Urban Decay Smoked Eyeshadow Palette Review, Photos, Swatches

Urban Decay Smoked Eyeshadow Palette ($49.00 for 0.30 oz.) includes ten eyeshadows: Kinky (soft ivory peach with a matte finish), Freestyle (light pantyhose nude with matte finish), Mushroom (warm grey with shimmery finish), Back Door (true dark brown with matte finish), Blackout (blackest black with matte finish), Barlust (dark golden brown with metallic finish), Rockstar (deep aubergine with shimmery finish), Evidence (deep navy blue with shimmery finish), Loaded (deep emerald shimmer with metallic base), and Asphalt (deep gunmetal with silver micro glitter and metallic base); one eyeliner in Perversion (blackest black); and a mini Primer Potion (in Original).

• Kinky is a pale, neutral beige with a matte finish. It had good color payoff and was soft to the touch, though slightly powdery. This is a new and exclusive shade to this palette. Urban Decay Booty Call is slightly darker and more orange. MAC Vanilla is a little darker. MAC Chamomile is yellower. Bare Escentuals Chance is a smidgen more cool-toned but very close. MAC Blanc Type is very similar.
• Freestyle is a light-medium brownish peach with a matte finish. It had good color payoff, but it was a little powdery. This is a new and exclusive shade to this palette. Bare Escentuals Stealth is more orange and shimmery. Inglot #341 is darker and a little pink.
• Mushroom is a gray-brown–it’s a very intense taupe. It had good color payoff, and a really soft, dense texture. This is part of the permanent range. MAC Keep Your Cool is more muted. Chanel Illusoire is less brown.
• Back Door is a charcoal brown with a hint of gray and a matte finish. This is a new and exclusive shade to this palette. MAC Dance in the Dark is very similar. MAC Legendary Black is browner. Bare Escentuals Amnesia is slightly darker.
• Blackout is an intense, deep dark black with a matte finish. It has good color payoff and doesn’t have any powderiness. This is part of the permanent range. Milani Pitch Black is slightly softer. Sugarpill Bulletproof is comparable.
• Barlust is a shimmery red-toned medium-dark brown. It has a soft, buttery texture with great color payoff. This is a new and exclusive shade to this palette. If the name sounds familiar, it was used for a nail polish that was similarly colored. MAC Havana is lighter. Bare Escentuals Pumped is more matte. MAC Roasted Chestnut is lighter and warmer. MAC Make Your Mark is softer, lighter. MAC Carbonized is similar but less metallic. Urban Decay Lost is less red-toned.
• Rockstar is a dark, smoky purple with subtle red undertones. It has a very buttery and smooth texture with great color payoff. This is part of the permanent range. MAC Indian Ink is almost like a matte version, though it is a little darker. Lancome Zip Me Up is a bit lighter. Estee Lauder Cyber Lilac is a touch lighter.
• Evidence is a medium-dark navy blue with a metallic sheen. It had decent to good color payoff, but it was a little dry compared to the other shades. This is part of the permanent range. It’s similar to a host of blues: Tom Ford Cobalt Rush, Bare Escentuals Climax, MAC Thru the Night, Wet ‘n’ Wild Earth Looks Small From Down Here, and Inglot #428–just to name a few.
• Loaded is a blackened green-teal. It goes on very, very dark–you will lose some of the strength of the overall green/teal if you blend it out, but it doesn’t look full-on black. This is part of the permanent range. Bare Escentuals Max Volume is a bit lighter and greener. OCC Poison is greener. theBalm Jealous Jordana is less intense, slightly greener.
• Asphalt is a medium-dark gray with very, very fine teal and silver micro-shimmer. The color payoff is decent, but it’s a smidgen sheer and not as buttery in texture as some of the other shades. This is a new and exclusive shade to this palette. If the name sounds familiar, it was used for a cream eyeshadow that was similarly colored. Tarina Tarantino Lovely Jewel is lighter. Make Up For Ever #1 is a smidgen darker. Bobbi Brown Gunmetal is very similar. Estee Lauder Black Chrome is a fraction darker. Urban Decay Gunmetal is a smidgen cooler-toned–a hair more silvered. theBalm Inspirational is less shimmery, grayer.

