Naked Basics | Urban Decay

Meet the newest member of the Naked family - the basics palette. Released just in time for Christmas (online exclusive to Debenhams) this was sure to be on every beauty junkie's wish list, mine included. 

My lovely boyfriend bought this for me on behalf of Amelie's present to me.

To start it's just so god damn convenient! For me, this ticks all the boxes as to what packaging I want in a palette. It's securely housed in a hard, rubbery case (similar to that of NARS) with a mirror covering the inside lid. Not to mention how compact it is - it fits comfortably in the palm of my hand and you'll always be able to take it with you. 
 I can see this being a staple in my make up bag when I return to work.

That being said when I opened my palette. I had two dents above the eyeshadows. I'm going to put this down to a manufacturing fault, although it could have become dented in travel, in which case this doesn't bow well to carry around in my handbag.

Now let's get down to the nitty gritty..I'm glad that UD have listened to their consumers in regards to producing a matte palette as 5/6 are without any form of shimmer.The only exception being Venus which has a slight shimmer, but seeing as this will be used as a highlighting colour I can let them off.
Considering that the others are matte shades the overall pigmentation is brilliant. Notoriously matte's have a lot less colour payoff and I'm actually pleasantly surprised at the results. Even without my beloved UDPP they don't appear the least bit chalky.
Due to 50% of the colours - I can see this being more favourible for fair/medium skintones although it claims to be a universally suited palette.

Here's a breakdown of the colours:
Venus - Soft, Off-White Demi-Matte.
This is the only non matte shadow in this palette. I can see this being used in the inner corner of my eyes.
Foxy - Cream Bisque matte
This colour was featured in Naked2. I'd describe it as buttery yellow in colour, I didn't reach for it much in that palette and i'm a bit gutted that they've decided to add this again in this one. 
I would have preferred to have a repeat of Virgin which was found in the original Naked palette.
(Walk Of Shame) W.O.S - Very light nude matte.
This colour is my least favourite of the six, in my opinion it is far to similar to Foxy. It also had the least amount of pigmentation. It took multiple swipes to show up and even then it's barely visible on the photograph although this could be down to it being the exact shade of my skin tone (MAC NW20) in which case; I can see myself using this to colour correct my eye lids before using a lid colour, and also to set my primer.
Naked2 - Taupe matte.
By far my favourite. It looks good placed on my lid, crease, lower lash line, wherever.
Faint - Warm dusty brown matte.
A brilliant crease colour for a subtle neutral eye, perfect for the day time.
Crave - Deepest darkest brown/black matte.
I'm glad that they have added a blackened brown to this palette. It makes this palette perfect to use for a day to night transformation. I also like that its not a pure black colour as I found Blackout (featured in Naked 2) to be too harsh to wear during the day.

My overall feelings on this palette is that I understand the theory behind the palette but I think it's execution was awful.

In terms of comparing this to its ancestors, I'm on the fence with this one and to be honest I'd be lying if I thought this palette was an essential. I'm a collector, so for me this was a no brainer but it won't be something i'll use everyday and If I had time to get ready each morning this would definitely not be my 'go to' palette. Also, the lack of colour shades makes it hard to come up with a variety of looks. 
I suppose this all comes down to whether you're looking for a neutral palette with a variety of shades, or if you're looking for something that is convenient, day time wearable and completely 'no frills'. If you have the money to spend I would advise you to invest in Naked or Naked 2 (click HERE for a comparison). However, if you prefer the latter or are completely new to the make up world and don't own either of the Naked's than this is perfect  - it's completely fool proof and has everything you need for your Basic (see what I did there?!) neutral eye.

Will you be buying it?
♥