Review - Urban Decay Naked Basics

This little guy has been in my makeup rotation quite often since it's release earlier this year...so needless to say, I probably could have reviewed this at least a couple weeks ago.

Naked Basics is a sucessor of Urban Decay's oh so popular Naked line it is half the size and almost half the price of the Naked and Naked 2 palettes and is touted to be an all matte palette.

Naked Basics comes in a small, velvet matte finish (not like NARS cases) case that snaps shut. Its secure and it stays fairly clean. The palette also has a mirror the size of the lid. The way the shadows are organized is fairly foolproof, ranging from lightest to darkest.

From L to R in the top row of swatches there is; 

Venus, which Urban Decay calls a "Soft, off white, demi-matte". Its a tad shimmery, which pulls away from this palette being an "all matte" as it was expected. It makes a great brow and inner corner highlight. In the Naked palette, Virgin is comparable, but is less beige and cooler, as well as Bootycall in Naked 2 being a touch pinker.

Foxy is a "cream bisque matte". Its quite beige and quite neutral toned. Its pigmented enough to provide a nice base on the lid, but isn't going to be a showstopper. This shade is included in the Naked 2 palette and is far lighter than the shade Naked in the first Naked palette. 

Walk of Shame has only previously been in the "build your own" palettes. It is a "very light nude matte" which was pretty spot on, but I seem to struggle with this one. Its a bit stiff and I don't find myself using it all too much.

From L to R in the bottom row of swatches there is;

Naked 2, which is the, in my opinion, headliner of this palette. It is a "taupe matte" and probably my most used shadow, not only of this palette but so far in 2013. Its a true taupe, not leaning too gray, not leaning too brown and is incredibly pigmented. The only shade in the Naked 2 palette that was even close to this shade was Tease (which was one of my favorites) but this is slightly taupe-r and the formulation puts Tease to utter shame.

Faint is a  "warm, dusty brown matte". I don't find this as warm as Urban Decay is alluding to, because it pulls quite neutral on me. This also has phenomenal pigmentation, but occasionally gets a little stubborn to blend. There are no comparable shades in the previous palettes.

Crave is often misconstrued. It is described as "deepest, darkest, brown/black matte" and I find that a lot of people just assume that it is black. The brown tones in this shade are actually stunning, and I've used this quite often to make a heavy black liner just a bit less black. As with Naked 2 and Faint, the pigmentation of this is divine. The closest shade to this would be Blackout in Naked 2, but Crave is quite a bit browner when these are swatched side to side. 

The price of this one actually kind of surprised me. I feel like Urban Decay had an opportunity to kind of jack up the prices; when I first saw this palette, my guess was that it would be in the $35 range, so I was thrilled that it was almost $10 less than that. Your are only paying a slight bit more per eyeshadow than the Naked and Naked 2, as they are the same sizes (full size, to boot) and your are paying $9 more than an eyeshadow single for literally the same amount of product and getting 6 of them versus 1. Marinate on that. (Not to mention I purchased mine with my Ulta Platinum Birthday reward so I only had to pay  $17! I felt like an extreme coupon-er!)

Overall:

Pros: 

 - 4/6 shades had phenomenal pigmentation.

 - Mostly matte palette.

 - Great deal.

 - Packaging is sturdy and stays clean.

Cons:

 - 2/6 shades were a bit of a let down.

 - Only 5/6 shades were completely matte.

Despite Venus and Walk of Shame, I'm pretty stoked on this. Even if it was just Naked 2, Faint and Crave..I'd still be pretty stoked on this. It comes down to the fact that it was a great buy and I get a lot of use out of it.

And if they release Naked 2 as a single...I'll probably buy back ups. Plural.

8.5/10