Urban Decay Naked palette

I know this product has been reviewed to death but seen as I've only just jumped on the bandwagon I'm excited to reveal my thoughts on the cult product that everyone seems to have. Ever since I started blogging which was in November, I have heard an unbelievable amount about the Urban Decay NAKED palette, more than any other product on the blogging scene. This of course, means that surely it must be pretty special if everyone uses it and raves about it, prompting me to finally bite the bullet and invest in it. I have heard the Naked 2 palette is supposedly even better than this, however I thought I may as well start with the original first as this is the one that started the hype.

First of all, the packaging is pretty special as it comes in this gorgeous velvet case. It is an ideal size for carrying around, especially if you travel a lot which is understandably, why a lot of make-up artists class this as a must have for on the go. This palette comes with a shadow karma brush which is really soft and the ideal flat size for layering base colouring on the lids. The sizes of each of the 12 shadows are also ideal; they are large enough to get good use out of them but not too huge a size that you won't get through. 

As a lot of people can guess, given by my abundance of eye make-up posts, eye make-up is my favorite aspect of the face. I am particularly drawn to nude shades and deep browns, therefore this palette is perfect for me. I honestly believe that this is the only palette you will ever properly need; it contains all the basic every day shades, but also several more glamorous shades to give you the possibility to create a variation of different looks, you are not just confined to the same tones in shadow like some palettes. It is an extremely wearable palette that will give your look an extra glamour, yet you can still keep it fairly natural. The majority of the shadows are extremely shimmery which is ideal for me because I love this quality, yet if you don't like the shimmery look it may be a good idea to go with another palette. There are nonetheless, a few matte shadows here to give you the variation to mix it up a bit. As would be expected from Urban Decay, all these shadows are extremely pigmented with intense colour, and they stay on really well all night, although a lot of this is also thanks to a brilliant primer. 

The first half of this palette- 'Virgin' to 'Half Baked'- contains what I would class as the more wearable, neutral shades which are great for day to day wear, but are still looks that will take you through to evening wear.     

The first shade, 'Virgin' is the most beautiful highlighter ever as it is not just a solid white shade which is what I normally wear, it has specks of pale pink shimmer which catch the light and of course, highlight the brow bone and tear-duct. 'Half Baked' is the shad I've probably heard the most buzz about, it is a pale gold colour which is really shimmery but also extremely wearable. Great as acting as a base colour and then contouring the eye with the darker tones (see my previous post). 

These next set of shades- 'Smog' to 'Gunmetal'- are a lot more exciting in colour. These are all really shimmery but still manage to be super pigmented also, often a flaw in some shimmery eye shadows. I absolutely adore 'Gunmetal' because it is not just a block black, it is a really dark almost black navy with hints of silver. This makes it not as heavy, it is a lot more wearable and subtle; glamorous as opposed to dark and quite overpowering. I think this would be absolutely divine in the crease, with 'Hustle' or 'Toasted' underneath to create a different kind of smokey eye.

Overall I adore this palette and can't believe it took me so long to finally buy! From now on this will be a firm staple in my make-up kit as there are so many different looks I can envision already. I can at last see what all the hype is that circulated this product, despite the price tag of £36 which I thought was a little steep, I think this product is ultimately worth it. However I would say only buy it if you know that you will wear all/the vast majority of these shades. I brought this because I always wear browns and nudes, fairly neutral colours but also deeper darker tones. I'm not a huge fan of one-off block colour shades which you can only wear with certain outfits, whereas with this palette I know I will get a lot of use out of it as I adore all the colours. If you think that this palette is too extortionate, you should opt for the MUA 'Heaven and Earth' palette which I also have, and it is actually a pretty good dupe for this. It has a lot of similar nudes, yet not the darker tones yet another of their palettes include these. The colours are also great, yet the Urban Decay shadows do have better staying power I've noticed and are generally better quality, which is no surprise due to the hefty price. Altogether though, with the brush and 12 shadows included I think it is a pretty good investment, it is something that you will have for ages and you'll be surprised by the amount of looks that you can create with this palette alone. 

If you are one of many who have also tried this, what do you think of it?

Have you tried the Naked 2 palette?

xxx