Urban Decay Naked Basics

Yes, I caved. I bought the new and absolutely beautiful Urban Decay Naked Basics palette. To be honest, it wasn't really a tough decision to make! I'm a huge fan of the original Naked palette, I recall when I first saw it in Boots and exclaiming: "Oooohhh pretty!!", but stupidly didn't buy it at the time (I contemplated and oogled for far too long!). Christmas came along and it was sold out everywhere! Luckily, UD brought it back and I picked one up immediately, no questions asked! Then came Naked 2, which I am/was tempted in buying just to have it as I am a makeup hoarder...ahem, collector! But I feel the colours in the Naked 2 are a bit too cool-toned for my skintone so I've managed to steer myself away from that one (...whether I've steered myself far enough, is another question!). I must say Urban Decay outdid themselves with the Naked Basics palette, no surprises there though...

The palette comes with six neutral full-sized eyeshadows (and a very good sized mirror), one satin finish and the rest matte finishes.

Venus - chalk white (the only eyeshadow with a satin finish, good as a highlight)
Foxy - very light yellowy beige (also in Naked 2 and sold individually)
W.O.S (Walk of Shame) - very light pink nude (comes with every UD Build Your Own palette)
Naked 2 -  warm taupe
Faint - warm Brown
Crave - very dark black

L-R: Venus, Foxy, W.O.S, Naked 2, Faint and Crave

Most of the colours have really amazing colour pay-off, especially Naked 2, Faint and Crave. I had to swatch Foxy a few times for the colour to show on me because both my skin and the eyeshadow are yellow-based so it's doesn't show up as easily as the others. 

As you can see, it's tiny!! Perfect for travelling or popping into your makeup bag. The packaging is different from both Naked and Naked 2 palettes, it's a slightly rubberised plastic (a bit like the NARS packaging, so beware of it getting a bit finger-printy but then if you own the Naked palette then you wouldn't mind as much because that thing attracts dust like no tomorrow!). I personally found the packaging a bit fidgety to open at first but I guess the more you use it the easier it will be to open it once it loosens up a bit (Yes I know....logic?!). Here's size comparison of the Naked (see what I mean about the dust attraction?) and Naked Basics palette:

Urban Decay eyeshadows are on of my favourites, all so pigmented and I especially love their neutral colours! The Naked Basics is everything I could have wanted in a perfect neutral palette. The palette retails for £20, available in Debenhams stores/online and from BeautyBay.com (which is where I ordered mine from since I'm in Hong Kong now and sadly UD is not sold here). In my opinion, if you're looking for a really good neutral palette and you're not too big on shimmer eyeshadows then go for the Naked Basics!