Urban Decay | Naked Palette | Review & Swatches

Naked Palette - £36.00 (Link here)

Hello Ladies! If you follow me on Twitter (@MissEssex) then you'll know that I treated myself to a shopping day on Saturday at Oxford Street, which was heaven. As the saying goes, good things come to those who wait. This is something I know to be true as I finally managed to get my mitts on Urban Decay's infamous Naked palette! I can't believe I didn't take the plunge sooner. There was just something about the £36.00 price tag which put me off up until now, but after buying the Naked Basics palette (read my review here) it gave me all the better reason to see what I'd been missing out on this entire time. The price covers the palette itself and two lovely extras, the sample size Primer Potion and the Urban Decay eyeshadow applicator. 

Yes, granted I know this has been out for absolutely ages. But somebody had to be last! I stood deciding between the original or Naked 2 for quite some time, but went for Naked as it has shades which are more brown toned rather than silver. I also read countless reviews on both palettes before deciding, and I'm so glad I did because I'm completely obsessed with it. One thing that stood out for me was the packaging. The twelve shadows are cased in a chocolate brown felt material palette, which I think is lovely. It may be prone to become covered in make-up, but for the time being it's stunning. I love the inside just as much, especially the metallic 'Naked' motif on the spine of the palette. 

The Naked palette is a dream to use as all colours have organisation to them, i.e they go from lighter beige shades to dark greys and navys. I think this was more of an investment for me, as beige is my go to colour for an everyday eye. I know MUA's 'Undressed' palette is a great dupe for Naked, which I also own, but the quality of these are absolutely to die for. 

Virgin - A pearlised off pink shade, ideal for highlighting

Sin - A shimmer/metallic pink shade

Naked - A matte light beige, perfect for a base colour over the lid

Sidecar - A shimmer/metallic darker beige

Buck - A matte biscuit colour, ideal for shadow in the crease

Half Baked - A gorgeous gold shimmer shadow, essential for brown smokey eyes

Smog - Slight darker colour than 'Half Baked', also with shimmer

Darkhorse - A beautiful chocolate brown with a hint of shimmer

Toasted - A light burgundy shade with a hint of metallic

Hustle - A metallic dark off-purple shade

Creep - A shade close to black with brown undertones, with a hint of shimmer

Gunmetal - A grey/navy colour with a small amount of a metallic undercoat 

Swatches as they appear in the palette 

Left to Right: Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar

Left to Right: Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse

Left to Right: Toasted, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal

As I found with the Naked  Basics palette, every single shade is so pigmented and of such good quality, one swipe of shadow is all you need. Depending on the look you want to achieve, all of them are buildable and offer the best staying power imaginable. I don't necessarily need to use the little Primer Potion as I don't find they crease as easily as other shadows. That brings me nicely onto the extras which came with the Naked palette.

I've been pretty content using my MUA eyeshadow primer, purely for the fact I've never really branched out and tried others until now. I think the 3.7ml size is so cute, and I love the purple metallic finish on the bottle. The texture of this stuff is to die for, it isn't too thick but it's definitely creamy enough to do its job. This definitely helps colour stay put throughout the day, and once I've gone through the sample size, I'll be taking myself down to the Urban Decay stand and buying the full size. I'm aware there are other types of the Primer Potion, but right now the original suits me just fine. I've also developed a bit of a love for the eyeshadow applicator, it's a lovely item to have sitting at the bottom of the palette screaming to be used. I've never used any type of brush from Urban Decay but since discovering this I feel I may need to invest in some. The handle carries the same purple metallic finish as the Primer Potion, and has synthetic bristles so there's not a worry about it shredding and leaving those dreaded stray hairs on the tops of my cheeks. 

All in all, I'm super happy and impressed with the Naked palette and I still can't believe I didn't pick it up sooner. I'm hoping this will take me through the next year or so and I'm still hoping to pick up the Naked 2 palette soon to complete my collection. 

♥

Urban Decay | NAKED Basics Palette

Urban Decay Naked Basics - £20.00 Debenhams (Link)

Hello Ladies! Hope you're all well and Monday hasn't treated you too badly. I know this is one of those posts that has been done countless times; but I'm super excited to be adding this to my make up collection that I thought I'd put my own thoughts and feelings out there on the infamous 'Naked Basics' palette by Urban Decay. Unlike most bloggers out there, I don't own the Naked or Naked 2 palette, as I just can't seem to justify splurging £36.00 on 12 pans of shadow. I do think that all of the shades are gorgeous, so I've popped it onto my birthday list, but until then, I have this little beaut to get by with. 

When I first picked it up, I couldn't believe just how small it really was. It's less than half the size of the full sized Naked palettes, so something really compact which will be ideal for going away or popping into my handbag. For a palette containing six high quality shadows for an everyday eye, I personally think £20.00 is a reasonable price. The packaging itself is made from a rubberized plastic material, although not quite like NARS products, so it's easy to keep clean. There's also a cute little mirror in there too which is so useful. From seeing all of the palettes by Urban Decay, this is definitely my favourite. Something sleek, but simple and sturdy at the same time. What I love most about this palette is the fact that five of the six shades are matte, and one is semi-matte or a satin finish shadow. This makes it my idea of heaven when it comes to everyday eye make-up. It's definitely a palette I can work with every single day, plus it gives me more of a reason to crack open the MAC Paint Pots on nights out! 

I've come to notice with other palettes there are only a few shades I'll actually use, but this is different. I can definitely say that all six shadows are wearable colours. If like me you love neutral tones like browns and golds, then this is definitely for you. I know that four of the shades in the palette are brand new to Urban Decay, and two are used in the original Naked Palettes. 

Venus - An off-white semi-matte shade perfect for highlighting

Foxy -  A matte ivory tone ideal for the inner corners of eyes

Walk of Shame - A matte light nude perfect for an underbase colour 

Naked 2 - Matte taupe shade, ideal for blending into the crease

Faint - A dusty brown matte ideal for a brown smokey eye

Crave - Jet black matte perfect for lining lower lash line

Every single shade is a dream to apply and I can't rate the pigmentation of each of them highly enough. One or two swipes of each pan is enough to work with. Not only that, but the staying power of these is amazing. Although I use a primer everyday, these really do stay put without creasing or budging out of place. I reckon they'd still do so even if primer wasn't used. Each shade is silky to the touch and blends into one another with ease. Another great thing about these is the fact that none of the shades are flaky, so you don't end up with those dreaded specs on the tops of your cheek or underneath your eye.

Overall, I'm so impressed with this palette - the hype was all worth it! I can't believe I hadn't picked it up sooner, but now I have it I'm looking forward to trying out different looks using different shades. Have you tried the Naked Basics palette from Urban Decay? What did you think?

♥