GOSH Eyeliner Review and Barry M Nail Paints (+visit to Monkey Forest!)

I’ve been using the Bourjois eyeliner for quite a while now, think I’m just finishing off my third one so wanted to try something else. I like this eyeliner because it’s incredibly long lasting and doesn’t smudge. The texture is also pretty versatile and I’m able to use it both on my waterline and underneath my lash line. Most eyeliners tend to be better suited to one job or the other. I also like this eyeliner because it’s a twist up, and contains a built in sharpener, it's great for touching up throughout the day, I line my top lid too but it's liquid so never needs touching up. I have a tendency to find my holy grail makeup item then decide actually I want to try other things...just in case. Superdrug still has some offers on including a lot of 3 for 2s, and currently GOSH is included in this offer. I also feel more attracted to the GOSH stand as it’s more appealing and colourful and seems to change more than Bourjois. So with this offer I decided to try a few different colours, I think GOSH offer the best range on different coloured eyeliners.

The two types of eyeliner are the “Velvet Touch” and the “Let’s Twist” liners. I got a Twist liner in carbon black and mink grey, which is more interesting than it sounds. Grey is a great alternative to black, it’s much softer and less harsh looking than black which makes it more suitable for the day time. It’s not a bland grey either, it’s bordering on khaki territory which makes it more interesting. The colour I got in the Velvet Touch liner was 001 Blue Moon which is a gorgeous bright teal colour. I’m planning to wear it underneath my lash line with a neutral eyeshadow colour just to liven it up a little bit. It will also work really well with Barry M’s Dazzle Dust in Teal if I’m brave enough to wear that much colour (I’m not).

I didn’t realise it at the time but the packaging of the Let’s Twist liners are identical to the Bourjois Liner Stylo. And I really mean identical not just similar! The lids fit one another and the bits in the bottom can be swapped and fit perfectly and they’re both made in Germany. I was a little bit disappointed to begin with because the GOSH ones cost an extra £1 and I figured if the packaging is identical then the product probably is too. I’m pleased to say the product is not exactly the same. The GOSH one is actually much better than Bourjois. It’s a great consistency that I can carry on using for both the waterline and lower lashline but it’s also much more pigmented and as you can see from the pictures, it’s a true black not a washy black. The only downside of these liners compared to the Bourjois ones is they don’t come with a built in sharpener. Although the bottom of the pencil is identical and has a removable part, there’s nothing actually in it, they’re basically just there to show the colour. Below top to bottom is: GOSH carbon black liner, the Bourjois black liner, GOSH mink grey and GOSH Blue Moon.I bought two of the most recently released nail paints, there’s a few more in the collection but I preferred these two. I’m wearing the orange on my toes right now called Block Orange (number 301), it’s a great summery colour which looks great with metallic gold sandals, I went for a vibrant colour because I’ve been suffering with a cold for the last few days so needed something cheerful to perk me up! I also went for 303 Bright Purple, you have to see this shade in person to see how pretty it is, by far the nicest shade of purple I’ve seen. The nail paints are great quality too, they were two for £5 so I did get two but when I figured it out afterwards I really didn’t save a lot of money! The colour pay off is fantastic though, two coats is plenty to give full coverage with no streaking.
I also bought a collection 2000 Eyebrow Definer in Blonde which I haven’t pictured, it works OK but I won’t be repurchasing because it contains palm oil which I think is an easily avoidable ingredient to include in makeup and I’m trying to be more conscious when buying cosmetics. If anyone knows a good alternative eyebrow definer for blonde eyebrows please let me know!

On a completely different note, I forgot to include these pictures in my last post. When I went back to see my parents last week me and my boyfriend went with my parents to the Monkey Forest at Trentham. Bizarrely I saw that another beauty blogger, Yummy Mummy, had been there recently too, I didn't expect anyone else to know about it. I wish I could say I went there as a treat for a child family member, but it was actually because I wanted to go! My mum has visited before and wanted to go again. It was so much better than I expected, I'm not really too keen on zoos but this place was really close to their natural habitat and the monkeys were not in the slightest bit intimidated by people, they seem really sociable and because they are now endangered it's the safest place for them to be. I think there's another two sanctuarys like this in Europe.I love being close to nature like this, they're so adorable!

I couldn't get over how similar they were to us, this is a family of them, and the Dad's put his arm around Mum!

If you ever get the chance, this is a really lovely place to visit.

Make-up Product of the Month - June: Sleek Ink Pots

Even though I’m not 100% happy with this product, I’ve still decided to feature it as my product of the month. Firstly there aren’t many drugstore brands that actually make their own gel liners so the fact that Sleek do one at all is pretty good, but to be able to compare it to MAC is even better.
Black eyeliner is pretty much a staple item with me. I think I used to overdo it when I was younger, but I’d like to think I’ve mastered the art of applying it now. Liquid eyeliner, namely the Loreal Superliner is one of my top ones, but I am trying hard to replace it with gel liners after hearing such great things all over the magazines and beauty television programmes. The reason why it’s supposed to be much better than liquid is that you can still create quite an intense line but it doesn’t look overdone, and much more natural compared to liquid. Admittedly liquid liner can look a little cakey. Gel liner is also recommended for older women because it’s a more toned down way to wear it. My general opinion of it is that it’s the hardest to master, and the messiest, definitely not for if you’re in a rush as you need an eyeliner brush to apply it, but once you get the hang of it, it can really set your makeup to create a flawless finished look. When I decided to venture over to gel liner territory, I started with MAC’s Fluidline because when can you go wrong with MAC? I was happy with it, but wanted more colours to create different looks. At close to £11 for 3g these are a bit too expensive to buy just to play around with colour. I was pleased to find that one of my favourite budget friendly cosmetic brands had their own version. Under £4 for 4g of product!

The range of colours available is not bad at all, and although I didn’t like all of the colours, I think there’s a colour there for everybody. My favourites were Purple Rain, an aubergine and Stone Cold a navy/silver blue. I plumped for Purple Rain, wanting to give it a try before I purchase any more.
The testers in the shop had been seriously manhandled so were pretty scutty and dried up. I assumed my untouched version would not be as dry. I was a little disappointed at first to be honest. The brush that came with it is perfect for picking up product but hopeless at applying it so was soon discarded. I used my MAC 263 which works fabulously with Fluidline, but not so well with Sleek inkpots. I had to warm this product a little before I could use it more effectively with my eyeliner brush. After a few uses, the product does appear to be loosening up and gradually getting easier to use. Perhaps it is just the top layer of product that’s a little on the hard side. The quality of the liner is still very good, once it’s warmed up, it’s much easier to work with and has great staying power, it lasts all day with no smudging. So I still wanted to rate this highly and call this my make-up product of the month because considering this is nearly a third of the price of the MAC liners, I can forgive it for being a bit on the hard side.