Urban Decay Naked 3 Eye Palette - Where Does It Fit In Your Makeup Collection?

One of the most anticipated releases of the month is the newest addition to the Urban Decay family of Naked Eye Shadow Palettes.  Everyone that reads this blog is aware that the original Naked Palette and the Naked 2 Palette are two of my favorite eye shadow palettes and ones that I tend to reach for over and over again.  I have been using the Naked 2 palette at least three times a week since the middle of fall and I got very excited when I heard that Urban Decay was adding another palette to this collection.  Naked 2 was one of my favorite releases of late 2011 and I feel this Naked 3 will be one of my favorite products of late 2013.  It arrived in the mail yesterday after ordering it late last week from Urban Decay's website and I have started to swatch and play around with the shades in it.

I am saving my reviews and thoughts on the actual Naked 3 palette for tomorrow's post, I wanted to start with a post that quickly reviewed the other two palettes and then looked to see where Naked 3 would fall into the mix.  The original Naked palette is full of warm shades and the second Naked palette is full of cool shades, is this palette closer to one of them or is it completely different creation?

We will start at the beginning...  The Urban Decay website provides the following description of the original Naked Eye Palette and then the following shade descriptions, "It’s the palette that revolutionized neutrals forever. Loaded with 12 bronze-hued shadows in an insane range of textures only Wende and our product development team could dream up—including matte, satin, shimmer and sparkle—Naked proves that neutral is anything but boring. From the palest champagne to the grittiest gunmetal, it’s all here. Whether you’re going for a laid-back, beachy vibe or black-tie drama, you’ll definitely look better Naked.". 

The shades contained in the original Naked palette are: Virgin (cool pale beige shimmer), Sin (champagne shimmer), Naked (nude matte), Sidecar (beige shimmer w/silver micro-glitter), Buck (fawn brown matte), Half Baked (golden bronze shimmer), Smog (deep coppery bronze shimmer), Darkhorse (deep mocha shimmer), Toasted (antique copper penny shimmer), Hustle (plum-brown satin), Creep (onyx shimmer w/gold sparkle) and Gunmetal (dark metallic gray shimmer w/silver micro-glitter).

I dip into the shades on the left side of this palette more than I use the deeper tones on the right side of the palette.  Virgin, Sin, and Naked are the shades I use all over and then I use the rest of the shades right on the lid.  All of the shades are the classic Urban Decay eye shadow formula and only Darkhorse and Buck are on the challenging side to fully blend.  Half Baked applies so smoothly that it feels like I am applying a cream shadow, this is one of the few shades that I can apply perfectly by tapping it on with my finger.

The second palette contains shades that are much more on the cool toned side and features a range of lovely taupe hues.  "You demanded “MORE NAKED!”—and Naked2 delivers. From luminous shades with shimmer and sparkle to the smoothest mattes imaginable, Naked2 is packed with 12 never-boring taupe-hued neutrals (including a gorgeous grayish brown, a glittery copper and our lewdest, blackest black). Expand your Naked range to create even more sultry neutral looks, smoky dramatic looks and everything in between.", states the company's website.

The shades contains in the Naked 2 palette are: Foxy (cream bisque matte), Half Baked (golden bronze shimmer), Bootycall (cork shimmer), Chopper (copper shimmer w/silver micro-glitter), Tease (creamy pale brown matte), Snakebite (dark bronze shimmer), Suspect (pale golden beige shimmer), Pistol (light grayish brown shimmer), Verve (oyster shimmer), YDK (cool bronze shimmer), Busted (deep brown shimmer) and Blackout (blackest black matte).

I find that I also tend to use the shades more on the left of the Naked 2 palette more than I do the shades on the right.  I use Blackout mostly as a liner and use Busted and YDK only in very dramatic smoky eye looks.  Foxy is the only shade that I use all over the eye and I have nearly hit pan on it already.  Chopper is my staple from this palette, it has a beautiful shimmer finish and is another shade that I prefer to tap on with my finger.

I have found that I use the original Naked palette in the fall and then tend to pick up Naked 2 more in the winter months.  Naked 3 is really not like either of the two palettes, I could call this palette "Naked: Summer Edition" and this would be a fitting title for the shades found in it.  It leans more on the warm side so I find it the least like the shades in Naked 2.  I am sure that any makeup collector will be adding this to his or her collection without a second thought and we will look more in depth at the actual palette tomorrow.

photo courtesy of Google
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