Naked Ultimate Basics Palette Review

I mean, surely we all saw this coming. This infamous palette has been on the minds and the blogs of millions ever since it’s release was announced with Urban Decay’s screenshot of a few unassuming tweets asking for an all matte Naked palette. Photos of the PR packages were spamming everyone’s feed, coming from any and all beauty influencers. We were all sold. From the gorgeous warm browns to the cool purples and blue and the cherry on the top matte black shade thrown in there- this palette certainly lived up to it’s name, these were the ultimate basic shades every neutral-loving woman needs! If you’ve been following me for a while, you’re well aware of my passionate love affair with the palette- I’ve been raving about wanting it for ages and ages, and once I got it it was plastered all over my daily Instagram flat lays. It would only be right for me to share my thoughts and woo you all over- clearing out your bank accounts is my favourite hobby after all haha!

The Naked palettes have infamously been surrounded with a lot of buzz and hype with every release- and at one point they were the best of the best; at one point they were the only forms of eyeshadow I owned! With my dabbling into the world of Too Faced, Makeup Geek and Morphe, my Naked collection began to gather dust. The formulas I once loved so dearly suddenly felt chalky and patchy in comparison to others. So when this palette was released, I was overly obsessed and needed to get my hands on it for the shade selection- but I was slightly concerned by how the formula would go down. It was a risk I was willing to take- return policies exist for a reason! So I walked into Ulta the day of the release and used up my reward points and walked out with my dream palette.

With Flash

Without Flash

Now let’s talk shades first- here is a close up of the palette with flash and without, and these are very accurate to real-life representations of the shades ( I never know to trust photos, so I thought I’d confirm that for you). The top row is very reminiscent of Naked 3- it is very pink/blush toned. The bottom is most comparable to the first Naked palette, aside from the life-altering addition of a gorgeous warmer than warm brown. The thing that sold me on this was the shade selection- now I don’t know if this is a matter of personal preference or just something every neutral-lover loves; but for me, all of my go-to everyday use shades are in here. I almost always use a warm brown, the two cooler toned browns next to it are perfect for blending and transition shades for me. As for the top row I love to throw a pink/purple shade across my lid to cool up whatever look I have going on so these are perfect for that. I will say the first 3 shades on the top row might not get that much use from me. However the first shade of each row will get a lot of use- I like to brush a lighter shade across my lid before any look to make blending easier.Of course, a black is always very well loved in any neutral palette- whether for darkening up a look or for a shadow liner look. The plum shade above it has surprisingly gotten more use for me though- don’t be discouraged by the coolness of this tone, I have put this in my outer corner almost every day to darken things and give my eyelids more depth- it honestly just works as a gorgeous darkening shade even with a warm look!

Formula! As aforementioned, I was concerned that I would be disappointed by the texture of the shadows- boy was I wrong! This is hands down the best formula of shadows I have ever used. Buttery doesn’t even begin to cover it! The formula is seriously a dream to blend. The pigmentation is insane which has definitely never been the case with the other Naked palettes for me. Just promise me you’ll swatch these if you ever come across them, because honestly they are just insanely smooth and almost creamy! I tend to dabble in more than one palette daily, but recently this just seems to do it all for me! I’ve only ever reached for my custom Makeup Geek palette for my go-to orange transition shade and inner corner highlight, but other than that this seriously does it all. The formula is incomparable and the shades are just everything I ever need- I can tell this is going to be a serious holy grail product that I will continue to use everyday for ages!

I’ve popped in a picture here with swatches of my four favourite shades.The first is Instinct on the top row, which as I’ve said is just the ideal pink toned shade to throw across my lid to finish off a look and give it more of a blush tone- I also love packing this on mid-lid to give a subtly pretty in pink look! Next is Lethal, which as I’ve said is ideal to give your eyes more depth and to darken up a look. Do I even have to talk about Extra Bitter? I was obsessed with this shade before even buying the palette- this is hands down the most gorgeous warm brown shade, and I can’t seem to stop packing this bad boy on! Finally Faith, I absolutely love this cool-ish toned brown- it’s perfect for everything, from my crease to my lower lashes- I just love this shade everywhere!

So that’s  it from me, let me know if you’re tried it out and how you felt about it! If you haven’t, what are you still doing here? Get it now!