AW14 with GOSH | New Velvet Touch Lipstick Shades and Giant Blush Sticks

GOSH Velvet Touch Lipsticks in Angel, Adorable, Temptation, Divine, Scarlet, Diva, Pretty, Night Kiss, and Twilight, Velvet Touch Lipliner in Raspberry Dream, and Giant Blush Sticks in Shy and Passion*

Angel, Divine

I feel like GOSH products haven't been spoken about much recently. I personally haven't used them in ages. So, I was intrigued to see if these AW14 releases were any good! 

The lipsticks haven't disappointed, and are just as intense and long lasting as I remember, without being drying. I dislike Adorable because I'm really not a fan of candy pinks, and Angel is a little too light for my liking, but the rest of the shades are beautiful. Although Angel has the potential to make me look like a corpse, I wanted to show you it on the lips because it's not chalky at all, and that surprised me.  

The lipliner has impressed me more than I thought it would. First of all, the colour is beautiful. It's also creamy and very long lasting. I'll definitely be taking a look at the other shades available next time I'm in store!

The blush sticks are okay. I don't like them as much as the lipsticks, but then I think I'm going through a lipstick phase at the moment! They're supposed to have a cream to powder formula, but I feel like it varies between the shades a lot. Shy is very dewy, even when blended, and it almost disappears, so you need to build the colour up. Passion, on the other hand, has more of a satin finish and is a lot more pigmented. A little amount with considerable blending is needed. I like them, but would like them a lot more if the formula was in between both.

The Velvet Touch Lipsticks are £6.49, the Velvet Touch Lipliner is £4.99, and the Giant Blush Sticks are £6.99, so they're all reasonably priced. You can purchase them from Superdrug stores and superdrug.com

Maybelline Colour Elixirs and No7 BB Lips Beauty Balms

Maybelline Colour Elixir in Mandarin Rapture, Maybelline Colour Elixir in Alluring Coral, No7 BB Lips Beauty Balm in Geranium, and No7 BB Lips Beauty Balm in Blush Coral

The Maybelline Colour Elixirs and No7 BB Lips Beauty Balms are similar products, in the sense that they're both a liquid balm with a decent amount of colour payoff and a high shine finish, so I thought I'd group them together in one post. I also thought that this would make up for the lack of lip swatches. I just couldn't get the photos right! Speaking of which, the photos above look fine on my screen, but not so fine on my dad's, so sorry if they're not looking great on yours!

The Maybelline Colour Elixirs (£6.99) were not something I intended to buy. I hadn't looked at many reviews online, and the packaging didn't appeal to me. Then I swatched them and realised how balmy and similar they were to the NYX Butter Glosses. I bought Mandarin Rapture first because my store had a very small selection and I didn't realise there was a coral. Then I ordered Alluring Coral a few days later. I definitely prefer the latter. I prefer the colour, it's more opaque and even, and it has no shimmer. Mandarin Rapture's shimmer is very fine, mind you, and you can't detect it on your lips, but I'd prefer there to be none. I feel like they're more pigmented than your standard gloss, they're moisturising, and they last a few hours. Alluring Coral also stains my lips slightly. The scent is a mix of perfume and fruitiness, but it's not offensive. I can see myself buying more of these in the future.

I don't like the name of the No7 BB Lips Beauty Balms (£9), because they've simply jumped on a bb everything trend, but the actual product is impressive. They're like the Elixirs, but they're thicker and more balmy. They also have SPF15, which is an added bonus. Geranium is my favourite because it's more pigmented, but Blush Coral is perfect for those more natural days. I'm not sure how well it'd show up on those with more pigmented lips, though, so keep that in mind. They're more expensive than other high street lip products, but No7 always have an offer on. Buy one get one half price, £5/£3 off voucher, free gift (sometimes you can combine two of these deals at once, too).

Are you a fan of these balmy hybrids?

Barry M Loud Mouth Extreme Liquid Lip Colour Swatches

Left to right, top to bottom: LM3 Gossip (raspberry pink), LM4 Show Off (coral pink), LM5 Chatterbox (pink), LM6 Screamer (peach)

Barry M Loud Mouth Extreme Liquid Lip Colours review here

P.S. These swatches look completely different on every screen I've viewed them on (four, would you believe), so keep in mind that what you are seeing is not 100% accurate. I also couldn't capture them in natural lighting for the life of me!

