Well, happy 2016 my friends!  I hope this new year brings wonderful things to everyone!  Just a warning, there will be lots of pics!

So, we're going to get into a review I should have done ages ago.  Like September of 2015, if you can remember that far back.  When I first saw that Urban Decay was coming out with a new palette, it was pretty much a done deal that I would be buying this thing.  Urban Decay was the first non drug store makeup that I bought.  It was the 15th Anniversary Palette (included a link to remind people of that gorgeous case) and that lead into me buying the OG Naked, their Books of Shadows, and etc.

I was super excited to purchase it and jumped all over that.  The Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette (not to be confused with the Smoked Palette - which was a dud to me) is $54.00 and you get 12 .05 oz eye-shadows.  Many countries participated in the making of this product.  The brush was made in China, eye-shadows in USA, and it was assembled in the Dominican Republic.

Urban Decay is Leaping Bunny and PETA certified.  They use Vegan ingredients as much as possible and if a product is not Vegan, they reformulate when Vegan alternatives come available.  They have a campaign called Ultraviolet Edge that works with organizations that fight for the rights of women globally.

Smoked

The box was even pretty.  But with Urban Decay, it's pretty much a given there will be prettiness.


The actual palette is very similar to the outer box.  It is a translucent hard plastic with a smoke design.  The lettering is silver and raised.

Are you excited yet?

As you can see, we have a mostly cool toned palette with a double ended brush.  It has a strong magnetic closure and feels very sturdy.  Unlike previous incarnations of the Naked palettes, this didn't focus on a color family.  This focused on a type of look and you get a range of shades for that look.


The brush has the same smoked design as the packaging and is semi opaque.  The lettering is silver and will most likely vanish eventually.  The ferrules feel like a hard plastic and they are in a a color I can't really define, sort of a browned pewter.  It is light weight but not so light weight that you instantly say, "el cheapo."

There is a pointed blending side and a domed pencil side.  This is good if you don't have many brushes, but if you do own many, you probably won't use this brush a lot.  The brushes are densely packed and on the stiff side and aren't that great for blending smokey looks.  The blending side would be good for putting in a transition shade and the domed pencil for adding a little drama to the outer V, assuming you will then blend with a fluffy brush.

Left to Right: High, Dirtysweet, Radar, and Armor

The colors are arranged so that each four have a certain finish.  High, Dirtysweet, Radar, and Armor are shimmers.


High is a pink champagne shimmer with micro glitter.  It is a little on the dry side, but has a good color pay of and lasts about 8 hours with a base.  It is a little powdery, so make sure to tap your brush out before going crazy with this one.




Dirtysweet is a shimmering blushed bronze.  Normally bronzes look good with my eyes, but not so much with my skin.  But this color actually works on me.  I was surprised at how much I liked it.  It is also on the drier side with good pigmentation and a smooth feeling.



Radar is a medium brown shimmer.  It does lean warm but is definitely still wearable by cool toned skin.  It feels smooth and firm.  The micro glitter in here doesn't make it looks super glittery or anything, it more gives it a sheen.  The pigmentation on this one is decent.
Armor is a glittery silver taupe and has a gritty texture.  From the description alone, I thought this one would be my favorite, but it kind of disappointed me.  It loses a lot of that special shimmer in the brush, but can be packed on or used with a dampened brush to keep it.  It has decent pigmentation.  The glitter is chunky and there is some fallout.

Left to Right:Slanted, Dagger, Black Market, Smolder

 In this set of four we get a satin finish with the shades Slanted, Dagger, Black Market, and Smolder.

Slanted is a metallic grey with blue undertones.  I don't use this color very much because with my skin tone it goes more blue.  It has okay pigmentation and is more on the powdery side.  This is one of the weaker shades in the palette as far as lasting power.



Dagger is a cool toned medium charcoal satin with blue undertones.  Again, because of how blue it gets on me, I don't use it much.  The pigmentation on this one is rather patchy and while it lasts a little better than slanted, it lasts about 5 hours.  It is also kind of chalky.



 Black Market brings the satins up.  It is a black satin, I can almost see ruddy undertones, but I may be hallucinating. It is very creamy and has good pigmentation but can be a little tough to blend, especially if you don't use a primer.  It has a good lasting time.  This was a good black for the palette.



Smolder is a blackened plum satin, it has a creamy texture.  If you look at this in the pan and go "Yay!  Purple!" you will be disappointed.  If you look at it and see a blackened purple, it's actually a gorgeous color and a nice alternative to black.  This has good pigmentation, but like Black Market it can be a little tough to blend.

From Left to Right: Password, Whiskey, Combust, and Thirteen

Password, Whiskey, Combust, and Thirteen are the last four shades and they are the matte shades in the palette.

Password is a matte medium taupe with purple undertones.  This is another one of my favorite shades in the palette.  This may not be a favorite for those with warm skin tone though.  It looks lovely mixed with Whiskey and is one of my favorite ways to use this.  It has decent pigmentation and is a little dry.  You can easily over blend this shade and have it go sheer on you.

 Whiskey is a chocolate matte brown.  Like many of the colors in the palette it is a little dry but has decent pigmentation.  It blends better than many of the other colors in the palette.




Combust is a matte pinky/peach beige.This is an excellent transition color for fair to even medium skin tones.  It has good pigmentation and blends well.  It might not appear to be much, but this one is very useful.  It can be a bit powdery, so brush tapping is a good idea here as well.  It's probably a good idea with all the shadows.

Thirteen is another surprising favorite.  It's another bit of nothing, just a matte soft white beige.  The formula almost heads to satin, but retains its hold on matte.  I find myself reaching for this color even when I'm not using this palette.




I have mixed feeling about this palette.  In some ways, I love it.  In other ways, I compare it to other UD palettes or other eye-shadows I have and these aren't up to the usual standard.  In general, these shadows seem more firm, powdery, dry, and less pigmented.  The quality just isn't quite what I expect from UD.

If I didn't compare it to previous palettes, I would like it.  Some of the pigmentation leads it to be build-able and while there are issues blending, it isn't as bad as the Smoked palette where every color seemed to go muddy.

Overall, I would say that it's a decent palette, but it's not  quite as good as I expected it to be.  So, it may be my fault for such high expectations.  You shouldn't be afraid of this palette if you don't do smokey eyes.  There are many beautiful looks you can do with it without being over done.  Such as this toned down smokey look by Desi, this grungy smokey eye by Melrae Segal, this rock look by Madeyewlook Twice.  If you want more dramatic there is this halo look by Beautyybird or like me, you can use this palette to create a similar look to this dramatic bombshell look by Jaclyn Hill.

* I bought this palette on my own.  I used Ebates to get get cash back at Sephora.  If you want you can use my referral link.