Bright Eyed With Smashbox?

Sephora currently has the Smashbox Bright Eyed Eyeshadow Quad for only $6. I was like "$6 dollars? HAND IT OVER". The quad is pretty big, .31 ounces to be exact. Something with the name "Bright Eyed" gives me high expectations, my eyes better be bright by the time I'm done with you my little Smashbox cookie.

 The colors included are "taupe, ivory, soft peach, and chocolate brown"

I am hereby re-naming the names to "crap taupe, big crap ivory, super crap soft peach, and ok chocolate brown".

Why you ask? Well, this has got to be some of the poorest pigmented eyeshadows I've ever owned. Seriously Smashbox? Why must you hurt me so? I've loved you for so long, and you do THIS to me. Yeah, I understand it's $6, but $30 value it is NOT. I wanted to do swatches on my arm, but they wouldn't even show up, even after I burned a hole into my arm with my eyeshadow-clad finger. On the finger they look decent enough, but don't let the pretty neutrals fool you. Aye, I was so disappointed. The colors are simply just too light and poorly pigmented, with a slight exception of the dark brown which is decent (as all dark colors should be, if you fail at this, shame on you).

I did manage to complete a look with the shadows though. The peachy color was placed all over the lid, and was barely noticeable. Ivory as a highlight (decent once piled on), and the crap taupe in the crease (BLAH). The outer corner color (dark chocolate) showed up pretty well. Overall, once applied on the lids, the colors can lend an ok wash of color for the minimalist.

Other products used:
Lorac primer
MAC Blacktrack fluidline
Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero
Prestige white eyeliner
Loreal Voluminous Mascara

By the way, this quad belonged in the family of my Sephora haul:

Yeah, I have to go study for my midterm that's tomorrow now...