Top 3 Nail Polishes for Spring

Sinful Colours Easy Going, Essie Go Ginza, Barry M Sugar Apple

I'm not one to only wear darker shades in the autumn/winter and lighter shades in the spring/summer, but I've been gravitating towards pastel shades recently, and they just so happen to be season appropriate. The shades above are the most pastel ones I own. The shades I considered pastel before these are no where near as light!

Sinful Colours Easy Going - £1.99 - review here

Easy Going is an off white pink, which looks clean and delicate on. It's beautiful on its own, but is also the perfect base for nail art. It takes three coats to become opaque, which isn't great, but I can deal with it.

Essie Go Ginza - £7.99 - review here

I used to stay far away from all purple shades, but in the last couple of years, I've come to love lilac and berry shades of polish. This is the lightest lilac I own, and I love it. Again, it's very clean. It takes two coats to become opaque, which is great for such a pastel shade.

Barry M Gelly Sugar Apple - £3.99 - review here

Sugar Apple is one of my most recent additions. Like I said in my review, it's a pastel, yet vibrant, aqua that can appear mint green in certain lights. It's thinner and streakier than the other Gelly polishes in the range, so takes 2-3 coats to become opaque. I was expecting better, to be honest, but love the colour so much that I'm willing to overlook this! 

What are your top nail polishes for spring?

Revlon ColourBurst Lip Butter in Juicy Papaya

After trying, and loving, Revlon's ColourBurst Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon (review and swatch here), I went out and bought Juicy Papaya not long after. It's love, again. The formula is light and moisturising, and it fades evenly after a couple hours. The peachy shade looks surprisingly natural, and suits my colouring well. It's also one of the few shades that I wear to its full intensity. I'm now looking at the other shades in the range in preparation for my next shopping trip!

Are you a fan of the Revlon Lip Butters? What's your favourite shade?

OPI Steady As She Rose and Models Own Utopia Comparison

 OPI Steady As She Rose, Models Own Utopia

 OPI Steady As She Rose, Models Own Utopia

Baby and middle fingernails (1st and 3rd): OPI Steady As She Rose. Ring and index (2nd and 4th): Models Own Utopia

As soon as I laid eyes on OPI's Steady As She Rose, I knew it was similar to Models Own's Utopia; a polish I already owned. I went ahead and bought it anyway, though, because it was only £3.99 from Fragrance Direct, and I've been loving these clean, understated colours. As you can see, both are light, muted lilacs, but Utopia is slightly cooler in tone. It's such a subtle difference, though, that I doubt anyone would notice if just glancing at your nails. In terms of formula, Utopia is slightly more opaque. Steady As She Rose takes 2-3 coats, whereas Utopia takes 2. I love both, and would recommend getting whichever one you can find the cheapest. As I said, Steady As She Rose is only £3.99 on Fragrance Direct at the moment, whereas Utopia is £5 in Boots. However, Boots also has a 3 for 2 offer going on. Utopia can also be found on/in Superdrug for £5, and it's on Chemist Direct for £4.50. It just depends on where you were already planning to shop to save on postage!

Do you own either of these shades? You can find my swatch of Steady As She Rose here, and my swatch of Utopia here.

OPI Steady As She Rose

OPI's Steady As She Rose is my most recent purchase from Fragrance Direct. At £3.99, I couldn't resist! Steady As She Rose is a very light, dusky lilac. I'm still getting used to wearing shades like these, but I like how clean they look. Two coats were needed on most nails to achieve opacity, but a couple needed three due to streaking. This could be an application error on my behalf, though. It's very similar to Models Own Utopia (swatch and review here), and I have comparison photos on my Instagram here. I'll probably be publishing a full comparison post in the next week, though, so look out for that!

Do you have this shade? Or shades similar to this?

Revlon ColourBurst Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon

Let me introduce you to my first ever Lip Butter, and favourite product at the moment; Revlon's ColourBurst Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon. This admiration is unexpected. I've previously said how I prefer matte, staining lip products. I've also steered away from reds because I've never thought I'm beautiful enough to wear them. So, why I love this glossy red balm, I'm not entirely sure. Wild Watermelon looks like an orangey red in the tube, but goes on more pinky red. I think it's the perfect shade to ease you into the colour family. In terms of wear, it lasts a couple hours on me, and fades evenly. Since I've bought this, I've also bought Juicy Papaya. I think I wasn't interested in the Lip Butter range before because none of the shades appealed to me. These, however, are a different story. On a side note, Wild Watermelon notably shifts colour with different lighting and computer screens, so keep this in mind!

