Review -- Urban Decay Naked On The Run Palette

I'm a pretty big fan of Urban Decay's Naked line of products.

I have all of the eye shadow palettes, the foundation, and one of the Flushed blush/bronzer palettes -- and they're all very nice. The Naked shadow palettes are probably some of the most used in my collection, actually.

So when the Naked On The Run Palette came out, I was seriously tempted to pick it up.

But then, I told myself that I have enough palettes that I like well enough for traveling -- which is supposed to be the main selling point of the palette; it's got everything you need to take "on the run." -- so I talked myself out of it.

Until I got some gift cards for the holidays and a coupon code for my birthday from Ulta and I figured why not.


The palette comes in sturdy plastic packaging with a lovely sort of tortoise shell pattern. It is rather bulky, though, which seems odd considering it's meant for travel. That said, the mirror on the inside is nice and large and doesn't need to be propped against anything so it would work well if you're doing your makeup on the road.

Urban Decay Naked On The Run Palette

Inside, the kit contains a travel-size Perversion Mascara (traditional black), a travel-size 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Stag (a black brown), and a full-size Naked Ultra Nourishing Gloss in Sesso (a sheer natural pink). The pencil and gloss shades are both new and exclusive to the palette as far I know.

It also features six eyeshadows: Dive, a metallic rose gold; Fix, a matte light brown; Resist, a metallic medium taupe-y brown; Dare, a matte medium brown; Stun, a metallic bronze-y brown; and 5050, a satin-y beige with subtle silver micro-glitter. There is also a warm matte bronzer and a bright pink blush with a satin-y finish.

Urban Decay Naked On The Run Palette

Urban Decay Naked on The Run Palette shadow shade names

Urban Decay Naked On The Run Palette Perversion Mascara, Sesso Naked Gloss, and 24/7 Pencil in Stag

All of the products in the palette are up to Urban Decay's usual standards -- I don't love the Perversion Mascara, but it's a nice enough mascara. The 24/7 Pencils are some of my favorite eyeliners because they're so creamy and easy to apply, and Stag is a nice alternative to the standard black. This is my first go-around with the Naked Gloss, but it's nice too -- not super pigmented but non-sticky and comfortable on the lips -- and Sesso is a lovely, my-lips-but-better shade.

The bronzer is a little bit too orange-y for my fair skin, but it blends into the skin easily so I can make it work. The blush is one of those nice bright pink shades that can really perk up the skin and it blends in well too.

As far as the shadows go, they're all nicely pigmented and easy to apply. The mattes are particularly smooth and creamy, which is always a good thing. Dive is probably my favorite shade, but Resist is really lovely too.

Urban Decay Naked On The Run shadows (l. to r.): Dive, Fix, Resist, Dare, Stun

Urban Decay Naked On The Run Bronzer, Blush, and 5050 shadow (l. to r.)

Urban Decay Naked On The Run 24/7 Pencil in Stag (l.) and Naked Ultra Nourishing Gloss in Sesso (r.)

In the end, though, I feel kind of meh about the whole palette.

That's probably because its gimmick -- being everything you need to hit the road -- doesn't really ring true to me.

First of all, the palette's bulky, which isn't exactly what you want in a travel item.

Secondly, I feel like there isn't enough variation among the shadow shades (Dive and 5050 being the exceptions). They all seem to be fairly close shades of brown so I'm not sure there's really enough here to create more than one, pretty smoky look.

Thirdly, maybe it's just me, but I don't feel like the blush shade is the best match for the shadows -- it leans cool while the shadows lean warm so it's not my favorite combo. I'd want to bring along another blush if I was hitting the road.

Finally, while it's nice that there are slots in the palette to hold the mascara, liner, and gloss, once you use up the ones includes (or they go bad, whichever happens first), you'd have to find replacements that are all exactly the same size or you'll have to carry additional products.

Maybe these are minor quibbles, but if the point of the palette is being super travel-friendly, I'm not really feeling it.

If you just want a pretty nice full face palette to throw in your makeup drawer, though, this is a good option.

It retails for $54 and is available at Urban Decay's website, Sephora, and Ulta.

Have you tried the Urban Decay Naked on the Run Palette? What's your favorite travel-friendly palette?