The packaging for the NAKED palette is surprisingly elegant and minimalistic in comparison to other Urban Decay palettes. The velvety-soft covered cardboard is pleasant to the touch, but has the bad habit of picking up whatever it has been around (swatches, cat hair, lint, tribbles, smoking, the clap...). The thin gold "NAKED" stamped across the front is quite stunning when the palette is new since the brown exterior is rather complementary, unfortunately over time the letters start to break down after normal wear and tear which is a bit sad. The mini Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original that comes with it is in the vintage "Genie bottle" packaging. The one I have pictured above is a relatively untouched bottle so it looks rather attractive, but over time the exterior paint(?) wears off to reveal a white bottle underneath.
The interior is a sheet of sturdy paper that is an iced mocha-esque color which also has the gold "NAKED" stamped into it. The mirror with this palette is a bit small and dismal in comparison to recent Urban Decay released like the NAKED2 or the Vice Palette. The 12 pans of eyeshadows are set equidistant from each other and sort of go from light to dark... ish. The trench at the bottom of the palette would normally hold a double ended 24/7 eyeliner pencil or a synthetic brush depending on how long ago you purchased the NAKED Palette, but my synthetic brush seems to have ran off some where...
The little bottle of Primer Potion comes in a frosty purple hard and shapely bottle with a silver cap and has a doe foot applicator. Not much else to report.
The 12 eyeshadows are primarily warmer shades (the majority of which being browns and bronzes), especially when compared to the NAKED2 Palette. Since blogger doesn't like to play nice with my pictures, here are the names of the eyeshadows from left to right:
- Virgin
- Sin
- Naked
- Sidecar
- Buck
- Half Baked
- Smog
- Darkhorse
- Toasted
- Hustle
- Creep
- Gunmetal
Here are all of the shadows swatched in order over primer without flash.
And here are all of the shadows swatched in order over primer with flash.
Like pretty much all Urban Decay shadows, these are very soft, very pigmented, and easy to work with. Obviously some shadows perform better than others. The wet noodles of the palette are Naked (ironically), and Creep. The rest of the shades perform very well with the exception of fall out from a few (mostly Sidecar though).
In all honestly, I love this palette. It may have some durability issues with the packaging and some of the eyeshadows either underperform or make your cheeks look like disco balls, but over all this is a pretty phenomenal product. The selection of shades is very pleasing and the fact that it's so neutral makes it appropriate for just about every occasion.
Price: It's currently retailing for $50, but when I bought it, it was only $48. HOWEVER it was originally $44 two years ago. C'mon, UD... the recession isn't THAT bad!
Size: Each shadow has 1.3g of product
Where to buy: Urban Decay counters, Urbandecay.com, Sephora, Ulta
Colors/Finish (according to the Urban Decay website for the most part):
- Virgin: Cool pale beige, satin
- Sin: Champagne, shimmer
- Naked: Nude, matte
- Sidecar: Pale bronze with silver glitter, shimmer and sparkle
- Buck: Fawn brown, matte
- Half Baked: Golden bronze, shimmer
- Smog: Deep coppery bronze, shimmer
- Darkhorse: Deep mocha, shimmer
- Toasted: Shimmery antique copper penny, shimmer
- Hustle: Deep plum, satin
- Creep: Onyx with gold glitter, shimmer and sparkle
- Gunmetal: Dark metallic gray with silver micro-glitter, shimmer and sparkle
Pros:
- The packaging is very shock absorbant
- Delicious range of neutrals
- Reasonable range of finishes
- Comes with a mini primer
- Comes with a brush
- Excellent value for 12 eyeshadows, an eyeshadow brush, and a primer
- Most shades have amazing color payoff, texture, and blendability
Cons:
- Sidecar is a bit of a glitter bomb if not used with a mixing medium
- Naked and Creep could use some improvement in the pigmentation department
- The packaging does not age gracefully
Overall Rating: 9.5/10
love love this palette. as you said, the packaging isn't very durable. Mine is literally torn up!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE my naked palette! Use it all the time (and trust me I have a lot of palettes) but still regularly reach for this one over the rest :) I have a love/hate relationship with the packaging because it absorbs shock well so if I drop it there is less chance of shadow breakages!
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