I planned this review before the Naked 3 came out. I now have the Naked 3 Palette, but I still wanted to post this review that I had planned. I will be posting a review of the Naked 3 up soon, and in that I will compare where I can with the other palettes, but for now, this is a comparison post between Urban Decay Naked, Naked 2 and Naked Basics.
I think Urban Decay is what started my obsession with makeup. I liked makeup before, but it was never to the extent it is now. Urban Decay will always have a place in my heart. If you don't know what the Naked Palettes are, they are a neutral lovers dream. The differences between the palettes goes something like this - Naked (1) is more warmed-toned, and what I would call bronzy. The Naked 2 is more cool-toned, and Naked Basics is a dream. One satin highlight shade, and five matte shades. It is the perfect complementary palette for any other palette or eyeshadows you already own. I reach for it on a daily basis, whenever I am wearing eye makeup.
I think for this comparison post, I will start in order of release. First came the Naked Palette, the original. Both the Naked and Naked 2 Palette come with 12 eyeshadows, and the Naked Basics comes with 6.
The Naked Palette comes with 2 matte shadows (Naked and Buck), a few shimmery (Sin), and some with chunks of glitter. Up until a few months or so a go, I hadn't realised how much I love this palette.
Virgin is an okay all-over lid colour for me, but it is too shimmery as a highlight (which I think it's intended use is). As an inner-corner highlight, it does the job, but as a brow bone highlight I find it too shimmery.
Sin is a nice pink-toned shimmery shade. I find topping it on a shimmery, more yellow-toned champagne cream base (Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Barely Branded, or Benefit Bikini-tini) works for me as an allover lid colour.
Naked is a light brown matte shade. A good crease colour, although sometimes I find it a little too light. When that is the case, I mix it with Buck, and voila!
Sidecar is a pink-beige with glitter. Unfortunately this colour hasn't received much use from me, and I do think it is because of the pink in it. Like
Buck is the only other matte shade in the palette. Love this as a crease colour, mixed with or without Naked. It is a warm-toned brown.
Half Baked is a metallic gold, although Urban Decay classifies it as a bronze. For the longest time, I couldn't get this shadow to work for me. Ever since topping it on top of the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze, I have loved it. I also sometimes mix it with Smog or Darkhorse (the next two shadows after it). This colour is again featured in the Naked 2 Palette, and now that I have found a way to make it work for me, I'm glad I have one in each palette.
Smog has recently become one of my favourite eyeshadows. It is a bronze, but on the lids (especially on top of a bronze cream base) it comes off as a lovely golden bronze. I absolutely adore this shadow.
Darkhorse is my favourite shade for deepening the crease and outer V. It is a dark bronze and beautifully pigmented.
Toasted is described as a taupey-bronze. It has great pigmentation, but I haven't had too much use out of it. To me, it appears rather pink, and until recently (okay, until I got the Naked 3), I always had a fear of pinkish eyeshadows. Now I love them. Will definitely try to get more use out of this shadow.
Hustle is a darkish plum/brown shade with shimmer. A great shade to add to the outer V to darken up an eye look.
Creep is a dark blue-black with silver glitter. This is a great shadow for nights out.
Gunmetal is a gunmetal blue-grey with subtle silver glitter. The blue may be a bit off-putting, but this works wonderfully to darken up any look and to turn a day time look into a night time look.
Onto the Naked 2 Palette. This was the first Urban Decay palette I purchased, and I do prefer this over the original Naked. I think this is in part due to the fact that I had the Naked 2 first, but also because I have found colours in this palette that have really worked for me. Last year I did a comparison post between the Naked 2 and the MUA Undress Me Too Palette (see comparison post here)
Foxy is one colour I've tried and tried and tried to make work, but I really can't. This shade is also featured in the Naked Basics palette, but I find the one in Naked Basics works much better than this Foxy. This is a matte yellow cream.
Half Baked is a repeat shadow from the original Naked.
Bootycall is my favourite shadow from Naked 2 (as you can probably see - it has had a lot of love). I love this allover my lid, and as a highlight shade. I wish Urban Decay would release this shadow as a single. This shade is shimmery, and leans more pink than yellow.
