Urban Decay has been successfully winning fans with its Naked series of easy-to-wear neutral eyeshadow palettes for years. And now, for a change, the brand has released a Smoky palette for evening looks. I was looking forward to trying it out as I’m a fan of smoky eye looks, and have enjoyed past releases such as the Pulp Fiction palette from last Fall [reviewed here]. Thanks to a dear friend, I was able to play with it for the last couple of weeks, and would like to share my thoughts with you today.
The latest Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette consists of 12 shades ranging from beige to black. Unlike the usual nude palettes, the Smoky palette has a variety of color injected, particularly blue and purple, although these have a strong grey-cast to them.
The swatches from left to right of the palette are:
I’ve never owned any of the Naked palettes in the past so I can’t offer any comparisons. However, when stacked next to last year’s Vice 3 palette and the Pulp Fiction palette, the textures and pigmentation of Naked Smoky seems a little lacking. In particular, I found the darker shades to be dry and lacked pigmentation, especially Slanted, Dagger, Black Market and Password.
Here are a few eye looks to give you an idea of how they perform:
For this eye look, I first applied Password all over the lid as a base color up to the crease. Then I layered on Slanted on the inner half of my lid, followed by Dagger on the outer half. Finished by lining the outer half of my upper lash line smudging out with Black Market. Also lined bottom lash line with Black Market and dabbed some Armor to the inner corner to complete. Also patted on some Armor to the center of my lids for a bit of pop.
The full look in context:
And here’s a 2nd eye look featuring the browns:
For this 2nd eye look, I started with a base layer of Combust, then applied Radar to the inner half of my lid. Next I added Whiskey to the outer corner, and dabbed on Dirtysweet to the center of my lid. Because I felt Whiskey wasn’t dark enough on its own to “finish” the look, I added some Black Market to the outer wing, keeping close to the lash line and smudging upwards.
And here is the full look in context:
Priced at SGD83 for 12×1.3gm of product, it is hard to nitpick. Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette performs well when applied on the lids, giving a good number of options for creating various types of eye looks. I did have some problems with fading after 6 hours and minor creasing around my folds, so I would recommend the use of a good primer for those who have oily lids.
This palette was kindly loaned to me by Alene aka Paperkitties. Do show some love, and pop over to check out her perspective on this palette and other UD goodies here!
As usual I don”t have any problem with creasing and stuff on me but I don’t like how these eye shadows reflect the light, it is so linear, not very complex and sometimes even a bit too frosty for my taste. That said I ended up with all the other three and probably I will buy this one too just because I can’t tame my inner make-up collecting monster. I am ashamed, maybe need a therapy lol. Thanks for the swatches xox
Yes you’re right…. but seriously at this price point…. …… Hahaha i hear you on collecting them all! We all need therapy!
Looks great on you Linda! I’ve got the very first and the third naked palette and I like them for everyday looks or for how practical they can be as the only palette I take with when I go on holiday! I am not amazed by staying power either although they perform well on top of the UD primers which are provided. About 9 hours on me. I have seen this one but I don’t think I need it this time and although I love a smokey eye, I have enough option in my collection for now. Thanks for the review!
Hi Eleni, I tend to skip big palettes when i travel as they tend to get bulky and smashed. You probably don’t need this if you’ve got lots of smoky alternatives! But that was how I felt about the neutrals too… lol
I definitely don’t need another palette… but for someone who might not have many eye shadows, this I think is value for money for sure. Love both the eye looks you created though… especially the blacker one. Sexy!
Thanks Lily! Yes you’re right, value for money for sure!
Hey Linda, thanks for the review and looks! I saw this during the launch event here (FINALLY), but there were so many people so I didn’t swatch it. Sad to hear the texture isn’t THAT great tho!
Yeah.. surprising as I generally like UD textures! Cant wait to see what you think about the palette!