The Naked Palettes are always hyped to be the ultimate palette, so naturally I had to hop aboard the bandwagon and try one out for myself. I opted for the Naked 2 on recommendation of the UD (Urban Decay) make up artist at the counter and have been using it on-and-off for the past couple of months. Now I've got a pretty clear idea of my view point on the palette, I figured I'd share my opinions with you.
Shade range...
Single swatches over primer...
Ok, let's start with the pros. These shadows, as you can see above, are pigmented as anything. Although UD provides a high quality, cruelty-free (brownie points!!) double ended brush along with the palette, I find that the shades are best applied with a finger, and one swipe is all you need for a saturated wash of shadow. The 12 shades included are a combination of finishes, with some mattes but mostly shimmers. My favourites are: Tease for easy, neutral crease definition; Blackout for the perfect bold upper lash lining; and Booty Call because I'm a sucker for a good champagne shade. I'm also a big fan of YDK, a stand-out warm rose-gold taupe in an otherwise very cool-toned palette. The packaging is (by this point) pretty iconic and is also quite sturdy, made from taupe metal with brown detail and a hinged lid. For these reasons, I'm not surprised people rave about the Naked palettes.
However, onto the flip side and lesser talked about negatives of the product...
The shades, although pigmented, I wouldn't describe as buttery. I think it's because of this that they are really quite difficult to blend out to get a 'seamless' look. They take a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with a brush to become nicely blended, and it can be time consuming and overall not a great move for delicate eyelids. They work perfectly as stand alone all-over-lid-shades, but a smokey eye of any kind takes a lot of working to achieve with these badboys.
Another downside for me was that this formula irritated my eyes - and badly. I do have sensitive skin and eye area, but high end shadows rarely ever aggravate it. Needless to say, this reaction surprised me - due to the price point, as well as the fact that none of the formulas contain any parabens, unlike it's original Naked Palette sister. The shadows feel quite heavy on the lid, which may be what leads my eyes to water and itch. I also found that the more metallic shades tend to emphasize fine lines around the eye area.
So there you have it. With all the hype and love for this palette, there's no denying UD are definitely doing something right. My recommendation is to definitely go in store to seek advice and test out which palette will suit you. Don't have a UD counter nearby? Experiment with the £4 MUA 'Undressed' and 'Undress Me Too' palettes available at most Superdrug stores for practically exact colour dupes and find what's most suitable for your skin tone. Don't get me wrong, the Naked palettes will and do work for a lot of people - but not all. I'm a huge fan of the brand in general, but for the hefty £37, I thought it would be a little bit different and perhaps useful to lay out the down sides to the palette. No hate here.
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