Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette - Review & Swatches!

9:00 AM


Anymore, in the beauty world, if you hear the word "nude" or "naked" it stirs excitement but not for the reasons everyone else stirs with excitement when hearing those words. I think our makeup-obsessed ears have become rather jaded with the sexual undertones of a lot of makeup names, amirite NARS Orgasm blush?

In any case, I am very excited to share with you Urban Decay's newest eyeshadow palette: Naked Basics. It contains six "matte" (in quotations because it's not 100% matte) eyeshadows that are supposed to compliment the Naked and Naked 2 palettes seamlessly. Does it live up to that claim? Let's take a look!


The packaging is a refreshing upgrade from the previous two Nakeds in that it's slim, sleek, and very travel-friendly with a slightly rubberized finish. They also skipped out on unnecessary brushes and kept in a generously-sized mirror on the lid. The entire thing is just a bit smaller than my iPhone 4S so it's more petite than you'd think!

There are 6 full-sized shadows in total. Venus which is a satin shade similar to Virgin from the Naked Palette. The other 5 are true mattes which have a nice silky texture compared to mattes from other companies.

Venus / Foxy / Walk of Shame / Naked 2 / Faint / Crave


Venus:  Satin pale cream
Foxy:  Matte peachy beige (also in the Naked 2 palette)
Walk of Shame:  Matte pinky beige (comes with the 6-pan Build Your Own palette)
Naked 2:  Matte pale taupe
Faint:  Matte dusty brown
Crave:  Matte black-brown


I really adore the concept of a matte palette but in my swatches you can obviously see the slight complaint I have here. On my skintone, three of the shades (Foxy, Walk of Shame, and Naked 2) nearly disappear! I won't lie, I would definitely still use the heck out of Foxy and Walk of Shame separately as highlight shadows but I would've preferred a shade between Naked 2 and Faint that could have been used cohesively instead of including two nearly-identical highlight shades. I had high hopes of Naked 2 being a nice blending color but I just think it's too cool and near my skin color to give it any edge over my favorite Buck eyeshadow.

All in all I love Venus, Foxy/Walk of Shame (if there was only one and not both), Faint, and Crave which are 4/6 shadows. I'm just not sure that 66.66% means I need it since as they said, it works best as a companion to the first two Naked palettes. I am fully 100% happy travelling with just my original Naked so this for me would instead be a handy sidekick to my colored eyeshadows that could be mixed with these neutrals if I wanted to travel very light.

It goes without saying that if I had a lighter skintone or had more concerns with wrinkles (mattes look fantastic on more mature ladies) this would be a more versatile palette. At $27 it's a steal for 6 full, high-quality eyeshadows as well.

What do you guys think? Will you be picking up the Naked Basics palette? Does this fill the void in your matte-desiring hearts? Let me know in the comments!


Disclaimer: This post contains product provided by the company's PR for consideration. For more information please see my review policy.

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47 comments

  1. I want this palette now! (: thank you for sharing!!!

    Emilie
    http://urdailydosage.blogspot.com

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  2. The fact that I love the very 1st Naked palette this one is looking promising. And I love the size too!

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  3. everyone's been raving about this palette lately>.< and I think I love it too, despite some of the color might be too close to natural skintone. Anyhow, I still love it <3

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  4. Hmmm, I'm sad that they are so light! I still love the idea of this palette tho. Thanks for the review!

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  5. I agree with you. Some of the shades are too similar and too light for my skintone.

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  6. I would love to try Urban Decay Naked or Naked 2 but what are your thoughts of NYX Bohemian Chic Nude Palette?

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    1. I haven't tried it myself so I can't say exactly how good it is but from looking at pics online it seems like you get a nice mix of neutrals, blushes, and accent colors that are all matte. The possible downside is that some NYX mattes tend to be a bit chalky. It seems like a good value though if you don't already have many neutrals.

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  7. I love this palette but I wish the was a warm chocolate-ish colour like MAC Swiss chocolate...then it would be perfect :)

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  8. Just bought a Naked and Naked 2 :(( My bank account is definitely gonna be nonexistent by the end of this year!! I love this already. It looks so portable and MATTE shades!! ♥ Good lord!! Why didn tyou come out sooner!!

    ♥,
    Shari

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  9. I was curious about Naked basic, thanks for sharing!

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  10. Cannot wait for this to come out in the UK.

    doricquine88.blogspot.co.uk

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  11. I have always been on the fence about shelling out for a Naked palette. I think that this is the one I'm most likely to go for - you can't go wrong with basic matte shades like these! :)

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  12. Can't wait to check it out when it's released in the UK, but I don't think there's any point purchasing when I already have naked 1 & 2 right?

    withlovex0-ploy.blogpspot.com

    ploy x

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    1. It really depends on how much of a matte shadow nut you are! Faint, for instance, is a unique matte shade unlike anything in either Naked palettes previous. :)

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  13. Somehow I still think the Naked/Naked2 palette is more versatile than this new one. I love matte shades, but a whole palette of them seems a bit overkill. This is definitely a COMPANION to the previous 2, and not a palette to be used alone. >__<

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  14. I want it soooooo bad! Will definitely be picking it up! It should do really well on my pale skin :) I only have Naked 1 and I've really been dreaming with a matte palette from UD.

