely and quickly, and I didn't find this one too drying. After maybe 4 hours I wanted to apply some lip balm but it was manageable. Again, it did wear a little once I'd eaten and drank, but as I said before, for the price I'm not complaining. This is one of my favourites, and I'm desperate to get some more of these!

Stockholm 

Birthday Suit, Sleek - £4.99
It wouldn't be a matte liquid lipstick post if I didn't include this bad boy now would it? Every blogger and their dog raves about these and I can see why. They're long lasting, non-drying, and come in beautiful shades. Birthday suit is a pinky nude shade, and it looks beautiful on the lips. It doesn't settle into the lines on your lips, but glides over and ah I love it, and the Matte Me range is less than £5, so it's definitely worth buying! My only niggle with these are the shape of the applicator, which I find makes it a little more difficult to apply, but I can live with that seeing as the product itself is so nice!

You can see from the swatch of Birthday Suit that I struggled to get an even layer due to the really thin applicator but it's slightly easier on the lips.

Nude Flush, Maybelline - £6.99
Now, I have to say this isn't one of my favourites. The shade is amazing, I love the colour and the pigmentation. I didn't think it dried well enough down to a matte on the lips however, and it certainly isn't transfer proof, which means it isn't long lasting. That being said, I've seen quite a few reviews from people who said they absolutely loved this, so maybe I'm just doing it wrong? I'm swatching them all as I go along, and by the time I've looked back at each shade so I can remind myself of the colour etc, they've all been at least partially matte, whereas this one just isn't doing it for me. Sorry Maybelline, I still love you.

Nude Flush - Maybelline.
 I waited to see if this would dry matte to take another photo of the swatch but it still hadn't dried.

Just in Love 335, Max Factor - £10.99
Slightly pricier than the others I've mentioned but the Max Factor Lipfinity Longwear Lipsticks are well worth the money. I started a shift at work not long ago and swatched one of these just to see what they're like, and that evening the swatch was still pristine, despite me working, washing my hands, and even rubbing off other swatches with makeup wipes! Longlasting doesn't even cover it, but while it means they take a while to remove, you can apply it and not have to worry about it all day long. They even give you a lip balm in the set to apply throughout the day to alleviate dryness should it occur but I don't find this one to be too drying either. The shade I have is a kind of bright pink shade but I actually really like it on the lips. Also, as weird as it sounds, the doe foot applicator is really soft, so I really enjoy applying it!

Just in Love - Max Factor

Hot Brownie, Essence - £2.30
Last but not least, The Velvet Matte liquid lipstick from Essence in Wilkinsons. I picked this up on a bit of a whim, because not only did I love the look of the deep plum/red shade, the scent is beyond delicious. Some people aren't a fan of that fake vanilla kind of scent but I love it, although the scent doesn't transfer to the lips, so if that would put you off, don't let it worry you. Again, it doesn't dry completely matte so it isn't transfer proof, nor is it long lasting, but for £2.30 it's a nice lipstick, I just wouldn't say it was a matte one.

Hot Brownie - Essence
You can see where it smudged a little because it doesn't dry down completely matte.

I'm hoping to try more high end ones soon, maybe some of the popular US offerings like Jeffree Star, Colourpop and Kat Von D, so look out for those in the future. Also apologies for the swatches, I'm still figuring out the best way to do those. Hope you enjoyed this. I've got some nice little posts on the way so I'll see you again soon.

Paige.

Shoutout to Adam for fixing my laptop by taking it apart and putting toilet paper and sellotape inside it, lets hope it doesn't set me on fire. xo