Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

I have a confession.

For years, I hated matte eye shadows.

Real, legit hate.

Avoiding-them-like-the-plague, absolutely-no-use-for, full on hate.

They were splotchy, dry and impossible to blend.

Why would anyone want to wear them, I used to wonder.

Of course, in hind sight, I realize that my issues with matte shadows had everything to do with the quality of the shadows I was working with.

Because, seriously, when I found the right matte shadows, it was like my entire world view changed.

All that hate turned to total and utter love.

(Credit goes to the Too Faced Matte Eye and the Balm Meet Matt(e) Palettes for really opening up my eyes to the power of a good matte shadow.)

I am now fully and completely on the matte shadow bandwagon.  It really is amazing how much more balance and depth an eye look has when you temper a gorgeous shimmery shadows (as much as I love mattes now, shimmery shades will always be number one in my heart) with a well-placed matte.

Eye shadow nirvana.

Given my newfound love for mattes, you can imagine how excited I was when I heard that Urban Decay was a releasing a new naked palette with nothing but matte shades. That's really the only fault I found with the orignal Naked and Naked 2 Palettes - too few matte shades.

Now, the Naked Basics Palette ($27) may be small (it fits in the palm of my hand), but it really does pack a punch.

All the matte shadows you need right in the palm of your hand

 The palette contains six shades: Venus, a soft off-white; Foxy, a cream shade with yellow undertones; Walk of Shame, a nude shade with pink undertones; Naked2, a light taupe; Faint, a midtone brown; and Crave, a basic black.

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette Shades

Urban Decay has absolutely mastered their matte shadow formula.  All of the shades are creamy, smooth and easy to blend.

It's worth pointing out that Venus really isn't a matte shade, though. Urban Decay refers to it as a demi-matte and I would say it has a satin finish so there's a definite sheen. It works really well as an inner corner highlight or a brow bone highlight if you're going all matte on the rest of your eye. 

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

UD Naked Basics swatches (from l. to r.) - Venus, Foxy, Walk of Shame, Naked2, Faint, Crave

If you already own the Naked 2 Palette, there is one repeat shade in the Basics Palette - Foxy.  The others, however, are all new to the Naked family.

In particular, I like Venus, W.O.S and Naked2.  I usually wear Venus in the inner corner and on the brow bone, W.O.S on the lid and Naked2 in the crease. Sometimes, I'll add Faint in the outer corner for added definition.  Crave works really well as a liner too.

I absolutely love this palette and think it's a wonderful addition to any makeup collection.  If you travel regularly for work, I think this could be a really space saver - with this single palette, you could put together really natural, polished looks for meetings and bump them up a bit with the darker colors if you're going out after work. 

However, as much as I love this palette, I think that if you don't have either the original Naked or the Naked2 Palette already, I might suggest picking up the LORAC Pro Palette instead of the Naked Basics. I have a full review on that palette coming up, but it contains 16 shadows - 8 matte and 8 shimmery, so you have all the natural and neutral tones in both finishes that you could need in a single palette.  With the Naked Basics, you might need to pick up a few shimmery or satin shades to really round out your collection.

Of course, the Naked Basics is only $27 and the LORAC Pro is $42 so budget might play a factor.

All in all, this palette did not disappoint. I've used it everyday for the past week and I'm amazed at how pretty and polished a simple all-matte eye can look.

It's definitely a far cry from the days when I would run screaming at the mere sight of a matte shadow, that's for sure.

What do you think about the Naked Basics Palette?  Is it a must-have?