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  15. I haven't even gotten Naked 2 yet!!! But this looks like it would be nice for traveling, maybe a future purchase :)

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  16. To be honest, the colors don't scream I AM UNIQUE, PLEASE BUY ME! You can get those shades from other palettes, but I'd have to say that $27 IS quite a steal haha.

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  17. I'm going to hold off on this. The only Naked palette I own is the very first one and it's good enough for me ^___^; However, what I would love for UD to do is create a "Naked Build Your Own Palette"! XD I would totally buy that and make my own "naked". ^^; I love the idea of mattes but that may be a bit much for me and the lighter colors specifically in the Basics palette would just blend in with my skintone too much. T^T

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    1. They don't have a "build your own Naked palette" yet but they do actually have fairly compact 4-pan Build Your Own palette (to fill with the individual UD singles) which already comes with 1 single and is $18, the same price as an individual shadow. Still pricey overall but if you have specific favorites it's an option!

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    3. Jen, what 4 colors would you choose for a good neutral palette?

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  18. I love the idea... not in love with the color selection of the palette. A 12 shadow matte would have been to die for.

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  19. Hi Jen, thanks for reviewing this. I've been eyeing this Naked basics but still couldn't make up my mind. Same thought with you, I guess the first three shades won't appear on my fair skin, so i think i'll skip this palette. I'd rather choose the balm Meet Matt(e) as matte palette with wider matte color selection...

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  21. Jen, is this about the same size as the Josie Maran Natural Wonders / My Favorite Powders palettes?

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    1. I just checked and this is a bit wider while the Josie Maran is thinner but they are super close in size!

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    2. Thanks, Jen! I adore things in small packages. I'm small (but not quite as small as you), and I wonder if it's why I like things scaled down. :) In fact, the size of this makes me me more interested in the palette than I should be, as I probably own similar shades already.

      Ps how is the Aritzia blazer working out for you? I'm the one who took measurements for you.

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  22. Sadly, I think 3/6 of those would disappear on me. My skin goes from pale yellow to very tan in just a few hours, and I'm out in the sun pretty regularly, so I need neutrals and highlighters that will actually appear on my skin. Faint looks so pretty, but I just got a similar matte shade from Shiro. I think I'll skip out on this one!

    But mattes are quickly becoming a new favourite lately... maybe some other palette...

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  23. Urban Decay prices their palettes so well that it's hard to turn them down. At $27, liking one and a half shadows makes it worthwhile since they are full size! i have and love Walk of Shame, have and indifferent about Foxy. I have purchased this for Naked 2 and Faint, and the convenience of having all these together! Having Venus may help me pass by Naked (I'm jonesing Virgin). I am a klutz - just yesterday I spilled my sample of Naked Sin and dropped Ruthless deluxe shadow! Having a nice size palette to hold is worth it for me! Thank you for a great review and the swatches!

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  24. I know it might be a really stupid request, but can you explain the difference between satins, mattes and other kinds of shades. I'm never entirely sure what's the difference between those when i read or watch review of eyeshadows where people use those descriptions ;) Thank you! :) x

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  25. Jen, can you do an every day look tutorial with this palette??? :):):)

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  26. I first saw this on emilynoel83's you tube vid and I have to say the first thing I thought, being ghost pale was "YAY so many light shades". I have the other 2 naked palettes and for daily looks I am very limited as many of the colours come out to dark for day. Thinking I will buy this before my next holiday as my go to travel palette. Thanks so much for the review.

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  27. i love the nudes! i cant wait til this item is available at macys.
    thnks for the review! ^_^

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  28. i'm currently on the fence about getting it but leaning towards no for the very same reasons you stated.

    Maggie
    lovestylehappiness.blogspot.com

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  29. Thanks for the awesome review! I'm going to pick this up the next time I'm at Sephora. :)

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  30. HI Jen! Would you mind doing a tutorial with this Naked palette? I received it as a gift and I'm trying to figure out how to create more versatile looks out of this very simple palette :) I have less experience with matte so any advice would be SO appreciated! <3
    Thanks so much!

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    1. Yes, please do a tutorial with the Naked Basics palette. There are only a couple really good tutorials using this palette on YouTube and I want to see more looks!

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  31. Im going to skip this palette since I already have the other two. This seems unnessary. Thank you for the review on this.

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  32. Love the review, please check mine out as I've just started back up again!

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  33. will u make a make up tutorial for this one? i just purchased one and realize that it doesnt make me that happy :( and thinking if u can change that. thankss x)

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  34. I'm a beginner and I want a neutral eyeshadow palete of high quality, should I get this?

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  35. I love your blog and YouTube channel I would love if you follow me on my blog http://burstwithenvy.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

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  36. is it me or is the cover really so damn hard to open? ):

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