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!

My first haul post!

Accessorize clearly weren’t ever content with me going into their shop and cooing over every shiny thing strewn in my path. Now it seems that they want me to go up to their makeup counter in Superdrug and do exactly the same. Naturally I obliged and came away recently with a pleasant surprise.

For some reason, there are quite a few gift sets in Superdrug that have been reduced down considerably and are on displays right now. You can buy 2 sets of 3 Accessorize eyeshadows for £2 instead of the usual £4 each! They have a similar offer on some of the nail polishes in rather delightful shades too. Mike treated me to the set of eyeshadows in truffle, sage and baby pink, but I didn’t feel quite as naughty knowing they were such a bargain!

The other boxed set shown contained a ‘Black ink’ GOSH eyeliner pencil that normally retails at about £5, a GOSH quattro eyeshadow compact in ‘Evergreen’ that normally would be about £8 and a peachy lipgloss tube. Although on further inspection I wasn’t too impressed by the lipgloss, I don’t really care considering the whole set was £2.99!

Another thing I treated myself to was the John Frieda conditioner shown. I’ve never tried any of his products before but I’ve heard good things and when I spotted this in a 99p store I couldn’t resist.

With all this excitement I really suppose I got rather carried away as I returned yesterday to Superdrug for a little more. I snapped up a set of the polishes for my friend Sarah and grabbed myself one final bargain... A palette including 12 eyshadow shades, a gorgeous shimmery lipgloss tube a set of false eyelashes. Everything in the above photograph cost the grand sum of £2.49 and came in some lovely packaging! The palette resembles some of the Sleek ones available and the shades all seem incredibly wearable.

Swatches and reviews will naturally follow but for now I’m going to bask in the glory of a few good bargains. Check out if your local Supderdrug are stocking any of these because they really are at pocket-money prices!