Monday, 11 October 2010

Review: Naked palette by Urban Decay


Spoiler alert; I think that this palette is a must own - there's plenty here for every skintone AND all of the shades go with every eye colour. If you prefer neutral this is perfect and if you like a bit of colour this is still a fantastic set: you can easily blend a bit of coloured eyeshadow or liner - the possibilities are endless.

I've had my palette for a little while now and I've used every shadow at least twice and am very impressed by how versatile the colours are; Night, day, natural or dramatic - there are so many things to try here, so it doesn't matter if you are like me [a make-up junkie]...



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Contents
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EYESHADOWS

Virgin - Shimmering ivory *
Sin - Champagne, with shimmer finish.
Naked - A matt fawn *
Sidecar - A similar fawn/soft brown shade to Naked, only with a shimmering finish *
Buck - A soft, medium brown with a matt finish *
Half Baked - Light, shimmery bronze.
Smog - Medium bronze with shimmering finish.
Dark Horse - A rich milk chocolate shade with silver micro glitter *
Toasted - Rich, shimmering copper.
Hustle - Similar shade to Dark Horse, but with a matt finish *
Creep - Black with silver micro glitter. Similar to NARS best-selling Night Crawler *
Gunmetal - Dark grey with silver micro shimmer


* Exclusive to this palette.

[The back of the outer packaging says that only four shades are new, but after revisiting both the website and my nearest Urban Decay counter I saw that seven shades are unavailable to buy separately]


24/7 EYELINING PENCIL
[Double ended version]

Zero - Traditional black kohl & Whiskey - A warm brown


Primer Potion - 3.7 ml

You apply it on your eyelid [and under your eye too if you'll be smudging shadow there] and blend with a finger.

Using a primer will prolong the wear of your shadow and make the colour appear more vibrant. I've worn my eyeshadow for over twelve hours quite a few times and it still looked freshly applied.


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Wear
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EYESHADOWS

All of the shadows are so finely grained, highly pigmented and apply so creamily [their actually all powders] - the shimmers, the matte and the micro glitter shades.

As you'd expect from such a rich shadow, the application, blending ability and wear is exceptional - over ten years after buying my first Urban Decay shadow I have yet to find a comparable product. The shimmer finishes are again the best wearing; they wear though my working day, even without using the primer potion - over eight hours, and this time the matt shadows also wear well without primer *, although not as well as the other finishes - about five hours alone. Maybe they've changed the formula as none of Urban Decay's previous matt shadows have impressed me.

*The shade Creep is the only exception. To get the best colour pay-off apply with a damp brush.


The micro glitters are contain finer glitter particles then Urban Decay's regular glitter finishes, so I've never had any problems with product fallout. But if you do experience some then use sellotape to remove the glitter from your skin - wiping it will push it further into your make-up.


24/7 EYELINING PENCILS

The pencils are a creamy formula, so they don't drag across the skin, so there is no scratching to the skin. Once applied to the lid, the liner will stay put until I wash it off.

I don't know if they've changed the formula for the liner, but I can actually rim my waterline - something that I'm not able to do with my other 24/7 liners. I can also smudge the line out before it sets if I want [it takes about 30 seconds] - this is also very difficult with my older 24/7 liners.


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 My usual routine is to use one shade over my lid, then pick the shade that is slightly darker for my crease, then I use either Creep or Gunmetal as a liner on my upper lid and smudge it into the lighter shadow.

Out of the twelve shadows in this set only one isn't very impressive; Once again it's Urban Decay's black shade [Creep], the colour applies as a similar grey to Gunmetal dry and it shows wear the quickest. But then again black isn't really a day-to-day shade [not for me anyway], so I don't use it as a shadow anyway. But if you do, then the primer potion and being prepared to layer is a must.


Here comes the guilt-easing math bit:

Individual eyeshadows; £12.50 [x12]
24/7 eyeliners; £11
Primer Potion; £11.50
= £183.50


Urban Decay do not test on animals.


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Suggested combinations
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These looks weren't created by me they're from makeupgeek.com, which is a Youtube channel run by a professional make-up artist - Marlena. I've wrote them here as I regularly wear both looks myself and highly recommend them both as they utilise the colours and once you've recreated them you'll know where to place different shades and be inspired to mix and match them up, to get the most out of this palette.


Kim Kardashian

Apply Hustle over the entire lid and smudge the powder line, taking it slightly into the crease. Then blend Naked into the crease over this and take the line slightly pass the crease.

Line both the upper and lower waterline with Zero. Line the lid in Zero using a thick line - you can then smudge the line if you want.

Finally; Smudge Half Baked under inner third of lashes, Smog under the middle third and Creep under the outer third.


Jennifer Love Hewitt in Ghost Whisperer
[This is my go-to look. It sounds full on now I've wrote it down, but it actually looks minimal and polished. I think it can be worn to work]

Start with Smog over the lid - leaving the inner third empty. Then apply Half Baked on the inner third of lid and blend slightly over Smog. Next blend Naked [use Buff if you're dark skinned] into and slightly above the crease.

Smudge Half Baked under the inner third of the lower lashes and Smog under the outer two thirds.

Use Creep as a liner on the outer half of the upper lid and smudge it up and out past the lid slightly, to the outer V of the eye, and smudge it down so that it blends into Smog under the lower lashes.

Line the upper and lower waterline with Zero, or you can use Whiskey for a softer look.

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