What's your favourite Revlon Lip Butter?

L'Oreal Colour Riche Nail Polish in 506 Exotic Grenade

I bought this shade from Fragrance Direct a few months ago, and have only just got round to wearing it! I wasn't expecting to be as impressed as I am by this little bottle. First of all, the brush is perfect. It's wide, rounded, and makes applying the polish a dream. I wasn't expecting this from the look of the tall, thin bottle. Secondly, the formula is great. It's smooth, streak free, and opaque in two coats. A lot of polishes I've tried are streaky on the first coat, but this wasn't, and I think this is mostly down to the shape of the brush. Drying time was also good, and greatly appreciated after the last polish I wore (It just didn't dry, and I woke up the following day sporting the duvet pattern). Lastly, the colour is beautiful. I love berry shades like this.

You can buy Exotic Grenade, as well as other shades, for £1.30 from here. Have you tried any L'Oreal Colour Riche Nail Polishes?

My Lip Crayon Collection

MUA Power Pout in Runway, Revlon Matte Balm in Audacious, MUA Power Pout in Justify, Bourjois Colour Boost in Peach on the Beach, Tony Moly Petite Bunny Gloss Bar in Juicy Peach, MUA Power Pout in Rendezvous, Revlon Balm Stain in Honey, Revlon Matte Balm in Elusive, MUA Power Pout in Broken Hearted, Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Fuchsia-ristic, Tony Moly Petite Bunny Gloss Bar in Juicy Apple, Revlon Balm Stain in Sweetheart, MUA Power Pout in Irreplaceable, MUA Power Pout in Crazy in Love, Revlon Balm Stain in Crush, and No7 High Shine Lip Crayon in Berry.

iPhone photo, natural lighting

Flash

I love lip crayons. I think it's because it was a lip crayon that got me into wearing colour on my lips (outside the house!). That lip crayon was Revlon's Balm Stain in Honey, which is one of my all time favourites. You can see that Honey and Bourjois' Colour Boost in Peach on the Beach are my most worn shades because the swatches are wider, and this is where I've completely worn down the points! I also love how balmy lip crayons are. Even the new Revlon Matte Balms feel comfortable on the lips, and I'm enjoying using them. I have yet to lip swatch these because of a pesky blemish, but will be doing so in the next week or so! You can find reviews and lip swatches of the others here:

MUA Power Pouts in Justify, Broken Hearted, Irreplaceable, and Crazy in Love

MUA Power Pout in Runway

MUA Power Pout in Rendezvous

Revlon Balm Stain in Crush

Revlon Balm Stain in Honey

Tony Moly Petite Bunny Gloss Bars in Juicy Apple and Juicy Peach

Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Fuchsia-ristic

Bourjois Colour Boost in Peach on the Beach

Let me just say, the camera really highlights freckles and hair! I didn't even know my lips had freckles on them until I started blogging. I also started waxing my upper lip after some of these swatches, so, uh, excuse the moustache ;) Oh, and on a side note, the MUA Power Pout lids are rubbish, so I wouldn't go trusting them in your bag! Also, the swatches above show just one swipe of each lip crayon, so you can see how pigmented they are.

Illamasqua Cream Blushers in Seduce and Dixie

Seduce, Dixie

Natural lighting, flash

I've only ever tried a nail polish from Illamasqua, and that was because I had an ASOS voucher. The products are more expensive than the amount I'm willing to pay for cosmetics. However, Illamasqua recently had a sale, and I couldn't refuse! I've heard plenty of good things about their cream blushes, so decided to buy Seduce and Dixie (after hours of looking at swatches and reviews!). They're normally £18, but were in the sale for £7.50. There was also a 10% off code floating around, so I ended up paying just £6.75 for each blush. Delivery is free, and I also got 56p cash back on each one - Result! I was intrigued by these because the formula looked similar to my beloved NYX ones; creamy and pigmented. Every other cream blush I've tried has been quite hard to touch, and requires warming up with your fingers before use. This means they're difficult to use with a stippling brush. Thankfully, these are like my NYX ones. They're not quite as creamy, however, but still impressive. On Illamasqua's website, Seduce is described as a warm, rose pink, and Dixie is described as a warm, coral pink. 'Raspberry' and 'coral' would be my descriptions. In the swatches above, I've swiped them with my finger, and then stippled them on so you can see how subtle and natural they can be.