Overall, it’s a good palette; the best performing shades were Mushroom, Barlust, Rockstar, and Loaded. The “worst” (which weren’t bad!) performing shades were Evidence and Asphalt, which were both a little dry.  Kinky and Freestyle were a marginally powdery but applied well and had good color payoff, despite being lighter in hue, which was impressive.  Three of top Urban Decay eyeshadows are in the palette, too (Mushroom, Rockstar, and Loaded) along with the lovely rich black Perversion eyeliner.  I tried a few different combinations (none of which I ended up liking, but for testing purposes, still worked), and I averaged around eight hours of wear with minimal fading but no creasing over bare lids. With a primer, the wear was perfectly intact after eight hours of wear.

One thing I disliked about the palette was the composition. This has no impact on the rating at all, because it’s very subjective and doesn’t affect the quality of the product. Like The Black Palette, it has lots of dark, smoky colors–totally appropriate for the palette–but it seems like this is a palette you’d tote around with you, as if it was an all-in-one palette for great smoky looks. There are too many dark shades to build more diverse looks. I would have loved to have seen one or two more shades (perhaps something cool-toned–maybe a silver, silver-blue–hey, Strip would have been a great addition to the palette).

Kinky and Freestyle are the lighter shades in the palette, but it’s missing a genuinely cool-toned one, and perhaps one with some shimmer/satin in it, rather than matte. I tried layering Kinky over a few shades, but it seemed to make more of a mess than lightened the underlying color. Freestyle read a bit too warm against most of the colors when I tried playing with it. If you want a one-and-done palette, maybe this isn’t it. If you want lots of Urban Decay eyeshadows, it could be a great choice.

Each eyeshadow is 0.03 oz. (compared to 0.05 oz.), which means the palette contains $108 in eyeshadow, plus a full-sized eyeliner, which normally retails for $19, and then a small primer potion containing 0.13 fl. oz., which is worth $7. The palette contains $134 worth of products for the $49 price tag. It’s still a great deal–it’s just not as good as previous palettes, such as Naked and Naked 2, which both contained 12 full-sized (as in 0.05 oz. each, so 0.60 oz. worth of eyeshadow–double this palette) eyeshadows, plus two comparable extras (brush and primer).

Honestly, I don’t mind that the eyeshadows aren’t full-sized; it’s hard to get through a full-sized eyeshadow, especially some of the darker shades, of which there are plenty of in this palette, but at this price tag, it’s a little tougher to swallow, given that they’ve done much more value-packed palettes.  It’s something to pay attention to in case this a trend of things to come, but the palette on its own is still a good value and well worth the price tag–assuming you want more than 3 shades!

The Glossover

	Urban Decay Smoked Eyeshadow Palette Review, Photos, Swatches A-
	If you want a one-and-done palette, maybe this isn't it. If you want lots of Urban Decay eyeshadows, it could be a great choice. The palette on its own is still a good value (but not as good as palettes have been in the past) and well worth the price tag--assuming you want more than 3 shades!
	Product 9/10 Pigmentation 9/10 Texture 9/10 Longevity 9.5/10 Application 4/5
	Where to Buy
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Urban Decay Smoked Eyeshadow Palette

Urban Decay Smoked Eyeshadow Palette

Urban Decay Smoked Eyeshadow Palette

Urban Decay Smoked Eyeshadow Palette

Urban Decay Smoked Eyeshadow Palette

Urban Decay Smoked Eyeshadow Palette

Urban Decay Smoked Eyeshadow Palette

Urban Decay Smoked Eyeshadow Palette

Urban Decay Smoked Eyeshadow Palette

Urban Decay Kinky Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Freestyle Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Mushroom Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Back Door Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Blackout Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Barlust Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Rockstar Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Evidence Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Loaded Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Asphalt Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Naked 1 vs. Naked 2 Palette Dupes & Comparison Swatches