Chopper is rusty copper shade. Nicely pigmented and shimmery.
Tease is a taupe matte brown shade, perfect for the crease and for blending.
Snakebite is a shimmery bronze. I love this shadow. Awesome for night time makeup, and for darkening up the outer V.
Suspect is a bronze shimmer shadow, lighter than Snakebite.
Pistol is a dark brown-grey with shimmer. Another good shade for darkening up the outer V.
Verve is a nice silver metallic shade, beautiful as an allover lid colour. Super pigmented, and a silver shadow is always fun to experiment with,
YDK is a red-toned brown, which is shimmery and metallic looking. I see this shadow as an awesome autumn/winter eyeshadow. This one is more of a medium brown.
Busted is a deep brown with red in it, a dark burgundy. Another good shadow to put in the outer V to darken up an eye look.
Blackout is my all-time favourite matte black shadow. It is super pigmented. This works well at really darkening up an eye look, and is great at setting with gel eyeliner.
And now onto my (second) most recent Naked purchase - the Naked Basics. I picked this up when I was in England last July, and I don't know how I lived without this palette before - I am quite serious.
Venus is the only shimmer shade in this palette, beautiful as a brow highlight on a night out (the only time I really like shimmery brow bone highlights) and an inner corner highlight, and even works well as an allover eye lid colour. It is a pretty neutral shadow, not too yellow or pink. I have been using this a lot recently as a inner corner highlight.
Foxy is a matte, yellow-toned highlight shade. This is a repeat from Naked 2. However, I find the Foxy in Naked Basics works much better than Naked 2 Foxy and have hit drastic pan on this since taking photos for this review. I have tried to get the Foxy in Naked 2 to work like this one does, but it appears an impossible task.
W.O.S (Walk of Shame) is a matte, pink-toned highlight shade. Great for highlighting the brow bone on a day-to-day basis, and even blending out harsh edges.
Naked 2 is cooler version of the original Naked shade in Naked, this works well for a darker crease. It is a lightish brown.
Faint is a nice medium brown, perfect for when you want to deepen your outer corner without using something as harsh as a black.
Crave isn't as deep as Blackout, but the inclusion of a matte black makes this a really versatile palette. Since using this palette more and more, I find the two black matte shadows work pretty similarly and have no concern in using one or the other.
Some comparisons of shades
There are some shades in the palettes that are repeats (Foxy in Naked 2 and Naked Basics, Half Baked in Naked 1 and 2), but there are also some shades that are pretty similar.
Blackout (Naked 2) vs. Crave (Naked Basics)
Virgin (Naked) vs. Bootycall (Naked 2) vs. Venus (Naked Basics)
Naked (Naked) vs. Naked 2 (Naked Basics)
The Verdict
I love all three of these palettes. For someone just starting with makeup, or isn't a hoarder of palettes, I would say pick the Naked Basics for sure. It is a versatile palette. If one of the three Naked palettes appeals to you, grab one. You don't need all four of these guys, but I did. Each palette appeals to me in a different way, I find Naked a good palette for the summer months, and Naked 2 a good palette for the winter months. The shimmery shadows from Urban Decay are amazing. Super pigmented, and topped over a base last for ages. I am a fan of the Urban Decay Primer Potion, particularly Eden. Although I have quite dry skin, my eyelids are hooded and sometimes oily, so Eden serves well (it is a matte primer). If I haven't already mentioned, the matte shades from these palettes aren't the best performing. They aren't as buttery smooth as you'd expect, and some of them (like Foxy in Naked 2) really aren't pigmented enough. But the shimmery and glitter shades are amazing. They are smooth, pigmented, and are just amazing to swatch (and use, of course).
Urban Decay is my favourite brand for eyeshadows. Right now, I own 8 of their palettes, and adore each one. They make some amazing pigmented and vibrant shades, but for every day makeup, one of these palettes would be a great addition.
I hope this review was helpful in comparing the three palettes (Naked, Naked 2 and Naked Basics). I don't find Naked and Naked 2 similar at all, and the addition of Naked Basics into the Naked line was perfect. These palettes are the ones I reach for most often.
Thanks for reading,
x
