Philosophy at Big Lots - Eye Shadows

First of all, if you don't subscribe to Nouveau Cheap, go subscribe to her right now! Her blog is the best place to find out about awesome deals and see new drugstore products. For example, over a week ago, she posted about Philosophy cosmetics being at Big Lots for $3 a piece.

I have always wanted to try some of the Philosophy cosmetics items, but I could never bring myself to pay full price for them. Since I traveled to a place with a Big Lots this past Monday, I had to check and see if it had Philosophy. I was in luck, and I picked up nearly one of everything. In my defense, the Big Lots was over two hours away from my home, so I knew they would be sold out before I ever got back to one, so this was my only chance.

Anyway, I want to post swatches of the products I got ASAP, so you can possibly go and grab some things yourself before they all sell out. Due to the number of products I picked up, I'm going to break this down into a few posts. First, here's a look at the eye shadows that I picked up. Please note that I have not worn any of these shadows on my eyes yet, so any opinions stated are based on swatching only.

I was able to get my hands on two eye shadow quads, Box of Truffles and Plum Delicious, and an eye shadow duo, Heaven/Earth.

Here's a look at the outside packaging for the quads:

Each palette has the color names labeled on the bottom, a mirror that covers the entire lid, and a plastic film over the shadows that gives directions on where to place each color. 

Box of Truffles

From left to right: Latte, Mocha, Cocoa, and Chocolate

 
As you can see, these shadows have good pigmentation, but Chocolate can take a little bit of work. Another feature to notice is that three of the four colors are matte. They feel soft and buttery, but they aren't so soft that there is a bunch of loose powder after swatching.

Latte is lighter and less yellow than Urban Decay's Foxy. It is lighter but more yellow than Wet n Wild's Brulee. Mocha is the same depth and just a touch cooler in tone than Urban Decay's Naked. Cocoa is is very close in color to the deepest shimmery shade in Wet n Wild's Vanity palette, but it is cooler in tone. The closest dupe that I have for Chocolate is Werewolf from the Tarte for True Blood palette.

Plum Delicious

From left to right: Sweet Vanilla, Cloudberry, Plum Delicious, Blackberry

 This palette isn't as pigmented as Box of Truffles, which is disappointing. Again, three of the four shades are matte, and the shimmer in Plum Delicious is very subtle. The shadows still feel buttery soft and don't kick up a lot of loose powder.

Sweet Vanilla is much cooler in tone than Latte. I don't really see any yellow in it. I don't think I have anything in my collection similar to Cloudberry, which is a matte lavender color. Plum Delicious is similar to the purple shade in ELF's Day 2 Night quad. I don't think I have anything that dupes Blackberry, which looks to me like a blackened purple that has hints of brown.

Heaven/Earth Duo

This is a picture of the bottom label. You can see that the packaging is a shiny silver that is very reflective, so I couldn't get a good picture of the top.

From left to right: Heaven, heavy swatch of Earth, normal swatch of Earth

Just like the quads, these shadows feel soft and smooth. Heaven is similar to Stila's Kitten, but it is a bit deeper and less shimmery. When I swatched it outside, I saw gorgeous rainbow shimmers in it that don't come across inside. I think I'm going to love this as a lid shade this summer. Earth is sadly lacking in pigmentation, but it is buildable. I think I'm still going to enjoy it for low-key summer looks though. I also went back and bought an extra of this duo for a friend who rarely wears makeup because I think it will be a foolproof duo for her.

Big Lots Shopping Tip!!!

Please look closely at any products you might pick up at Big Lots that are easy to open. Just like in regular drugstores, products that are not sealed well can get mangled by people who decide to test them out in the store. The Philosophy items are in boxes, but they just have small, clear stickers to seal them. I used the boxes that already appeared to have been opened to check out the colors, but then I grabbed from the back and checked to make sure the stickers were still intact on the products I intended to purchase. During the same shopping trip, I picked up a Burt's Bees tinted lip balm and lip shimmer duo, and I didn't realize until I got home that the lip balm wasn't in the package, so I ended up wasting money. 
Final Thoughts

 I would highly suggest grabbing Box of Truffles if you can get your hands on it (I got the last one at the Big Lots I went to). The quality of the shadows is pretty good, and the dupe for UD's Naked alone makes it worth $3.

Plum Delicious and the Heaven/Earth duo are lesser in quality, so I'm guessing most of you should pass on them. I think I will enjoy them because there are times when a lack of pigmentation doesn't bother me. If you are looking for soft colors that are impossible to overdo, you might give them a look.

Do any of these shadows look appealing to you? Are you planning on heading over to Big Lots to check out the Philosophy display?