GOSH eyeshadow quad in 'Evergreen'

Before recently I had never tried a GOSH product. However if you remember way back in my first haul post, I managed to snap up a set of GOSH cosmetics in a Superdrug sale for a fraction of their usual retail price. The set consisted of an eyeshadow quad, lipgloss and 'black ink' eyeliner pencil and only cost £2.99 which is far less than just one of those products individually! I decided to take this bargain as an oppurtunity to dabble in GOSH and here is a review of the product I've been reaching for the most - the eyeshadow quad in 'Evergreen.'

 

The packaging of these products is undeniably sleeker than most seen in Superdrug. Well stocked GOSH counters are surprisingly appealing with a wide range of similarly well-presented shades. For a regular retail price of £8.49 you get 4 shadows nicely presented with a small sponge double ended applicator. Initially I was unsure about the shades in 'Evergreen' and I probably wouldn't have picked this quad up if it had been at full price. However I decided to try it out and have found some things about this product weren't quite what I was expecting...

The shadows themselves are fine and contain some noticable shimmer particles that - although they are rather heavy in the grey - aren't unappealing. I wasn't sure if I expected party metallics or vivid mattes but this quad has nothing near either and is actually quite mild. The shades within 'Evergreen' are a subtle white highlight shade, a pale green shade that makes for a good neutral base, a deeper rather pretty sea green and a green shimmer based grey that isn't really worth bothering with in my opinion. The greens give pleasant results and personally when I'm in need of a quick neutral eye I find that this quad can often suffice. I have worn them for 6+ hours and found minimal creasing so I can't argue with that.

Despite the reasonable range in the colours, I think it's fair to take issue with the pigmentation. These photos were taken with a flash and these swatches were very heavy! The 2 paler shades are shimmery and quite sheer which I think is acceptable for a highlight but there is no single shade in the quad that gives the colour payoff when worn that I was expecting. There is versatility up to a point but I find that the dark grey isn't dark enough to give more than a grubby smudge when used with the provided applicator. I also find it considerably tones down the vividness of the greens! I prefer to use the other shades and sometimes use the white as a highlighter in other looks. Unfortunately none of these shades are pigmented enough to give any really dramatic contrast and I don't feel the finished look from this quad ends up anywhere near 'smokey' which is what I had originally hoped for.


While I have reached for this to provide some neutral blended greens there is not much potential for drama. Instead there are some bases that while pleasant, weren't what I was expecting from the brand at all! If I was looking for some brights with strong pigmentation (which this summer I most definitely am) I'm not sure GOSH is the brand I'll reach for... and I'm a little bit disappointed!