• Foxy doesn’t have any comparable shades in Naked 1.
• Half Baked is a repeat from Naked 1, so yes, there is a dupe–in fact, it’s 100% the same!
• Booty Call is a peachier version of Virgin (Naked 1), but they’re really, really close. It’s just slightly warmer.
• Chopper is more orange than Sidecar (Naked 1); I wouldn’t say they’re dupes, but they’re not totally different.
• Tease doesn’t have any dupes, because it’s matte, so it doesn’t really appear the same as contenders like Sin and Toasted (both from Naked 1).
• Snakebite is not as golden as Smog (Naked 1), but it’s nowhere near as dark as Darkhorse (Naked 1); however, if you mix both Smog and Darkhorse together, you get something rather similar.
• Suspect is just a little more beige compared to Sidecar (Naked 1).
• Pistol doesn’t have any comparable shades in Naked 1.
• Verve doesn’t have any comparable shades in Naked 1.
• YDK looks pretty similar to both Sidecar and Toasted (both from Naked 1), and Sidecar is closer.
• Busted is very, very similar to Hustle (Naked 1); at best, it might be a little less red-toned. It’s not like Darkhorse (Naked 1), though.
• Blackout doesn’t have any comparable shades in Naked 1.

See comparison swatches!

Half Baked (Naked 2) vs. Half Baked (Naked 1)

Booty Call (Naked 2) vs. Virgin (Naked 1)

Chopper (Naked 2) vs. Sidecar (Naked 1)

Sin (Naked 1) vs. Tease (Naked 2) vs. Toasted (Naked 1)

Smog (Naked 1) vs. Snakebite (Naked 2) vs. Darkhorse (Naked 1) vs. Smog + Darkhorse (Naked 1)

Suspect (Naked 2) vs. Sidecar (Naked 1)

Gunmetal (Naked 1) vs. Pistol (Naked 2) vs. Creep (Naked 1)

Verve (Naked 2) vs. Sidecar (Naked 1)

Sidecar (Naked 1) vs. YDK (Naked 2) vs. Toasted (Naked 1)

Darkhorse (Naked 1) vs. Busted (Naked 2) vs. Hustle (Naked 1)

Blackout (Naked 2) vs. Creep (Naked 1)

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette Swatches, Photos, Reviews

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette ($50.00 for 0.71 oz.) contains twelve eyeshadows: Blackout (blackest black with matte finish), Booty Call Shimmery cork), Busted (deep brown with shimmery finish), Chopper (copper shimmer with silver micro glitter), Foxy (cream bisque with matte finish), Half Baked (golden bronze with shimmery finish), Pistol (light greyish brown with shimmery finish), Snake Bite (dark bronze shimmer with metallic base), Suspect (pale golden beige with shimmery finish), Tease (creamy pale brown with matte finish), Verve (oyster with shimmery finish), YDK (cool bronze shimmer with metallic base), and Lip Junkie Naked (sheer shimmery pinky neutral) and Good Karma Shadow/Crease Brush. The brush is good; it’s like Urban Decay’s full-sized brushes–same size, feel, density, and softness.

