Urban Decay Naked Palette Review

Just when I thought I had all the Urban Decay eyeshadow I'd need for a while (see my BOS IV review here), my boyfriend surprised me with the Naked palette!  He gifted it to me this past weekend and I was, of course, very excited and thankful.  He knew I had been lusting after it because I'd always drag him into Sephora while we were at the mall so I could drool over it.  I chose Naked over Naked 2 because I just like the shade selection better.

Yes, you can tell in these photos that I used the shadows.  You really didn't expect me to wait to use it, did you?  You also may be thinking, "Why bother?  Everyone has seen the Naked palette already."  Very true, but I just wanted to be able to write about it because I'm so excited to have it!

The palette came with a Good Karma Shadow Brush and a mini Eyeshadow Primer Potion (the old packaging).  I LOVE THIS BRUSH.  The bristles are extremely soft.  I haven't yet invested in a good set of brushes (I know, I know, I really should), but now I'm definitely swayed toward purchasing some from the Good Karma line.  My only complaint about the brush is that sometimes the less-pigmented shadows don't have as much payoff; for those I prefer to use my finger to just smudge it onto my lids.

I haven't swatched the individual shadows yet, but I plan to.  The palette comes with: Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep, and Gunmetal.  My hands-down favorite shade is Half Baked because I love gold and glittery.  I'm also loving Gunmetal and Creep, both of which I wasn't quite sure I would like to begin with.

Bottom Line: If you love neutrals like me, I would recommend investing in this palette.  It's a bit pricey ($50), but worth the splurge if you can afford it.  The shades, as a whole, have good color payoff, so you won't need to use a lot.  The brush and primer potion are added bonuses, which I think helps to add to the value.  There is also a decent mix of shimmers and mattes, so you can play with texture as well as color.

I have up-close photos of the palette and swatches behind the cut.

Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV Review and Swatches

My BOS IV is here!  There probably isn't a soul in the world (who is interested in makeup, that is) that hasn't already seen a million swatches of the Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV, but I can at least give my opinion and insight on the palette.

I snagged the palette for only $24 ($31 after tax and shipping) from Hautelook, which made me really happy because it retailed for $63 when it was first released.  The Hautelook sale is long over, but you can find these in the sale section of UrbanDecay.com for only $29 right now.

I read a few reviews before deciding to get the BOS IV, and they were pretty mixed.  Some loved it, some felt that it didn't live up to previous palettes.  My opinion lies somewhere in between -- I've never owned any Urban Decay shadows before, so I like it a little better than some others may simply because it's my first experience with the brand and I'm excited about it.  I really like Urban Decay because they're cruelty-free.  But I can see where some others who have more experience with the brand might feel that it was less-than-stellar, because the color payoff on some of the shadows isn't as nice as I was hoping for.

Here are all of the shades.  As you can see, my "Midnight Cowgirl" shade is chipped; the palette arrived damaged like that.  I could have returned it for a refund, but I don't think I could have gotten an exchange so I figured I would just keep it.  What I liked most about this palette is the variety of colors.  There are some gorgeous neutrals, as well as some fun and bright shades.  For only $30, I couldn't pass it up.  The palette also comes with travel-sized Supercurl Curling Mascara and Eyeshadow Primer Potion, and a full-sized 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner.  Oh and it came with a mini-speaker and a card with QR codes on it that had tutorials.  I don't have a smartphone (I know, I'm practically prehistoric!), so I can't access the tutorials, and the speaker is nothing special (sound quality kind of sucks).

Check out my swatches and more info behind the read more.