Philosophy The Color of Grace Coloring Book
($37.50) is a springtime palette that works if you’re looking for something soft, elegant, and delightfully feminine. It contains two sheer lipglosses (Be Sweet and In Love), two neutral eyeshadows (Angel and Dream), cream highlighter (7th Heaven), powder blush (Pure Joy), and powder highlighter (Amazing Grace).
- Be Sweet Lip Gloss is a sheer, pale pink with a little bit of milkiness and subtle white shimmer.
- In Love Lip Gloss is a sheer, medium pink with lots of shimmer.
- Angel Eyeshadow is a soft, whitish pink with just a little bit of shimmer and a very satin smooth feel.
- Dream Eyeshadow is a darkened brown with reddish undertones that goes on rather sheerly.
- 7th Heaven All-Over Illuminator is a pink-tinged champagne cream highlighter that can be applied heavily or sheered out for a subtle glow.
- Pure Joy Powder Blush is a semi-sheer brightened blue-based pink with subtle gold shimmer.
- Amazing Grace Shimmering Face Powder is a brightened soft white-pink with white shimmer.
I don’t think Philosophy is re-inventing anything here, but it’s a very girly palette that will appeal to those who want subtle color, whether it’s on their eyes or cheeks or lips. I wish Dream eyeshadow was more pigmented, because then I’d like the palette more. It’s a bit of a sheer wash when I tested it out, so it’s hard to get the amount of darkness out of it that I want.
The palette itself is packaged in a “leather-bound” book style, with white stitching on the edges. It’s cute and slim, and it’s also lightweight, so it’s great for traveling. It’s nice but not quite Amazing (ha).
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- Product: 25/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation:
Availability: Nordstrom
Philosophy Raspberries & Cream Body Lotion
($24.00 for 16 fl. oz.) smells EXACTLY like raspberries and cream. It’s just ripened, perfectly sweet raspberries with the milkiness of cream to temper it. Smells delicious… makes me want to hunker down with some dessert! Philosophy really has a knack for nailing the scents they’re after. You may not love the scent, but you can’t say it isn’t true to its name. I picked this up at Nordstrom last week, because I couldn’t resist — I’m a sucker for raspberries. They’re my favorite fruit! But nevertheless, I’m glad I did.
It’s a lightweight lotion that feels creamy and absorbs in about five minutes. You get a giant bottle (at least, it seems giant to me, I don’t know when I’ll finish it, if I ever do!), and you really don’t need more than a two pumps for a leg. It’s not an ultra thick, ultra rich body cream–it’s definitely a lotion. I like it for summer and as an everyday lotion, because it doesn’t take forever to sink into skin.
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- Product: 27/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you love the scent of sweetened raspberries, you may want to give this a whiff next time you’re at a Philosophy counter!
Availability: Nordstrom
Philosophy Amazing Grace Shimmering Powder
($29.50) is a soft, icy pink highlighting powder. Its packaged in a mirror-finish compact and inside is a light pink powder with the word “grace” embedded in the center. When you open the compact, there’s a mirror with the phrase, “where there is grace, there is beauty,” which is a nice touch. I just like the uplifting spirit of the Philosophy brand, and I think this is a nice reminder to have in a compact, too.
It’s a fine-milled, very smooth powder that can easily be used to highlight specific areas or dusted lightly for an all-over glow. It does not impart much color, if any–it’s almost the faintest pink-tinged white. There’s a definite sheen rather than obvious shimmer or glitter that does the highlighting as well, which is always nice in a highlighter. Amazing Grace isn’t a new, innovative highlighter, but it’s a solid one if you’re looking for something soft, subtle, and with no real color. I’d say the slight pinkness of the product does give a healthy glow to the face without actually making it a light blusher, so it works for a highlighter.
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- Product: 26/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: Pretty-in-pink, Philosophy’s newest highlighter does a nice job of softly highlighting the face without going overboard with glitter or shimmer. It’s nearly colorless, which may make it a nice option for those not looking to add color to cheeks!
Availability: Sephora
Gentle Lip Exfoliator: Philosophy Kiss Me
Philosophy Kiss Me Exfoliating Lip Scrub
($15.00 for 0.5 oz.) is a very thin, sugar-based scrub with a strong peppermint scent (and the tingle that comes from it).
This works when it works, but it needs to be stored with the cap facing upwards, and you might have to squeeze the tube around. The oils separate quite a bit from the rest of the product, which means you’ll end up squeezing out mostly oil and very little sugar–rendering it way less effective as a scrub. The sugar crystals are incredibly fine, so if you have sensitive lips, this might be an option for a lip exfoliator as compared to more traditional sugar scrubs, which definitely have thicker, grittier crystals.