• Foxy is a pale yellowed beige with a matte finish. It’s on the sheer side and a bit powdery. On my forearm (around NC20), it’s almost invisible. It could work for highlighting the brow on light to medium complexions. It’s similar to Bare Escentuals Daydream, Wet ‘n’ Wild Comfort Zone, and MAC Brule.
• Half Baked is a coppery brown with a golden shimmer-sheen. It’s very frosty but has good color payoff and a smooth texture. It’s part of the permanent range and is also in the Naked 1 palette. This shade is similar to a whole slew of others: theBalm Manic Maribel, Bare Escentuals Louder, MAC Amber Lights, theBalm Meep Meep, and Inglot #405 (and there are probably more).
• Booty Call is a peach-tinted white-beige with a frosted finish. It’s new for this palette. It’s just a little peach compared to Urban Decay Virgin. It’s also similar to shades like MAC Vanilla, MAC Baby It’s Cold, Urban Decay Skimp, Inglot #353, and MAC Brule.
• Chopper is a medium orange-red toned rown with coppery flecks of shimmer. This shade is permanent. It has good color payoff, but the sparkle is prone to fall out. It’s similar to shades like Wet ‘n’ Wild Dancing in the Clouds, Dolce & Gabbana Cocoa, and Make Up For Ever #12 (sheered out). Sidecar from Naked 1 is browner, not as orange.
• Tease is dirty mauve-brown with a matte finish. It’s an interesting shade, but the color payoff is mediocre and texture is very dry and stiff. You really have to jab at it with the bristles of your brush to loosen enough product in order to apply it. It’s similar to MAC Quarry, which is truer-to-pan color than Tease, actually, plus it has more pigmentation. It doesn’t compare favorably to either Sin or Toasted (the two closest shades from Naked 1), partially because the difference in payoff and finish is too dramatic.
• Snakebite is dark bronze with a dirty golden shimmer-sheen. It has a really lovely dense, buttery texture with excellent color payoff. It is deeper than MAC Tempting but warmer than Inglot #409. It looks similar to Smog, which is warmer, but not so much Darkhorse, which is more of a blackened brown; however, mix the two together, and you pretty much get Snakebite–both Smog and Darkhorse are in Naked 1 (and even right next to each other!).
• Suspect is a soft champagne-bronze with a frosted, metallic sheen. It has good color payoff but felt a touch powdery. theBalm Schitzo is more golden and smoother. Sidecar (from Naked 1) is just pinker.
• Pistol is a dirty gray-brown with a frosted finish. I’m hesitant to call it a taupe, because it has a lot of brown in it. The payoff is good, and the texture is soft and smooth. It’s similar to theBalm selfish and NARS Bali (but matte). It doesn’t compare to any shades from Naked 1.
• Verve is a pale beige-gray with a pink tinge. This was in the Rollergirl palette. It doesn’t have a dupe or similar shade in the Naked 1 palette. NARS Grand Palais is several shades darker, while Wet ‘n’ Wild Comfort Zone is more golden and gray (less pink). Urban Decay Ruthless is more beige.
• YDK is a warm, coppery red-toned medium brown with a frosted finish. The color payoff is good with a smooth texture. Inglot #421 is deeper and more intense. Urban Decay Shag has more copper. Urban Decay Wreckage is a little less warm. MAC Buckwheat is a bit darker. It is very similar to Sidecar and just a little less warm compared to Toasted from Naked 1.
• Busted is a burgundy-tinted, deep brown with warm, golden undertones. It has a soft, frosted finish. The color payoff was good and the texture smooth, though a little less dense than other shades. It’s almost the same as Hustle from Naked 1. MAC Midnight Flurry is a bit more burgundy. theBalm Mahna Mahna is more intense, more red-toned. Wet ‘n’ Wild Comfort Zone is darker, as is MAC Smut.
• Blackout is a really intense, deep dark black with a matte finish. It has really great payoff and goes on very black. It doesn’t have a comparable shade in Naked 1. Make Up For Ever #4 and Sugarpill Bulletproof are also very deep dark blacks with matte finishes.
• Naked is a sheer neutral pink with white micro-shimmer. The gloss is non-sticky and mint-scented.

Naked 2 is a phenomenal value ($204 worth of eyeshadow, $24 worth of brush, $6 worth of lipgloss–$234 total), just like Naked 1, but I don’t think you need both. There are too many similar shades to merit both (seriously, why even include Half Baked again?). Like the original palette, this is a warm-toned neutral outlay of shades. I’m really not sure why they went with warmer shades (over neutral or cool) when Naked 1 encompassed mostly warm-toned shades already. I know that several readers with cooler complexions felt like Naked 1 wasn’t as flattering on them.

