A lot of makeup brands like Tarte, Too Faced, and Urban Decay have come out with neutral palettes that have been very successful. Tarte recently came out with its Tartist palette and Too Faced released their, now extremely well known, Chocolate Bar palette that’s popular for actually smelling and tasting like chocolate. However, Urban Decay’s Naked palette that they launched back in 2010 ended up creating an entire line within that company. Since then, there has been a Naked 2, Naked 3, Naked Smokey Eye, and some Naked Basics palettes. Urban Decay also came out with “Naked” foundations, concealers, highlighters, powders, and bronzers.

I personally own the Naked 2 and one of the Naked Basic palette that goes along with it. The colors in both palettes are extremely pigmented, last for a long time on their own, and all the colors blend well together to give an endless amount of combinations for eye looks. The Naked 2 Palettes and all of the other full sized palettes from Urban Decay come with 12 different eyeshadows at a price of 54 dollars and the Naked Basics palette, along with the other small palettes, have a smaller range of 6 eyeshadows at a price of 29 dollars.

I personally prefer the Naked 2 palette because of the wide array of colors that it provides. Over these last few months, I’ve figured out what colors compliment my eyes best. On the base of the lid, I use the eyeshadow that is the third from the left. Next in my crease, using a windshield washer motion, I apply “Tease.” And on the outer corner, I apply “Busted.” I would also recommend putting on Urban Decay Primer Potion, or any primer, before applying any type of eyeshadow in order to help it stick better, resulting in a longer lasting look.

While the full palette is nice, it can be a little too bulky when trying to pack light for a trip. That’s when the Naked Basics palette gets the light shined on it. While it fails in comparison to the Naked 2 palette with the number of colors it provides, you can still create a look that only has slight differences. In the Naked Basics palette, “Venus” takes place as the base color, “Naked 2” becomes the crease, and “Paint” goes into the outer corner. To someone who does not know makeup, this look will look entirely the same. But to a makeup fanatic like myself, I’ve noticed that the look from the Naked 2 palette has a shinier finish, while the look from the Naked Basics palette has a matte finish.

All in all, both palettes are very high quality and I recommend both the palettes and the entire Urban Decay brand in general to anyone who is as into makeup as much as I do. While the prices may seem outrageous to some, it’s definitely worth the money. I know I will be using the brand for a long time and re-purchasing the palettes when I run out.