Urban Decay Naked Smoky eye shadow palette

When Urban Decay announced their 4th and latest installment of their  Naked eye shadow palette series, I wasn’t convinced. I already own Naked 1, 2 and 3, so when I saw another one being released I just wasn’t sure I needed this palette or that it would be a great addition to my collection. Smokey looks aren’t necessarily my favorite look to create. But then I stepped into Sephora and a classic case of: I came, swatched and bought, had happened in a heartbeat.

Urban Decay Naked Smoky eyeshadow palette

Urban Decay Naked Smoky retails for 54 dollars or €49.90. For that amount of money you get 12 eye shadows. Nine of these shadows are unique to this palette. Radar and Armour were already part of Vice 1 and 2. Each eye shadow has 1.3 grams of product.

The palette contains 5 shimmers, three satins, and 4 mattes. There is a range of shades from neutrals to deep and smokey shades ranging from greys to purples. There is a mixture of warm and cool tones, but overall the palettes veers more cool toned than warm.

Some information on the box, that is as pretty as the palette itself. From the UD website:

The key to nailing the most sought-after and elusive eye look ever? Naked Smoky—loaded with ALL the essentials you need for the perfect neutral smoky eye. A true range of shades. The perfect brushes. And detailed tutorials.

We packed this palette with a dozen sultry, smoky neutrals, including nine never-before-seen shades and three exclusives from past palettes. Experiment with warm bronzes, dimensional grays, rich browns, gorgeous taupes and deep black. From mattes and satins to shades with sparkle, Naked Smoky has it all. Each shade in Naked Smoky features our Pigment Infusion System™, the proprietary blend of ingredients that gives every shade its velvety texture, rich color, serious staying power and blendability.

Inside the box there is a leaflet with instructions for creating several different looks. Usually I throw these out, but when I had a good look at these, I thought they could be really handy. So for once, a palette comes with useful information.

On the box you can also find the ingredients. The palette also comes with a double ended brush. That is one thing Urban Decay gets right. Most of their palettes come with a brush like this and each is tailored to the needs of the palette. This one comes with a dense smudge like brush on one end and a more fluffy blending brush on the other. I love taking these with me when I’m traveling as they are handy and get the job done.

Enough chit chat, let’s get on with the main star of the show: the palette itself. Out of all the Naked palettes the Naked Smoky palette is quite possibly the prettiest. The gun metal colored case with a smoky swirl looks classy and chic.

On the inside there is a mirror the size of the lid, which is a plus. The opening and closure of the palette is also improved. It now can easily sit on your table without it falling over. A problem both Naked 2 and 3 suffer from as the mirrored lid is heavier than the bottom. Naked 1 is made out of cardboard covered with velvet: it gets dirty easily and the cardboard isn’t all that sturdy. This has all the perks: Naked Smoky has sturdy packaging, doesn’t fall over and it looks pretty. On to the colors (descriptions are by Urban Decay)!

High – Dirtysweet

High: champagne shimmer w/micro-glitter
Dirtysweet: medium bronze

Radar – Armor

Radar: metallic taupe w/iridescent micro-glitter
Armor: metallic silver-taupe w/tonal sparkle

Slanted – Dagger

Slanted: light metallic gray
Dagger: medium charcoal w/micro-shimmer

Black Market – Smolder

Black Market: jet-black satin
Smolder: deep plum-taupe

Password – Whiskey

Password: cool taupe matte
Whiskey: rich brown matte

Combust – Thirteen

Combust: soft pink-taupe
Thirteen: light beige satin

The palette is laid out from most sparkly to matte. That is a change from the previous Urban Decay Naked palettes, which are all laid out from lightest to darkest. Here, the darkest shade is in the middle with the left side building up to a dark greyish black through bronze, taupes and greys and then peeters out to the right through purple and mattes that go into a creamy white.

High – Dirtysweet – Radar – Armor – Slanted – Dagger – Black Market – Smolder – Password – Whiskey – Combust – Thirteen

Now remember that when I looked at the palette I didn’t think this would be a necessary purchase, but when I swatched I did. And I guess you can see why when you look at the above picture. These shades are all saturated with pigment, they are buttery soft and creamy and lead to little to no fall out. Even the glittery shades.

And the matte shades. The matte shades go on without trouble and all these shades blend easily without disappearing into nothingness. Take into account a couple of stunningly unique shades and you’re in for a winner.

My favorite shades are Slanted, Dagger, Smolder, Whiskey and Combust. Armor and Radar were already part of my collection and 2 of my favorite shades from the Vice palettes they already appeared in, so naturally I love having there here too. High, Password and Thirteen are all great staples. The only shade I am not feeling is Black Market, but then again that goes for almost any black eye shadow in history.

Let’s do some looks shall we?

Look 1:
Dirtysweet (lid)
Radar (lid)
High (inner corner)
Slanted (crease)
Dagger (outer V)
Smolder (lower lash line)Thirteen (brow bone)
Combust (blend out shade for crease)

My goal for this look was to try and incorporate as many of the shades as possible. I added some nude liner on my water line to open up the eyes more and kept the lips fairly neutral.

Look 2:
Slanted (all over lid, crease & lower lash line)
Armor (pressed onto center of the lid)
High (inner corner)
Combust (blend out shade)

On to the second and my favorite look. When I made the first look, I noticed the beauty that is Slanted. It has a bit of a blue undertone, so I decided to play up that tone by adding a dark blue kohl pencil (Zoeva Blue Lotus) along the lash line and on the water line. I topped it off with a whole lot of mascara and went with a neutral lip. I am wearing Kat Von D Beloved liquid lipstick.

Look 3:
Smolder (all over lid)
Password (crease)
Thirteen (brow bone)
Combust (blend out shade)
Black Market (Outer V & outer third of lower lash line)

For the final look, I decided to use that gorgeous purple. Unfortunately on my light skin it looks so dark that it is almost black and thus indistinguishable from Black Market. The pictures are also a tad dark and blurry due to the fact that I had to take these pictures early in the morning before going out for work. I went dark on top, and something lighter on the bottom as I feel that all dark would make my eyes look too small.

As you can see, it is easy to create a number of different looks with this palette. It does feature mostly cool toned shades, so that has to be your cup of tea. If you like creating darker looks this is no problem with this palette, but also more neutral looks are easy to whip up with some of the lighter shades. But since I already own the first three Naked palettes, I feel that I will be using the Urban Decay Naked Smoky palette for doing just that: smokey looks.

To conclude, I think I should answer the question whether you need this palette in your life, especially if you already own one or all of the other Naked palettes. I think this is a great palette in the series, because it really adds something new. It isn’t ‘naked’ per se and if you don’t like wearing more full on eye looks, I don’t think this is for you. But if you’re like me, and you don’t mind going all out with your eye looks even for a day time look, than this palette is for you. The texture is bang on, the colors are unique and interesting and the shadows work well as they blend easily and apply like a dream. Yes, I am loving this palette!

What do you think of the Naked Smoky palette?