Did you buy anything from the Illamasqua sale? Roll on the next, I say!

2True Nail Polish in Shade 17

This is my 800th post!

I spotted this beautiful, peachy pink shade in Superdrug a few months ago, and thought I'd give it a go for £1.99. The formula leaves a lot to be desired, though. It's sheer, so you need 3-4 coats, and rather streaky. It's also not fast drying, as it claims to be (UPDATE: I painted my nails around 2pm, went to bed around 11pm, and woke up with dents and smudges in my nails. Definitely not fast drying!). Still, I love the colour, and was instantly drawn to it!

Have you tried any 2True nail polishes?

MUA Power Pout in Runway

This is my last drafted post, and I haven't bought anything new recently, so need to go to the drawing board after this and think of new post ideas! This is MUA's Power Pout in Runway. You can see my swatches of the rest of the collection here and here. It's looking a little patchy in the photo above, but it wasn't in real life, I promise! Also, I rarely wear it to this intensity. I prefer to wear it as a light stain and create that 'I've just been eating strawberries' look. Runway is a warm, strawberry red which can pack a punch on my pale lips if desired. Like the other shades, it lasts for a good few hours before wearing away, leaving a subtle stain.

I really like the MUA Power Pouts, and hope they bring out more shades in the future. They're definitely worth more than their £3 price tag!

Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Fuchsia-ristic

Another day, another lip crayon. I've had this one for a while, so thought it was about time I blogged about it! Soap & Glory's Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Fuchsia-ristic is the balmiest lip crayon I own, and the most sheer. It's not designed to be an intense, lip staining, long lasting lip colour, but a rather good tinted lip balm that lasts a little longer than others in this category. It lasts for a few hours, and smells delicious, like vanilla. The name suggests Fuchsia-ristic is a fuchsia, and the bullet suggests it's a bold orange, but it's more of a warm, natural pink.

These gloss sticks are priced at £8, but can often be bought for less due to offers. For example, they are currently only £5 in Boots, so I'm tempted to pick up another shade or two!

Bourjois Shine Edition Lipstick in 1,2,3 Soleil

This is the third, and last, lip product I bought from Bourjois last month! I'd wanted a sheer orange/coral for a while, and had very nearly bought L'Oreal's Rouge Caresse Lipstick in Dating Coral, but liked the look of this better. Before applying 1,2,3 Soleil, I exfoliated my lips, and the application looked perfect in real life, so I'm not sure what's going on towards the centre of my lips in the photo above. Even though it's supposed to be sheer, I still find it pigmented on my pale lips, and the orange shade can look intense if I want it to. As well as wearing it alone, I like to create a pink stain with another product and then apply this over the top, creating more of a coral shade. It feels light and balmy on the lips, which I really like. It lasts for a few hours, so not as long as other lipstick formulas, but that's to be expected! And the easy application means you can touch up on the go without a mirror.

I really like this lipstick (£7.99), and have already been looking at the other shades available. Have you tried this range?

Collection Work The Colour Eyeshadow Pencils in Vanilla Sky and Hot Chocolate

After using NYX's Jumbo Eye Pencil in Iced Mocha in my everyday routine for over a year and a half, I've been keeping an eye out for other taupe shadow sticks. Rimmel brought some out not so long ago, but the closest they had in colour was a bronze, which was slightly too warm for what I was after. I was browsing Superdrug's website a few weeks ago when I stumbled upon these new offerings from Collection for £2.50 each. They're now back to being £3.19 each, but they're still very affordable. The shades I decided to buy were Vanilla Sky and Hot Chocolate. They claim to be velvety, soft, blendable, waterproof, and long lasting. Some very high claims, and for the most part, these pencils do live up to them! They're very creamy, and incredibly pigmented. You can blend them, but you have to be fast because they dry pretty quickly, and once they're dry, they're not going anywhere! So the waterproof and long lasting claims are also true. I don't wear eyeshadow on my lids (I wear it on my lower lash line), but I lightly applied the Hot Chocolate shade to the outer corners of them the other day, and didn't experience any creasing. I did apply it very, very lightly, though, so can't comment on the creasing if it were to be applied any heavier. I also found it very hard to blend here because it dried far too quickly. I think these will be better used as eyeliners so you can keep blending to a minimum.

