Gerard Cosmetics First Impression and Swatches

Hi Everyone!

So I finally got my order from Gerard Cosmetics after almost a month. If you missed my last post, I ordered at the beginning of September, waited 2 weeks after my ship notification and after it didn’t seem to be moving I called and it turns out it actually wasn’t moving. It was lost in the mail or in their warehouse or something. I was promised something extra for my trouble and I waited again. It finally arrived so I thought I would share my first thoughts on these as these are so hyped. Since a lot of people talking about these on Youtube are affiliates, I wanted to give you my completely honest first thoughts on these as a regular customer. I will say that their customer service reps were super friendly when I called about my order, so that’s a plus for me. However the ‘bonus’ I got for my order trouble was just a coupon and not a great one either, so I wasn’t impressed about that.

Packaging

New^

These glosses are popular for their packaging, as they feature a light in the cap to help you see in dark spaces and a mirror on the side. The light is pretty bright, but quite handy. I think that feature will be useful for when I’m out somewhere. The mirror is nice because I won’t have to bring out my little mirror when I’m using these. Gerard recently changed their packaging from silver to gold which is fine, but what I am slightly annoyed about is getting only 1 of the old packaging and 5 of the new. Now i have 1 that is like the odd man out. Maybe that’s just me being picky. Would that annoy any of you?

Old^

The BB Plus Illumination packaging is a large size tube with a pump. The pump gives way more than what I need, so that’s annoying as some product is wasted. I talk more about that below so I won’t repeat myself.

Shimmer of Hope

The first shade I picked up is Shimmer of Hope. Despite what the name says there is no shimmer in this gloss. It’s a light, peachy nude. Gerard Cosmetics has a ‘Nude” shade and this is the lighter version of it which is why I picked it. I wanted something that wouldn’t pull too brown on my fair skin and this is perfect for my skin tone. It’s not that different from my natural lip colour, so it looks really soft and natural. I have been loving peach lips, so this really appeals to me.

Buttercream

The second shade I picked up is Buttercream. This is a very soft nudey pink shade that is absolutely perfect for everyday. I think this is very flattering on my skin tone and will go with most looks. I also have a few lipsticks that I think this would look really good with. I haven’t tried any of these combos yet, but I’m thinking this with MAC Creme Cup or maybe Milani Nude Creme. For Youtube beauty watchers, I’m sure you know that this is Jaclyn Hill’s second shade collaboration with Gerard Cosmetics.

Pink Tiara

The third gloss I decided to get was Pink Tiara. This is a classic pink shade. It’s much more blue toned than the last shade and a bit brighter. I picture this as a great spring shade, but I really like it so I will probably pair it with pink lipsticks for fall. I think that this might go well with Pink Love by Milani. I think that this is a pretty staple shade to have and I’m glad I picked it up.

Coral Craze

Moving away from nudes and pinks, this shade is Coral Craze. This shade is pretty popular, but it’s just okay to me. I find it a bit patchy when I first put it on, but with a little smoothing it looks fine. I’m not 100% sold on how I’ll wear this yet.

Rose Hill

The second last shade I picked up is Rose Hill, which was Jaclyn Hill’s first collaboration with Gerard Cosmetics. This shade is much more red than I was expecting, I think because it’s way more pigmented than I thought it would be. This is a really beautiful shade, one that I have nothing like. I’m so not used to this type of shade on me, so I think this shade will take some adjusting. I really like it and more each time I put it on, just not something I usually wear.

Seduction

The last shade I ordered is called Seduction. First off, I’ll say that I’ll likely never wear this on it’s own. It’s just too dark of a shade, it looks really patchy by itself. When I go for a dark lip, I go all the way and this just doesn’t do that for me on its own. On top of a lipstick like MAC’s Diva or Milani Sangria, this looks great, but I really don’t like it by itself. I’m totally fine with that since I will wear most of these on top of lipsticks anyway.

BB Plus Illumination

The last thing I picked up is a liquid illuminator or basically a liquid highlighter. As we all know I am a highlighter junkie so I couldn’t make an order and not pick this up. This is so beautiful, I’m already obsessed. It’s a champagne gold shade which makes it very versatile for lots of different skin tones. Since this has champagne, I can still wear this on my fair skin. I tested this out as soon as I got it and it just leaves a beautiful sheen that looks amazing when it catches the light. The only thing I’ve found that I don’t like about this so far, is the pump. It just pumps out way too much for using it as a highlighter. The amount is more geared towards mixing it with your foundation, which I’m excited to try.

Overall First Impression

In general these glosses are very pigmented, more like a liquid lipstick than a normal gloss. Although I appreciate the pigmentation, it does make these less forgiving than regular lip glosses. What I mean is that to me these aren’t a ‘slap it on and go’ type product. I have to take the time to make sure I’ve filled in my whole lip, that I’m not over my lip line etc. They are less forgiving than a typical gloss, which is a trade off for the amazing pigmentation. These are a pretty thick and slightly sticky gloss, which doesn’t bother me too much. Due to the thickness, you have to make sure to apply them evenly or you can see where there is more gloss, especially in the last shade I showed. So far, I like these and they’re a great gloss for what I paid for them, but I wouldn’t pay $24 for them, but I probably wouldn’t pay $24 for any gloss in all fairness. In terms of the BB Illuminator, I haven’t played with it too much and I already love it. I can’t wait to keep playing with it so see how glowy I can go.

There you have it! Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried anything from Gerard Cosmetics or if there’s something you want to try!

Bye for now!

Chelsey