I don’t need it but I bought it regardless. Another trivial case of Need vs. Want. Ladies and gents, makeup addicts and hoarders, everyone say hi to Smoky, the 4th Naked from Urban Decay.
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The most attractive from the series packaging-wise, Naked Smoky retails for $54 and is a tad heftier than its older siblings. It comes in a magnetic plastic case with similar landscape mirror and double-ended eyeshadow brush to boot. The wordings are embossed in silver/gunmetal; overall you can tell that Urban Decay spent considerable time and creativity in terms of product development.
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| one side is crease/blending brush, the other is smudge brush |
So are the shades similar to earlier releases? Close but no dupes in my opinion. The hues are definitely darker, which is somewhat an antithesis to the whole Naked concept. If you love dramatic more than wearable nudes, this is the palette to pick, that is if you don’t mind slight imperfections.
The shades are arranged in terms of finish (left to right): 4 glittery, 4 satin, 4 matte. Here are swatches (on un-primed arm) and descriptions for your better judgement:
High is champagne micro-glitter
DirtySweet is bronze micro-glitter (tad lighter than Smog Naked 1)
Radar is tan micro-glitter
Armor is silver taupe glitter
Slanted is gray satin
Dagger is charcoal satin
Black Market is jet black satin
Smolder is eggplant plum satin
Password is taupe matte
Whiskey is brown matte
Combust is pinkish nude matte
Thirteen is light beige matte
So I mentioned slight imperfections. Similar to prior Nakeds, this palette ain’t all that jazz. Armor’s glitters scatter without remorse. A quick solution is to apply it wet to reduce the incidence. Thirteen is powdery and Black Market is a tad harder to blend.
Want vs. Need. It’s for you to decide. Want if you’re collecting, Need if you’re feeling smoky! For my makeup below, I used Armor (wet) on lids, Smolder on crease, Dagger and Slanted for transition, Thirteen on eyebrow arch, Whiskey on eyebrows, Dagger and Slanted on lower lash line, DirtySweet on inner eye corner. Over eye primer, wear time sans fade and smudge is about ten hours.
will you pick this up? want or need?
The packaging alone makes me want this – and your EOTD is beautiful! Sadly, I'll have to wait till September for it to launch in Dubai.
I'm still back and forth on this. I have the other 3 palettes, and don't even use 2 and 3. It's more of an impulse buy I suppose. I do love the eye look you created!
I'm on the fence about getting this palette. That look you put together is fantastic, though. Tres smoky and sexy!
I'm loving this palette. I didn't purchase a couple of the other ones because I felt like the colors were too similar but this one is completely different. Another one to add to the wish list.
Your eye looks fantastic! I think I'm going to pass on this one though. I have 1 & 2… love them!
Your EOTD is utterly GORGEOUS! It's too bad that not all of the shades are the same fantastic quality that you come to expect from UD! I'm not sure if I'll get it. I will have to go see it in person. Thanks for the honest review, twinsy!
I think I have to pass on this, I can't justify a third Naked palette. Even though your swatches are sorely tempting me…
Lovely shades! And I love what you did with them. Great look.
I love this palette I have worn it every day since I picked it up!
Love the look you created, but this palette just doesn't stand out to me!
These shades are so pretty. I love the look you created!
This one took a while to grow on me but I love it now.
I love this on you. You did a great job. I am liking it and finding it easy to wear but the colors feel a little too similar once on my eyes. I do agree that it's not exactly "naked".
You look gorgeous and I love the look you created. I have been back and forth with this palette, I didn't like Naked 2 so returned it… and find that #1 is my all time favorite… #3 gets some use, but I just wasn't "must need it" with Smoky. Gorgeous look!
The look you created is simply stunning! I decided to pass on this palette because a lot of the pans don't work for me, but it's a beautiful one to look at.
These pics of you are gorgeous! This palette is a must have. ALL UD Nakeds are must haves!!!
The packaging is gorgeous and so is your EOTD. I appreciate the honesty about the imperfections. The only Naked palette I have is NOTR and it's just kind of eh in my opinion.
Every time a new Naked is released I say I don't need it, yet somehow I have them all. I'm sure I'll pick this up eventually. I love the look you created!
Most fab eye look. I needed it, of course. I need all of the Nakeds. I like it.