Review & Comparison: Urban Decay’s Naked Basics Eyeshadow Palette and Naked Basics 2 Eyes

Hi Beauty Bees! Since it’s a long weekend, I thought a post for reading this Easter might be a good idea, even though most beauties will be buzzing around spending time with family and friends (everyone needs a little time out don’t they?).

Now that Urban Decay is easily accessible in Australia (FINALLY – thanks to Mecca Maxima) I thought I would review and show you a comparison of the two Naked Basics palettes offered by Urban Decay. These little palettes are soooo handy to have and are just the bomb when it comes to creating everyday makeup looks. The quality of the shadows is also wonderful and considering that most shades contained within the palettes are matte, they’ve done a great job at creating soft, pigmented and not to powdery matte eyeshadows. Offering natural and neutral shades of brown, beige and grey, they make a great base and pairing for coloured makeup to. I have both versions of the palettes but honestly, I don’t think most people will need both. If you are new to makeup or eyeshadow, one eyeshadow palette with provide you with six high quality shadows, that will help you create a multitude number of looks, from the most natural to the most dramatic! To find out which palette I prefer and to see how they compare tone wise, keep reading! 🙂

On the Left, Naked Basics and on the Right, Naked Basics 2

The first Naked Basics palette is more neutral toned while the second Naked Basics palette is cool toned and more yellow based. I loooove the first Naked Basics palette, especially the cool toned brown Naked 2 shade (you can see in the photo above that it has quite a dent in it!). It’s the perfect everyday crease colour for me because it looks like an actual shadow instead of looking muddy or toooo dark. Let’s go through all the shades within the first palette 🙂

Above: Urban Decay’s Naked Basic palette and Below: Swatches from the Naked Basics palette (without an eyeshadow primer underneath).

L to R: Venus, Foxy, W.O.S, Naked 2, Faint and Crave

In the first Naked Basics palette, Venus is the only shimmery/satin eyeshadow in the palette. It’s a light beige which is sooo buttery and soft, with a nice shimmer throughout. You can’t see the shimmer flecks per se, so they are very finely milled. Sophisticated shimmer you could say 🙂 Next there is Foxy which is a very yellow matte beige. I don’t like wearing it on it’s own as an eyeshadow base because it is just far to yellow for my skin tone (it makes me look like I have jaundice…). I can however, mix it with W.O.S, which is a neutral beige (and perfect on it’s own as an eyeshadow base for other colours). I started doing this so I could use up Foxy somehow and it turns out that mixing it with W.O.S brightens the eyelid a touch more than if I had used W.O.S on it’s own.

Next is my hands down favourite shade out of the palette, Naked 2. A taupe-y cool toned brown that works like a boss at worked into the crease. It’s sooo easy to blend out and it never looks muddy on my complexion. Faint is also a cool toned brown, but it is much deeper than Naked 2. Also super buttery and soft. Crave is a deep matte black and has to be one of the best black eyeshadows that I have tried. I love using Crave as an ‘eyeliner’ pushed into my top lash line. That was it looks very natural but still provide some definition and makes my lashes look thicker. One of the big pluses of the first Naked Basics palette is that each shade is quite a different tone or colour to the other shades in the palette. I think this is why I struggle with the Naked Basics 2 palette. Some of the shades in the second palette are just to close to each other and it’s difficult to differentiate them on the eye. The quality of the shadows is just as good as the first palette, but it just doesn’t pull at my heart strings as much.

Above: urban Decay’s Naked Basics 2 palette. Below: Swatches from the Naked Basics 2 palette (without an eyeshadow primer underneath).

L to R: Skimp, Stark, Frisk, Cover, Primal and Undone.

Skimp like Venus in the first palette, is a very smooth satin eyeshadow with a bit of a gleam to it (it’s the only shade which isn’t a matte in the palette). Skimp is a yellow and warm toned beige. Stark is totally matte, but also a yellow, warm toned beige. These two shades would probably be perfect for those with darker and warmer complexions. I should note that the two beige shadows in this palette look less yellow in the photos than they are in real life.

Frisk is similar to Naked 2 – both are very cool toned taupe-y browns, except that Frisk is slightly a little purple (so it’s probably a touch cooler than Naked 2). It’s an interesting choice to pair with two warm beige eyeshadows. Cover is a mid-toned neutral brown, while Primal is a mid-toned cool brown. Undone is probably my favourite shadow in the 2nd palette because it is a cool dark grey, instead of usual black.

Urban Decay’s matte eyeshadow formula is very impressive, because the eyeshadows are not chalky at all compared to some other brands. I have had my first Naked Basics palette for years (probably about two?) and I still have so much product left, so the are worth the pennies. Both palettes cost $42 dollars each (in Aus from Mecca) so that’s $7 per shade (since you get 6 in a palette). That’s not bad at all! The eyeshadow pans are just as big as the pans in the bigger Naked palettes. I always wear an eyeshadow primer with these eyeshadows and they last all day on my eyes. It is definitely worth having one of these palettes in your collection, because you will keep going back to it again and again!

My clear favourite is the first Naked Basics palette, but this will of course depend on you skin tone and what you are planning to use the palettes for. I do like the cooler shades in the second palette, so I do use it from time to time, just not as often as the first palette. I hope this post has helped you decide which one you need in your life (for some be it both!). Let me know if you end up getting one!

At the moment it is pouring in Sydney and all this talk of neutral colours and basic eyeshadow shades has reminded me of storms (especially captured in black and white photography). There are some amaaaazing photos out there of storms, so here is one for you in case you are looking for a little inspiration! 🙂

Photo by Mitch Dobrowner – Amazing much?

Have you tried Urban Decay’s eyeshadows? What is your favourite product from Urban Decay or what are you dying to try?

Catch ya next time beauties,

Beauty Bee~

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