My lovely mum bought me the Naked palette as an early birthday present as I knew that it would sell out before then (my birthday is the 26th). My local Ulta got about 25 in so I nabbed one on Tuesday and got around to swatching it tonight.
This palette is pretty darn amazing, I must say. You have probably read numerous reviews and posts on it but I'll add my two cents -- 12 full size Urban Decay eyeshadows for $44?! Sign me up. It's a great deal and the colors will work on any skin tone and any one, no matter whether they are experienced or new to makeup. I will admit that there were one or two sort of dud shades for me but I think that could have been because I was swatching on my inner arm (which I'm inexperienced at) and also had put no primer on.
Anddd off we go! As always, you can click on the pics to see full sizes of the swatches:
The palette is sleek and lightweight, clothed in velvet. I love how crisp the lines are and the simplicity of it, yet it grabs your attention. Even my dad said "wow" when he saw me open it. I look forward to traveling with this. I've got to get Rob from the Richmond airport (about an hour and a half away) and we're staying overnight, so I will basically only be packing this, a mascara and my TFSI for makeup. It's right handy.
So I will individually review colors, off we go again:
Left to right we have Virgin, Sin, Naked and Sidecar.
Virgin is a wonderful satin-y highlighter shade. It blends in without too much shimmer, but isn't matte either. I really love the finish.
Sin is part of UD's regular line, and one of my personal favorites of their eyeshadows. It's a beautiful shimmering champagne. This is to UD fans as Kitten is to Stila fans, except I personally think this is prettier!
Naked is a new shade and is a light toned matte brown. I really like this, I think it will replace Texture as my "darkening the crease" shade when I'm doing neutral looks.
Sidecar is a shimmering caramel. I don't know if this is a permanent shade or not but it's quite lovely. Perfectly smooth and buttery in texture, applies nicely.
Left to right we have Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse
Buck is a darker version of Naked, to me anyway. I think this is an even better crease darkening color for maybe a nighttime neutral look. I think it would also be a good eyebrow color for natural redheads.
Half Baked is a sparkling darkened gold. This is a common shade in UD's palettes and I heard some complaints... but I have no palettes with this color so I was happy. It's definitely gorgeous!
Smog is another common shade featured in UD palettes. It's... well... the color of smog. Quite aptly named. I love it though so I was excited as the one in my Ammo palette is about to be showing pan. I feel like this one is darker though? Maybe I'm crazy...
Darkhorse is a new shade and it's really interesting. It's a deepened brown with slight gold shimmer. This, however, was a bit of a problem shade for me. It was applying unevenly on my arm. Again, it may have been the lack of primer.
Left to right we have Toasted, Hustle, Creep and Gunmetal. These were hard to photograph accurately.
Toasted is a buttery golden bronze. I think this is part of the permanent line -- regardless, I wanted it and now I have it. Lovely.
Hustle is similar to Darkhorse in the pan but is much more of a red toned brown when swatched. I can honestly say that I don't think they needed both -- I would have preferred a new shade, like a smokey purpley brown.
Creep is a sparkling black. It looks like it has some blue and silver sparkles, but they didn't transfer in the swatch. I don't think they will transfer when used on the eye, so for all intents and purposes... it's a black. A pretty one though.
Gunmetal is by far my favorite shade, even though it was a bear to photograph. It's a blueish gray with outrageous shimmer. Absolutely stunning -- can't wait to use this in a FOTD!
Lastly, the eyeliners:
Zero and Whiskey. Everyone knows Zero -- it's your basic matte black. I was running low on mine so happy to get a replacement. The other is a new one -- Whiskey, and it's a matte brown. Quite lovely despite what it is. You'd think it wouldn't be attractive but I think it goes well with the colors in the palette. The eyeliner is double ended.
And there you have it folks -- the Urban Decay palette. Wendy gives it an A-, only because of one or two kinda bummy shades. But overall, I think it's a great value and a definite must have if you have the money to shell out for it!
