Urban Decay Naked Basics

Urban Decay does it again! Make a great eyeshadow palette that is. Oh yes, let’s not beat around the bush on this one. The Urban Decay Naked Basics eyeshadow palette is a must have for all lovers of neutral eye looks, easy to use and versatile palettes, as well as matte eyeshadows. It is Urban Decay’s first matte eyeshadow palette and contains 4 new shades. So even if you already have plenty of Urban Decay shadows to go around, this will still be an addition to your collection.

Urban Decay Naked Basics eyeshadow palette

Naked Basics is a small and handy palette that contains 6 different eyeshadow colors. One of them has a slight shimmer to them, the rest are all matte. The palette retails for $28/€22. I bought mine on Beautybay but other online retailers also sell this palette and Sephora.com now also ships to a selection of European countries such as the UK and The Netherlands. When it was first released I had no interest in it. I own so many neutral eyeshadows already and plenty of them are matte. But then I saw a Dutch beautyblogger naming this as a favorite and I started looking up reviews and thought: I need this!

The palette is made of a sturdy compact and is small. It fits right in the palm of my hand. There is a mirror inside which covers the top half of the lid. Despite its handy size, this palette doesn’t come with a brush. Which is a shame, because that would make it even handier for taking along when you travel. Such a slim and small compact namely makes the ideal size for a travel palette.

The shades in the palette are as follows:

• Venus (soft, off-white demi-matte)
• Foxy (very light yellow/white matte)
• Walk of Shame (very light nude matte)
• Naked2 (taupe matte)
• Faint (warm, dusty brown matte)
• Crave (deepest, darkest brown/black matte)

The only shade which isn’t matte is the first highlighter Venus. It has a very subtle shimmer, which actually makes this a perfect highlighter to go with an otherwise matte eye look. Foxy could be used both as a highlight or overall lid shade. Then moving on to my favorite shade in this palette: Walk of Shame (WOS). This flesh toned shade could again function as both a highlight or overall lid shade, but I prefer it for the latter. Naked 2 is a great transition or crease shade, but could also be worn as an overall lid color if you’re looking for something darker. Faint makes creating a crease and outer V easy peasy and Crave does all that but of course would also be perfect for creating that smokey eyeliner look.

All shadows are buttery soft and swatch and blend like a dream. The only troublesome color in this palette is Crave, which feels a little bit chalky. It is still very pigmented, as are the other shades in this palette, but it’s not as smooth as the rest. You can clearly see that in the swatch. Foxy is a bit yellow for me, but I found it works very nicely as an inner corner highlighting shade for me. And I hope you can see why WOS is my favorite shade? This shade goes perfectly with my skin tone and thus is the most versatile shade in this palette for me. I did a look using all these shadows a little while ago, check that out here.

This tiny palette is one of my favorite make up buys in a long time. One, it’s versatile. you can wear all these shadows on their own and create different looks already, let alone what you can do when you start pairing these together. Each shade can be used in multiple ways and ALL of them can be combined, instead of just a few. Secondly, it’s got a handy size: it’s easy to throw in a purse or overnight bag to take your look from day to night or for a quick fix on a short trip. And lastly, the quality is just A+ amazing. This palette swiftly made its way onto my “what to use when I’m stuck in a make up rut” go to list.

What do you think of Urban Decay Naked Basic?