Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

Everyone (myself included) went crazy when Urban Decay released their first two Naked Palettes - a range of 12 shadows on the neutral scale which are perfect for creating brown toned looks and smokey eyes. The only issue some people had, was that most of the shades were shimmery - some people preferred matt finishes, and they would like to see a more matt version along the same line. So that's what Urban Decay did! They created the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette - a palette containing 5 matt and 1 satin colour.

The Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette is a lot smaller than the original Naked & Naked 2 palettes - there are half the amount of shadows, but there is no brush or eyeliner included with this one as there was with the first two. It makes it a really good size to be able to put in a standard sized make up bag without being too bulky, and contains a nice range of colours.

Venus is the only satin colour in the palette - it is a white frosty shade which is perfect for highlighting under the brows, inner corners of the eye, or to add over another of the shadows to give less of a matt finish.

Foxy (which also exists in the Urban Decay permanent line) and Walk of Shame (W.O.S) are both pale fleshy toned shadows, Foxy being more peach, Walk of Shame being more pink. They can be used as a base to any of the shadow looks, or used on their own with a darker colour for contour for a softer looking result. They are also good for neutralising any discolouration your eyelids may have - Foxy knocking out any blue tones, W.O.S taking away redness.

Naked 2 is latte coloured, creamy brown also found in the Naked 2 palette, with Faint being the darker big sister. These two would work well together to create a smokey brown eye look.

Then there's Crave - the blackest black eyeshadow which is very highly pigmented. This can be used to add definition to the more neutral shadows, or for a full-on black smokey eye.


The colours feel creamy and glide onto the eye easily and last all day - they contain the Urban Decay Pigment Infusion System to ensure you get a great colour pay off from each shadow. Despite there being only 6 colours, it's a really versatile palette which you can use for both day and night looks.

Here I have created a neutral, daytime look.

For this look I used W.O.S all over the lid with a little Venus over the top, Naked 2 in the socket and blended out, Faint in the crease, blended out and a little crave on the outer V, taking it into the lash line, and blended. I also used a little Naked 2 under the lower lash line and finished with liquid liner and mascara.

And here a more full-on, night time look.

To create this look I used W.O.S to give a nice neutral base, then Faint into and above the crease then blended out. I then patted Crave on all over the lid and into the socket, then blended it into the Faint. I used a small amount of Venus under the brow bone as a highlight, and in the inner corners of my eyes, then with a small brush, applied Crave under the lower lash line. I finished it with black eyeliner in the waterline, and mascara.

I really love it - the range of colours is perfect for me, and a touch of black can vamp up any look! The fact the colours are so highly pigmented and long lasting means this is a perfect little palette for me!

The Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette costs £20 (fab value too) from Look Fantastic