For £3.19, I'm quite fond of these eyeshadow pencils. You do have to work fast, which is annoying, but they're not going anywhere once they're dry. Have you tried them yet?

Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipstick in Fraise Remix

Bourjois is not a brand I usually buy from for some reason, but I managed to acquire three lip products from them last month! The hot weather we had resulted in me wanting to wear Summery shades, and Bourjois had just the ones I was looking for. This is Bourjois' Rouge Edition Lipstick in 11 Fraise Remix, which is a bright, very warm, yellow toned pink. Strangely enough, I don't have anything like this in my collection (even though I think warm tones suit me best). It is an intense shade, but I don't wear it as heavily as above. I like to dab it on to achieve a stain. Then I sometimes swipe a sheer orange lipstick over the top to create a beautiful coral. Fraise Remix is very pigmented, and the finish isn't too shiny, nor too matte. It's the perfect balance of the two. Wear time is also good. After 4 hours, it still goes strong, and could probably last a few more hours if you weren't to eat or drink much. On my pale lips, it leaves behind a stain, so if I were to eat or drink, I wouldn't be left with an obvious lip liner effect, and I definitely wouldn't if I were to dab it on like I usually do.

I'm really impressed with this lipstick, and would happily buy another (£7.99). I think the Rouge Edition range will be the first I look at when after a Winter berry shade!

Ciaté Nail Polish in Pepperminty

I love the colour mint, but I'm never sure how I feel about it on my nails. I think I'm warming to the Ciaté Paint Pot in Pepperminty, though! I think it's because it leans towards the blue end of the spectrum. The formula was good, taking 2 coats to become evenly opaque. There's not much more to say about it, really!

What do you think of mint nails? What's your favourite mint nail polish?

Bourjois Colour Boost Lip Crayon in Peach on the Beach

These new offerings from Bourjois are getting a lot of hype, aren't they? To be honest, I only picked up this shade because it's different to any shade I've seen on the lip crayon market. The other shades didn't stand out enough for me to justify buying another at the time. Out of the 12 lip crayons I have, Peach on the Beach is definitely the most unique, being a beautiful peachy pink. The formula is light, so it doesn't feel like you're wearing anything, but the crayon still packs a punch in terms of pigmentation. It's slightly different to my others, in the sense that the colour is quite milky. I think this is down to the actual shade, though. And the fact that these are labelled as a lipstick, rather than a balm, tint, gloss etc. As you can see, it's glossy, but not sticky, and is one of the more hydrating lip crayons I own. I'd say the shine lasts for about an hour, and the colour lasts for a further hour or two (without eating or drinking). I've heard people saying that these Colour Boosts last longer than the Revlon Balm Stains, but I don't think so. The Revlon ones stain my lips a lot more (with them being a stain and all!). At £7.99, they're the same price as Revlon's offering, and I have no regrets. I'm not sure if I'd buy the other shades, though, unless there was an irresistible offer! Saying that, Red Sunrise looks pretty...

Do you own any of the Bourjois Colour Boost Glossy Finish Lipsticks?

Barry M Limited Edition Yellow

Barry M has recently brought out some Limited Edition shades, with a pink and green exclusive to Superdrug, and a (different) pink and yellow exclusive to Boots. They all have patterned lids and are priced at £3.99. Of course, I just had to get the yellow! On its own, it takes 2-3 coats (some nails only took 3, though, because of my application), and with a white base coat, 1-2 coats. I'm wearing Barry M's Matt White underneath this manicure, and even though it means I'm wearing just as many coats, it made the application of the yellow a lot easier. It should hopefully help with any staining, too! On my ring finger, I used Barry M's Nail Art Pens in Black and White to do an aztec design. No where near perfect, but if you don't look closely, it looks pretty cool! To seal this, I used Barry M's All in One Basecoat, Topcoat & Nail Hardener. It's all about Barry M this week!

Have you picked up any of the Limited Edition Barry M shades?