Retrospective. Most of the times, not a good thing (as we tend to do it when something didn’t go right) but in this case, a rather fab one as I am looking back at my life-saver products of 2014.
Tag Archives: Gosh
Product review: GOSH Prime ‘n Set Primer and Mattifying Powder
GOSH Cosmetics has come up with some crackers this season, and the Prime ‘n Set Primer and Mattifying Powder is one of them. As my main beauty tip is prep the skin, I love all things primer. However, I had never used a powder primer.
Product review: GOSH Lip Lacquer
Being a lipstick lover, I didn’t really think I’d give a lipgloss a lot of time. Oh, I had no idea how wrong I could be before I found the new GOSH Lip Lacquer.
They come in 8 lovely shades, from sheer to great coverage colour, from nudes and corals to pinks and reds – a colour for every pucker out there. And when they say colour like a lipstick, shine like a gloss, they weren’t lying!
Nails of the week – antique gold
Antique gold. Well, not quite. I called it like that because I cannot think what colour this is. Weird.
This Gosh Galaxy promised a lot from the bottle – a sort of antique gold base with some colour shifting between blues and pinks. However, it didn’t delivery upon application.
The colour is intriguing; you can spot the antique gold base and the multicoloured flecks. If you look really carefully, in some lighting, there is a very subtle colour shifting. Sadly, not enough to wow me.
I added a pretty star from Nail Art UK, but not even that could save this mani. A waste of two stars, really…
Polish application was fiddly, one coat is very sheer, I have three on. it doesn’t dry too quickly, so the next coat was a bit gloopy. It seemed to get quite thick quickly. Durability is ok.
Overall, the colour is pretty; I like the base colour, I like the flecks but the fact it was beautifully colour-shifting in the bottle really let me down.
As I wasn’t super happy with it, I slapped Barry M croc black effect on it after a couple days, leaving only the star finger as it was, creating an accent nail, which made the mani more interesting. The crocodile skin effect is cute, very delicate and the texture is not too bad. I could still see some gleaming flecks from galaxy through it. But I encountered the same problem with this as I found with crackle topcoats: the durability is appalling – it flakes away very quickly. Plus, as I applied a couple days after I had my nails done, it wasn’t the prettiest finish, you can see a few untidy bits around the cuticle, it was really hard to clean the excess!
Rating:
Nails of the week: half-moon black and blue
Inspired by fashion week, I decided to try something different on my nails, so, for the first time I had half-moons on my talons. And I settled for matte pastel blue and black, after my gold and black attempt failed.
Tip number one: paint the half-moon colour one day and the top colour the other, to avoid disappointment. Initially, I used Barry M foil effects in gold; it is a thick polish and even though it seems to dry really quickly, after an hour, I applied the French manicure stickers to the bottom of my nails, painted the rest black and when I peeled them, the gold came off.
So I decided to change colours and used two coats of Nails Inc in Oxford, and the following evening, I used new stickers and applied two coats of Black Barry M over it. Application was smooth, and the Nails Inc pastel wasn’t a pain to apply, as most creamy light shades; the second coat provided a good coverage, fit for a full 24-hour solo use! The Barry M was also good, two coats for perfect, smooth and super shiny jet black.
Now, second tip: because I wasn’t sure I wanted matte effect, I waited a bit to apply the topcoat. The adhesive on the strips was very strong, so fluff from a hand towel kinda stuck to the remainder of glue on my half-moons and it was pretty hard to get rid of. I should’ve put the topcoat immediately after painting. You live, you learn!
For the very first time I also tried Gosh’s Matte effect topcoat. It creates a great matte effect which I loved; the idea of turning any nail varnish into matte is indeed very appealing, but after a few days of wear and tear it started to look shiny again, so a re-touch is definitely recommended after three or four days to take it back to its matte glory.
I had to put four coats of nail polish plus one topcoat. Add to that a topcoat re-touch, and you have SIX layers altogether – way too much for my liking, looks like I am growing a nail on top of my nail! It lasted surprisingly well, I really though all the layers would compromise durability, but there isn’t a single chip in sight, after four days.
Overall, I love the half-moons; the pastel blue+black combination is great. I know they are not perfect, but I am pleased as a first attempt. I will definitely venture on to other designs, have already some things in mind, so watch this space!
Have you tried it before? How did you find it?
Rating:
So Many Lovely Things 