Urban Decay 'Naked Basics' Palette (Review + Swatches)

Hey Everyone, 

When I first saw that Urban Decay had released their 'Naked Basics' palette, a mini palette featuring six neutral eyeshadows, I decided that, while pretty, I was going to be a 'good girl' and skip it. Of course, after seeing the palette in person, and getting a chance to swatch and play with it, my mind was quickly changed, and I decided I just had to have it (who didn't see that one coming?!). 

I have been using this palette every day since picking it up a couple of weeks ago, and have been pleasantly surprised by the variety of eye looks I have been able to create, from a simple, natural-looking, 'glowing' eye to a darker, full-on smoky look. I am more than impressed with the quality of the eyeshadows in this palette, and wanted to share my initial thoughts on the new Urban Decay 'Naked Basics' palette with you. 

Urban Decay's 'Naked Basics' shadows come in a small, rubber-like (think NARS packaging) palette, that opens via a small plastic clip. Unfortunately, I have had an extremely hard time opening this palette and have had to resort to using a pair of tweezers, or my teeth, to get it open (not sure if this is the usual case or if I got a 'dud'). Once opened, the palette contains six full sized shadows (0.05oz) and a nice sized mirror that allows you to get a close up view of your eyes when applying your makeup. Urban Decay's 'Naked Basics' palette is lightweight, compact and fits easily into a small purse, making it perfect for both travel, and daily on-the-go touchups. 

While Urban Decay claims that all of the shadows in this palette are matte, in my opinion, one shadow (Venus) has more of a satin finish. Nevertheless, all of the shadows are buttery smooth, extremely well pigmented, easy to blend, and apply like a dream. Like most super creamy shadows, the 'Naked Basics' shadows do have a good amount of fallout, however, a light tap of the brush allows for a mess-free application.

The Urban Decay 'Naked Basics' palette contains the following six shadows: 

Venus: 

'Venus' is a frosted, yellow-toned beige shadow with extremely finely milled iridescent silver shimmer. This shadow is incredibly smooth, easy to blend, and looks great as both an all-over-lid colour and a brow bone or inner corner highlight. 

Foxy: 

'Foxy' is a light, yellow-toned beige shadow with a completely matte finish. This shadow works nicely to even out lids (especially if you have a more yellow undertone to your skin), making a great base for any eyeshadow look. To be honest, this is my least favourite shadow in the palette as it is a repeat colour that was already featured in Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette (which I own).

W.O.S: 

W.O.S is a light, pink-toned beige shadow with a completely matte finish. This shadow is perfect for 'brightening-up' any eye look, and works nicely as both an all-over-lid colour, and an inner corner or brow bone highlight. Personally I like to place this colour in the centre of my lid, surrounded on either side by one of the darker shadows in the palette. 

Naked 2: 

'Naked 2' is light brown shadow with both grey and yellow undertones, and a completely matte finish. This shadows makes a great crease colour for lighter skin tones, as it gives the eyes definition and depth. 

Faint: 

'Faint' is a deep, grey-toned brown shadow with slight yellow undertones, and a completely matte finish. This colour makes a nice crease colour for darker skintones, as well as an outer corner colour for a light, neutral, smoky-eyed look. 

Crave: 

'Crave' is a dark black shadow with brown (think espresso) undertones, and a matte finish. This colour looks great on the outer corner of the lid as well as smudged along the lash line for a dark, smoky-eyed look. 

The Urban Decay 'Naked Basics' palette retails for $32 CND/$27 USD (a price difference, though not as bad as usual), and can be found at both Sephora and the Urban Decay websites. 

Overall, I am really impressed with the quality of this palette. With the exception of Foxy, all of the shadows in this palette are brand new colours that work nicely in a variety of everyday neutral looks. All of the shadows in this palette have a smooth, buttery consistency, are highly pigmented, and are super easy to blend. If you have been looking for an everyday neutral palette that is great for travel or on the go touchups, be sure to check this one out. 

Venus, Foxy, W.O.S

Naked 2, Faint, Crave

Have you tried Urban Decay's new 'Naked Basics' palette? Do you want to? Which of the eyeshadows contained in this palette would you use first? What is your all time favourite neutral eyeshadow palette? Be sure to let me know in the comment section below. 

xx

Alicia