Skin & Tonics : Skincare Guides & Product Reviews

When the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette ($27) came out last year, I was one of the few women in the makeup-wearing world that wasn’t losing my mind over it. Make no mistake – I’m all for neutral shadows, and I do love matte shadows, but for some reason I always thought of this palette as a snoozefest. So why did I eventually buy Naked Basics? Boring story, really. One day I woke up and wished I had some neutral, matte shadows to wear. I researched a bunch of options, and decided this one made the most sense.

When it arrived, I felt the packaging made up for how utilitarian this palette is. The Naked Basics palette is very compact with smooth, luxurious casing. The weight of the palette – though not too heavy – makes it feel sturdy and substantial. This was a nice surprise, since the pictures online made it look like it could easily have felt like cheap, feather-light plastic.

The ingredients are fairly mild. None of the shadows contain anything alarming as far as irritation or acne risk goes, with the exception of Crave. Crave is the black shadow, and it contains an ingredient called Ethylhexyl Palmitate, which rates a 4 out 5 as a potential acne trigger. I wasn’t too concerned though – the chances of me rubbing black eyeshadow all over my face are pretty slim, I hope.

When it came time to swatch them, I was pleased. They’re all extremely pigmented, and though I wouldn’t describe the texture as buttery (like my Lorac palettes), they were mostly easy to work with. Crave was slightly less smooth than the others, but that’s almost always the case with black eyeshadow for me.

The colors blend nicely, build easily, and last all day when used in conjunction with my Urban Decay Primer Potion. Without the primer, I still got several hours of wear out of them before they started to fade.

I also found that it was just as easy to create a more dramatic look as it was to create a neutral, barely there effect. I often use the lighter colors as highlight colors even when I’m using other palettes, so Naked Basics gets quite a bit of action around here.

This palette is not without its flaws though. For many, this palette will be perfect, but for me, I felt that Naked 2 and Faint were a little cool for my skin tone. Since they’re neutral colors, they’re still wearable, but there’s something slightly off about the appearance of my skin tone when I’m wearing either of them. Additionally, Venus, which does have a little sparkle to it, produces a little bit of fallout. It’s easy enough to brush away with a fan brush, but still worth mentioning.

Overall, I’m happy with the Naked Basics palette. It’s extremely pragmatic, but elegant in its execution. However, I probably wouldn’t purchase it again. I will try a warmer palette next time the need for this sort of thing arises.

Pros:
+ Nicely pigmented
+ Smooth application
+ Almost all matte
+ Easy to blend
+ Long wearing

Cons:
– Venus has some fallout
– Crave can be a little finicky to work with
– Naked 2 and Faint wear a little cool (which would be a pro if warm colors didn’t look better on me)

Skin & Tonics Rating:

Performance: 4/5 – Long wearing, nicely pigmented color that’s mostly easy to work with

Quality: 3/5 – Venus has some fallout, and Crave is a little smudgy, the packging is elegant and luxurious

Value: 4/5 – Regardless of its shortcomings, these shadows are good quality and $27 is a great price

Overall: 3.7/5

Where to Buy

I picked mine up from Sephora, where it’s $27. It’s also available on the Urban Decay website.

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