Glo & Ray
Before I was contacted about this brand I'd never heard of Glo & Ray, so when I got the products to test out for myself I had no preconceptions whatsoever but the sleek packaging gave me reason to be hopeful. Because of the bold mix of colours I didn't initially feel like I could show it all off at once without feeling like 80s Electro-Barbie but once I got into them the payoff was surprisingly poor. The two real duds for me were the shadows, the Mariposa Quartet in Aegean Blue had so little pigmentation even the swatches were tough to capture in photos and the Mirage Mousse in Tawny Dust was just a sheer sparkly tint.. more like an eye gloss than a mousse.
They were the first things I swatched so I rapidly lost faith that the remainder would redeem the range but the Sky Breaker liner in Summer Sky totally made up for the previous products. So bold and seriously long lasting, this will be amazing in the summer months and it immediately went in to my every day makeup drawer. The La Amo-Matte lipstick in Passion came in close behind, just as bold and impressive and incredibly creamy yet relatively long wearing, and the colour?.. perfect! Exactly what I'd have picked if I'd had every colour in the world to choose from. <I'm paraphrasing but name that movie> Not matte though, not even close.
The Wonderland gloss in Crystal Lava was okay, sticky and a reminder that I don't like gloss but ok. The Lumincent Light powder (which is SURELY supposed to be Luminiscent) Light powder wasn't all that.. it's said to leave a shimmering glow but even in sunlight (below) I couldn't really see it. Lastly The Nuage Solo Blush in Star Dust (also worn below) ..nice but it's not easy to blend and honestly, I just don't have time for anything that takes longer than it should to do what it's made to do. This is probably why I don't do eyeshadow <she lies, she just can't> I have no patience for blending!
Overall it's hit and miss, price point is high end drugstore with a few exceptions.. the liners start at £5.50 but the lipstick is £12, £23 for foundation, £5.90 for a solo shadow.. seems a little off balance. I would imagine retailers would struggle to find a place for it because it doesn't really fit anywhere. There were some impressive products among this selection and some disappointing ones but that wouldn't dissuade me from trying others in the future and if you have any Glo Ray recommendations I'd love to hear them!
PR Sample