Hey guys!
Long time no blog and I am super excited to be back, writing on here!
So I'm going to skip the re-introductions and what not and get straight to the point here: The new NAKED palette!
Now normally when Urban Decay would release a new palette in the Naked range, I would be jumping off the ceiling, bouncing off the walls and doing naked backflips off bridges. What a terrible image! But this time it's different.
Granted, when I first saw the sneak peak pictures, I was excited as Larry! I thought YES! This is all my dreams come true, my prayers have been answered and there is justice in the world...then I saw it in person!
Now, there is nothing particularly wrong with the palette itself and despite my first thoughts of a smokey palette not making sense in a range designed for natural eyeshadows, I like the idea of it.
Some people (myself kind of included) may argue the fact that the whole reason Urban Decay bought out the naked line, was to have a range of eyeshadows in a palette that you could use for more neutral looks. Naked=less dramatic, right!?
I don't think there is anything wrong with adding a smokey palette to this range, as let's be honest guys, the Naked line is rapidly running out of ideas. Surely the idea to put in a smokey range would get rid of the idea that all the palettes are too similiar? Wrong!
The problem I have with this palette overall is the fact that the colours are very similar to previous palettes and just not new or exciting enough to warrant buying! It makes me sad because I would have loved to of been excited for this palette, considering the majority of my makeup looks are darker, smokier and more intense. I just feel that the wrong colours were selected for a smokey palette. People that regularly do smokey eyes need something with a bit more wow factor when it comes to palettes, as to be honest most smokey colours are pretty straight forward. There are only so many blacks you need!
I haven't bought the palette itself so I can't post any pictures other than general ones from the internet. Nor can I give a proper review of the quality of the palette or how well they all work. I am going to give a little run through of the colours and my overall thoughts though.
Packaging:
The packaging is gorgeous! It really is! They've stuck to the usual "tin" type concept that the Naked 2 and 3 used but it's magnetic now so has that Naked 1 spice to it. In fact the whole palette looks rather Naked original like. The bottom is somewhat see through and it just has a cool look to it. It suits the fact it's the smoky palette and has some serious wow factor. It's the sort of palette you would be proud to have out on display on your vanity.
Shades:
The palette has 3 different types of shades! Shimmer, satin(ish) and matte. This bothers me. I personally like a palette to have ONE predominant style of shadow with the occasional shade thrown in there. I prefer mattes anyway, but especially with a smokey eye! I think if you are doing a smokey eye you should NEVER use dark shimmers! They crease a lot easier and are harder to use!
You start off with the first 3 colours. These are (for me, personally) the shades I would start off with in the crease. The building block shades. All the colours in this palette are pretty cool tone, which can work well for a more autumn/wintery smokey look, but I would have liked a few more warmer tones in there.
The first shade is High. It's a shimmer and a pinky, beigey shade. Nothing particularly standout and reminds me of something that would fit in well (moderated version of shades) in the Naked 3.
Second shade is DirtySweet, it's another shimmer and it's a faded gold. I really like this colour but it doesn't really stand out for me and I'm not sure if I would included it in this kind of palette. I don't think it's a classic, all over the lid colour for a traditional smokey eye and it wouldn't work in the crease.
The third shade is Radar. Radar is another shimmer and it's a strange, shimmery brown. Again, I'm not sure where I would use this is a smokey eye and it would probably end up being one of the shades I didn't really use. It is a pretty colour though!
The next section goes into, what I would call, the true smokey stage. Now when I think of a typical smokey eye, I think of three looks. 1. The white/light colour all over the lid and dark colours in the crease and outer V. 2. The same as 1 but with a grey or blueish tone over the lid. 3. The intense, heavy, dark all over. That was a bad roundup but I know what I'm thinking haha. Basically to me this section is the one that represents that traditional smokey eye shades list.
This section starts at Armour and ends at Smolder. Armour, Slanted, Dagger, Black Market, Smolder.
Armour is another weird shade for me. It's a shimmer and to me a grey mixed with a brown. I'm not even sure how to describe this shade. I like to look at it but I feel it would be hard to use and incorporate into a day to day smokey eye. If Radar and Slanted had a baby, it would be Armour.
Slanted is the fifth shade in the palette and it's a satin. To me it's still pretty shimmery but I could work a lot better with this one! It's a nice cool tone grey mixed with a dark silver. It reminds me of a darker version of Verve from Naked 2, which is my favourite shade from that palette! I like this oe and I could imagine using it a lot.
Dagger is a really nice Satin shade. I can imagine it would come out a lot lighter than it looks in the pan but I really like it. It's a charcoal/gray sort of colour. Pretty standard and nothing particularly special.
Black Market is a recycled satin, originally found in the Vice original palette. It's a satin black (ish) colour and it's not the kind of black that you would use for a really intense look, but it looks like it would blend easily and be used for a more subtle smoke rather than a deep, dark, cut crease.
Smolder is the 8th shade in the palette and it's the only really stand out colourful shade. This is a muted satin purple /eggplant type shade. It looks beautiful and would be good to create something different and play around with.
The last 4 shades are matte. Password, Whiskey, Combust and finally Thirteen.
The 9th colour in the palette is Password. This is quite possibly my favourite shade in this palette. It's basic but it's a nice cool toned dark grey, with some brownish highlights.
Whiskey is number 10 and its a pretty basic brown. It's very chocolate and looks useful though I'm not sure it's anything new or special.
Combust is so beautiful! It's a pink/beige beautiful shade. It's the shade I would start the crease with and use to transition! It looks useable and has a nice tone to it.
The last colour is Thirteen, which is the typical, token highlight/inner corner shade. It's basic but it's an off white and I think it would be a good highlight shade for a darker smokey eye , as it looks a lot more natural in contrast than a white or shimmery white.
The more I look at it and watch tutorials/videos about it, the more I like it. However, I do think it's a palette that I don't particularly need. I already own Naked 1,2, 3 and basics plus the UD Smoked palette and the majority of my MAC shades are darker or suitable smokey eye colours. I wasn't particularly wowed by it and I feel like for something that could have been really different to the other naked palettes, it didn't really live up to its potential unfortunately. I still think it's a nice palette and will most likely buy one when I have some spare cash, but it's not a definite run out and buy it, must own kind of thing. I think to be honest, most makeup fans will end up buying this as part of the collection, rather than because they want the actual palette. I have a feeling it will sit in my palette draw and not be used as much and I'm just not excited enough about it, but I will give in eventually I'm sure of that!
I also haven't seen much hype about it so maybe it's not that popular? Anyway, let me know what you think of the colours and palette itself!
Have you bought it? Are you disappointed?
Thanks so much for reading and hope to hear from you soon.
Bea.
@BeaDoesItBetter
