Now I know the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette went on sale in the UK this week so I'm thinking this review may just get nestled in with all the other excited new palette owners writing about it.. and maybe I should of talked about it earlier, but I didn't so, oh well!
BUT I'm writing about it now and I hope if you haven't purchased the Naked 2 palette already then my review will come in handy as I was actually one of the lucky people to receive the palette early from Urban Decay. So I have actually been using it for a good month and a half now and really feel it's review time!
Of course I can't talk about the Naked 2 palette without mention the original Naked palette, so it is going to be kind of a comparison review - which I really like as I get to be totally honest about both products and give my pros and cons to each!
The price info about both Naked palettes...
The original Naked palette I found to be the cheapest on BeautyBay.com for £32 including free delivery (here) but you can also purchase it from Debenhams.com for £35 (here), again free delivery if you want to get the points for your beauty club card.
The Naked2 palette for the moment (well for a month) is exclusive to Debenhams, so if you want to purchase now you can find it there (well here) for £36.00... again with free delivery.
*I must admit I don't love the price increase on the first palette as I remember when I purchase the palette last year it was £28 and I actually thought that was a fair price. Plus it also saddens me that the new Naked 2 palette is £1 more expensive for not much reason. Having said that though I do think the palettes are the best neutral eyeshadow palettes out there and if you do like your neutral then the price should go by the by if you want to purchase one or even both of the palettes. I just hope by 2013 we aren't seeing the prices creeping into the £40 mark.*
So onto the Naked 2 palette...
What you get - 12 x 1.3g Urban Decay eyeshadows (3 matte, 9 shimmery - with 5 brand new exclusive shades). The palette also comes with a travel-size Lip Junkie lipgloss in Naked and a double ended Good Karma Shadow/Crease brush which is exclusive to the palette.
If you are just interested in the eyeshadows I'd suggest to skip to the next picture as I'm just going to ramble about the whole of the palette here!
So first of all, I love the packaging! It is spot on, it is sleek, robust, wipe clean... and really just what the first palette should of been! The double-ended eyeshadow brush definitely comes in handy especially for travelling, but sadly the quality isn't that amazing it's not as soft as I'd of liked but it's nice enough. However the lipgloss... hmm hmm, I am wondering what Urban Decay were actually thinking when they included this with the palette. Now I personally don't love the Lip Junkie lipglosses so I haven't even used it properly, but even if I did... I would of much preferred an eye related travel sized product than a lip product... something like one of the newer eyeshadow primer potion or even a mini mascara would of done the job.
A lipgloss just doesn't work for me with an eyeshadow palette, sadly!
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| Rubbish image... in real life the eyeshadows are actually warmer than this. |
The Naked2 eyeshadow shades...
I was tempted to include swatches but my temporary digital camera just isn't up to it, so here are some links to some really good swatches of the eyeshadows.
Lipglossping swatches (pale skin tone) - here
Temptalia swatches (medium skin tone) - here
Vex in the City (darker skin tone) - here
Favourites - Booty Call (light but perfectly shimmery!), Suspect (chic and unique), Verve (just love this!) and YDK (so pigmented and a lot more loved that Half Baked).
Dislikes - Half Baked (already in original palette and just too heavy and too much fall-out) and Chopper (too much glitter!).
Yawns - Foxy (pale and boring), Tease (just a bit yawn-worthy) and Busted (too dark and just not my cup of tea).
Nice extra - Blackout (so pigmented & perfect for using as eye liner).
The quality of the 12 eyeshadows really doesn't been to be talked about much as they are the great quality you would expect from Urban Decay - soft, buttery, pigmented and just all round lovely.
Now trying to put the original Naked palette out of my mind and not comparing the two at all I would say the Naked2 palette is a true neutral eyeshadow palette that has a good variety of shades and will be loved my anyone that does want a true neutral palette. However I'm not sure if 3 matte shades is enough as there are 12 shades after all... an extra one would of been nice I think. The eyeshadow that surprised me the most was Blackout which is a very black eyeshadow with the odd fleck of glitter (very subtle though) as I don't use darker eyeshadows, but this has been perfect for using with an angled liner brush at the roots of my lashes to make them look fuller and also are liner. You could even use this with a damp liner brush for a more pigment/intense effect.
The shades that stand out most for me are shades such as Suspect, Pistol, Verve... they are just true neutrals for me, nothing to over the top, just very wearable but also quite unique to this palette. Which is why I would stay it's worth the purchase really are they truly make the palette!
I was going to thoroughly compare both palettes but this post is becoming quite lengthy now. So tomorrows post will be 'part 2' so I can ramble some more. As I think if you don't own either the original Naked palette or the Naked 2 palette or you are thinking of buying the Naked2 palette it's important you think about if you need it because 24 neutral eyeshadows is a lotta eyeshadows for anyone!
My final thoughts on Naked2 (for now!)...
I am just so glad they got the packaging spot on this as if you are paying over £30 you do want something that is good quality and practical for every day use - so I'm very pleased on that front. I'm also pleased that they included 5 exclusive new shades but if I'm honest I would of liked more new shades (exclusive or not - I don't care) and even though Half Baked seems to be loved by many I don't think it needed to be featured in both palettes at all.
If you are a true neutrals lover that only wears neutrals day-to-day with £36 to spare (or to splurge!) then I would say get it, but expect to abandon all your other neutral eyeshadows for quite some time as this will be the only thing you reach for!
Overall on first appearances Naked2 did seem a bit bland but I have now realised that, that is strangely the beauty of this palette... the shades a pigmented but subtle which is such a beautiful combination.
Make sure to keep an eye out tomorrow for my full comparison of both Urban Decay Naked palettes!
Fee xo.