Urban Decay Naked Smoky is Here!

Hello Beautiful Ones!

I don't know about you but whenever an exciting new palette lands in the beauty world I usually end up thinking to myself "you definitely don't need a new eyeshadow palette you lunatic," and then I inevitably buy said palette because I have no willpower (I think we've established that haven't we?). This week Urban Decay launched something I could just not pass up, the highly anticipated Naked Smoky Eyeshadow Palette.

I should probably let you know that I own the original Naked palette, but have managed to keep myself from buying the Naked2 and Naked3 (see, I can control myself sometimes). But this new one looked like it had some colors that I could really get some use out of from day to day. It's easier to justify the $54 price tag when you feel that you can get a lot of versatile use out of a palette.

Let's start as always with the packaging. The outside packaging has a smoky/marbly (is that a word?) look to it. It just so happens to look gorgeous on my marble tiled table. Would it be weird if I displayed my eyeshadow in my entryway? Nevermind, don't answer that. The packaging is plastic and seems sturdy. My only complaint here is that it does seem a little heavy, and almost clunky. I also fear what might happen if I were to drop it on my bathroom floor with my butterfingers. But with that being said, I love that you get a very large mirror on the inside. It kind of annoys me when some palettes use what could be extra mirror space to add some more useless plastic (rant over).

Another handy feature? The palette comes with a double ended brush. To be honest I usually prefer to use my own everyday makeup brushes, but the brush is helpful if you're going to just grab the palette and go. One end of the brush is your standard eyeshadow shape and the other side is a standard crease shape. Good job Urban Decay!

Now let's get to the main event: colors! Even though this palette is marketed as the perfect tool to make any smoky eye look, I still think it can easily be used for day time. If you take the shades from left to right, you will notice that it starts out with shimmers and then gradually transitions into mattes. I personally gravitate towards shimmers so those are the ones that I noticed first.

Let's start with the shimmers first. I am obsessed with the first four in particular. I could wear the combination of High and Dirtysweet every single day. High reminds me a little of Sidecar from the original palette, except that the specks of glitter aren't so large making it more suitable for every day. Dirtysweet is your typical gold shimmer, and Radar is a nice brown shimmer. Armor is a lovely gray metallic with a lot of dimension, I feel like you could do some really cool things with that one! Slanted and Dagger have less shimmer, but both have great color payoff.

Black Market is a nice black matte to have in your collection, but it does have a hint of glitter. I wish that Smolder came off a little more purple when you swatch it, but I think it might look really cool on the lower lashline. Password is a very nice grey matte, while Whiskey is an equally nice brown matte. I haven't made up my mind on Combust and Thirteen. The color payoff is almost nonexistent on my fair skin, I'm just not sure that I can make them work. However, Thirteen could possibly be used as a highlighter if I cake it on. They would probably work if you have a darker complexion though.

All in all, the quality of these shadows is exactly what you would expect from an Urban Decay Naked palette at this point. Very creamy and lovely. The staying power is also good (I always use a shadow primer), but I have yet to see any creasing or rub off. At the end of the day did I need this palette? No I didn't, but I am very happy with it. Treat yo self right? Let me know if you plan on splurging on this one (or if you already have)!

XO- Brittney

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