The peppermint oil in it is the most noticeable scent of the product, and it also makes lips tingle–but it’s not a painful tingle, just a sort of minty-fresh tingle. I find that it doesn’t taste so hot, and I think it might be due to the peppermint oil (I’ve never found any lip product that has peppermint oil in it to taste good!), so I usually rinse it off rather than simply blot with a tissue or paper towel (as recommended).
I think this product needs a better delivery system, because the existing packaging is too finicky and prone to providing less-than-stellar results. I can imagine people purchasing this, squeezing out a bunch of oil, and being utterly confused as to why this is called a lip exfoliator. Even though the packaging disappoints, the product is decent and the price tag makes it affordable.
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- Product: 25/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 2/5
Recommendation: If you’re willing to work with the squeeze tube a bit, you might get a nice, gentle exfoliator out of this product. It’s particularly nice for those who find traditional sugar scrubs too thick/gritty for their lips.
Availability: Sephora
Weekend Quickies: Carnival Lights, Lancome Cream Shadows, Philosophy Holiday Shower Gels
Here are some products I’ve tried in the past few months with reviews done all quick-style 
- China Glaze Carnival Lights Nail Lacquer ($3.50) has a medium pink jelly base with silver micro-glitter and larger silver hexagonal glitter. It doesn’t go opaque on my nail, as you can still see the tip of it a bit. Above is two coats.
- Lancome ‘Color Design’ Cream Eyeshadow
($22.00) came in three shades: Garter Belt (deep burgundy with red shimmer), Haute Smoke (soft taupe brown with multicolored shimmer), and Pink Lace (a milky pale pink). These lasted on my lids well (until I took it off, so about eight hours or so), though they are advertised to last for sixteen hours (I don’t think I usually wear my makeup for much more than eight hours!).
- Philosophy Candy Cane Shower Gel ($16.00) smells exactly as advertised — like the peppermint-y candy canes of the holiday season. Lathers up quite well, as the rest of their shower gels do.
- Philosophy Have a Cherry Christmas Shower Gel ($16.00) lathers up nicely and smells like slightly sweetened cherries that still have that tartness to them. The Muse has a more in-depth review if you’re curious. I love me some Philosophy Shower Gels, but how many times can I tell you that? Ha!
Philosophy’s The Gingerbread Man
Scrub-a-dub with Philosophy’s The Gingerbread Man
Philosophy The Gingerbread Man Body Scrub
($25.00 for 23 oz.) is a hot salt scrub with a citrus-y ginger scent.
I was actually disappointed that this didn’t smell more like gingerbread, because it was definitely more natural ginger scent with a kick of citrus–maybe orange–instead. Philosophy is usually totally on target with scent, so I’m not sure if maybe I just expected the wrong scent. It’s not a bad smell, but it wasn’t what I expected!
I was also a little confused over the best way to apply/use it, because it is advertised as a scrub for the “tub and shower,” but the instructions tell you to apply to dry skin, rub in a circular motion, and then rinse off. I don’t know about you, but once I’m in the shower, there really isn’t any dry skin anymore! I tried it on dry skin once, right before I jumped into the shower, and I don’t think it’s the way to go. It felt much too harsh, was tough to apply (there wasn’t enough slip), and it was messy (I had salt granules all over my floor for days, much to my boyfriend’s chagrin).
So, after that, I decided to try it another way — in the shower. So, so much better! It’s a gritty scrub as it uses big salt particles to exfoliate, which means it might not be appropriate if you prefer softer granules or have sensitive skin. In the shower, it’s just gritty enough to give you lots of exfoliation while you rub it onto damp skin. It does dissolve, but it doesn’t do so immediately upon contact with water — you can get a few minutes of “scrubbing” time in before it’s time to rinse and still have granules left.
Bottom Line: I didn’t notice much of a warming feel–maybe just slightly–but I did have much smoother, softer skin post-shower, and the scrub itself has enough hydration to keep my skin from getting scaly. I like that there’s no greasy residue or oily feel afterward as well! It’s a solid scrub, and you certainly get plenty for your money. After years of trying different scrubs, I’ve found I prefer slightly less coarse scrubs, so that’s why this one didn’t have me on my feet — but it’s still a worthwhile scrub if you do prefer coarse, salt-based scrubs.
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- Product: 26/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you like coarser bodys scrubs, you may enough this one.
Availability: Nordstrom
, Sephora
