Last week we vowed to reveiw and recommend some of our most loved and lusted after products, both old classics and new for Christmas 2012- queue, the ‘Naked’ pallet by Urban Decay. This little gem is hardly a newcomer having launched August 2010 and immediately gaining glowing reviews. Now trivial as it may ssem, the single barrier to buying this for me, was been the brown suede casing- not a big deal I know but I do like my cosmetics to have that glossy polish or a quirky finish (Benefit do quirky great while Mac have perfected glossy & polished). There was a somewhat grungy feel to the packaging that didn’t sit well with my inner princess- and surely the suede was bound to be a magnet for the various bits of gunk that find a home in my make-up bag. Having got over the brown casing I was only delighted at the quality and selection of what lay beneath. Twelve good size shadows, ten with a shimmer finish, a gentle light reflective quality- not glittery, and two matte, all beautifully pigmented.
As the name would suggest, there’s quite a natural variety of tones and shades, but with a definite graduation in colour so you’re not left with repeats of pretty much the same shade (an issue I take with the eye-shadows in Bobbi Brown’s Bellini Palette – disappointingly wishy-washy pigment; a pet hate if I ever had one!).
There’s also a basic eye-shadow brush, included and a small bottle of primer potion; which are nice extra’s. The overall tones of the palette allow for a natural looking basic contouring and highlighted eye, perfect if you’re planning on a dramatic red lip, but also lends itself to creating a range of fantastic smoky eyes in the obvious silver/grey, using smog/darkhorse (workingin a little ‘creep’ along the outer socket-line to up the drama!), or a variety of combinations using other tones.
Since the original (and best I do believe!) Naked palette, we’ve had a host of offerings from Urban Decay including Naked II, released shortly after (a cooler toned version, possibly a better option depending on your skin tone and colouring), deluxe shadow box and most recently Feminine, Dangerous and Fun pallettes and limited edition Vice- all offering brighter combinations of shadows but with equally decent quality pigment. There’s obviously plenty on offer by way of palette stocking stuffers from Urban Decay, I still maintain get Naked (not literally!) down on your Christmas wishlist if it’s not already a make-ip bag staple!
P.S. Festive discount if you buy from Debenhams over the next couple of days:
http://www.debenhams.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prod_10052_10001_123932979199_-1