This story first appeared on Wednesday, August 21, 2024, in The Strategist Beauty Brief, a weekly newsletter in which our beauty writers share their must-tries, can-skips, and can’t-live-withouts. But we liked it so much we wanted to share it with all of our readers. If you want more first impressions of buzzy launches, quick takes on what’s trending on TikTok and Instagram, and deep dives into the week’s best beauty launches, sign up here. The Strategist Beauty Brief is delivered every Wednesday.
I first got my hands on the Urban Decay Naked eye-shadow palette over ten years ago as a much-wanted Christmas gift. I spent weeks following along with YouTube tutorials, palette in hand, learning how to blend the shadows and cut a crease. For me, Naked was just as formative as Carli Bybel and Zoella.
By then, it was already destined to be a classic: 12 neutral shadows ranging from light transition shades to deep smoky blacks and browns. Naked had everything you needed for any intensity of smoky eye. Each shade was buttery and blendable, and since they were all so complementary, it was practically impossible to pick a combination that didn’t work. I lost my original palette somewhere between a move to university and back home. As a broke teenager paying rent for the first time, replacing it wasn’t an option.
So, I was immediately interested when Urban announced it was rereleasing the OG a few weeks ago. I wanted to see if the original was just as good as I remembered it. When I first opened the rerelease, I was taken back to being 14 again. I’d forgotten just how decadent makeup used to feel. Covered in a rich brown velvet, the palette comes with a slender mirror and a double-ended eye-shadow brush that is actually excellent — none of that spongey, cheap nonsense. (When I slacked my editor to tell her how much I’d missed the palette, she told me she’d even kept her Naked brush when she threw her old version of the palette out.)
Before mine arrived, I’d been following a Reddit thread comparing the OG palette to the rerelease. Images online of swatches showed that the new palette was far warmer, and far more pigmented. But I know the real test is in the application. After applying the transition brown shade, Buck, I could see what the thread was getting at. It was warmer than I remembered, and I needed very little product, whereas I recalled the original Buck being so translucent you could blend away into being almost imperceptible.
Neither the warm tone nor the pigmentation was an issue for me. I don’t mind using a little less product. Plus, you still have everything you need. The three light ivory to nude shades (Virgin to Naked) are all sheer enough to blend all the way up to the brow bone. I also disagree with some feedback I read on the thread about the new palette not being as blendable; just a swish of the included brush with a little Buck and my eyes already had that signature Naked smoke. And because the shimmers are so pigmented, I didn’t need to fuss about too much with wetting my brush or applying extra eye-makeup primer (steps I usually have to take with glitter shadows). The dark gunmetal in particular clung to my lid so I could do a striking winged look.
The shadows, even the glittery ones and light shades, are really long-wearing. I’ve been drawn to Morphe eye shadows lately for their impressive color range. But they have never come close to the longevity of Urban. My Naked eye makeup has that freshly applied look all day. (One early afternoon, I did a particularly dark smoke for a garden party, and by nightfall it still had the same shimmering intensity.)
I thought maybe the Naked palette would just be good because it was so nostalgic. Turns out it’s actually just very good. There was a reason the original Naked inspired a range of 11 other palettes: It’s simple, properly smoky, and has a luxury feel at a decently affordable price.
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