It’s packaged in a metal tin that closes shut really well, but it is a bit heavier than Naked 1; it’s the same size in terms of length and width. I’ve traveled with the Naked 1 palette many, many times, and I haven’t had any issues with it opening, ripping, looking worn, etc. I expect that the packaging of Naked 2 will appeal to others, though, as it feels more secure and hefty. If you’re less inclined to have a dual-ended brush, an Urban Decay 24/7 Liner will fit in the slot as well.

The color payoff of Tease is really disappointing; it’s dry, stiff, and applies unevenly. It takes a lot of packing and blending to make it work, which is a real shame given that mattes in Urban Decay palettes can be hard to come by! Foxy is also on the sheerer side but not terribly so, but it has some powderiness to it. Chopper has that micro-glitter texture Urban Decay loves but is prone to fall out.

Half-Baked is a repeat, Bootycall is just warmer than Virgin, Snakebite is similar to Smog (and exactly the same as Darkhorse + Smog together), Suspect is just a touch less warm than Sidecar, YDK is quite close to both Sidecar and Toasted, and Busted is almost the same as Hustle. The shades that didn’t have comparable shades already in Naked 1 were Foxy, Chopper, Tease, Pistol, Verve, and Blackout; that’s five of twelve.

I don’t know how this really measures up to Urban Decay’s “12 Taupe + Greige Neutrals” remark on the product page, because I don’t really see those shades well represented in this palette. The quality, overall, is good; I don’t think it’s as good across the board as the first palette, but for $50 and twelve full-sized eyeshadows, it’s certainly worth taking a look at. I just don’t think it lives up to the hype here, and again, if you have Naked 1, Naked 2 isn’t much of a leap.

I will have comparison swatches in a separate post.

The Glossover

	Naked 2 A-
	If you have Naked 1, I don't think you need to have Naked 2. Naked 2 is a solid palette, but it is a lot like Naked 1, and both palettes are permanent, so it's really a matter of what colors you prefer and how often you wear neutrals. The palette would have benefited from making it more complimentary to Naked 1 rather than being so comparable, perhaps with a mix of cooler tones and less shimmery finishes.
	Product 9/10 Pigmentation 9/10 Texture 9/10 Longevity 10/10 Application 4/5
	Where to Buy
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See more photos & swatches!

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

Urban Decay Foxy Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Foxy Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Half Baked Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Half Baked Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Booty Call Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Booty Call Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Chopper Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Chopper Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Tease Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Tease Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Snakebite Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Snakebite Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Suspect Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Suspect Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Pistol Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Pistol Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Verve Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Verve Eyeshadow

Urban Decay YDK Eyeshadow

Urban Decay YDK Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Busted Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Busted Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Blackout Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Blackout Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

Urban Decay Good Karma Shadow/Crease Brush

Urban Decay Good Karma Shadow/Crease Brush

Urban Decay Good Karma Shadow/Crease Brush

Urban Decay Naked Lip Junkie Lipgloss

Urban Decay Naked Lip Junkie Lipgloss

Urban Decay Naked Lip Junkie Lipgloss

Urban Decay Verve on lid, Tease in crease, Foxy and Booty Call to highlight

Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow Palette Review, Photos, Swatches (Part 2)

Here are the other nine shades from Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow Palette ($55.00 for 15 x 0.05 oz.).

• Vanilla is a pale white gold with yellow tones. It’s very shimmery and so smooth. It is extremely similar in color to MAC Nylon but has a less metallic finish.
• Omen is a blue-based purple with a subtle pink layer. It’s a little pinker compared to Urban Decay Ecstasy. Initially, I was thinking it was more like Ransom, but not at all–Ranso is very blue-based and cool-toned. Inglot #441 is somewhat similar, but it’s quite a bit darker.
• Ace is a darkened gray with a subtle silver sheen. It looks more interesting in the pan–like this mix of blue and green and gray, but it turns out rather gray when swatched. Urban Decay Gunmetal has a much blacker base, which gives it a darker, more intense look. It is very similar to theBalm Sexy Stacey.
• Flow is a soft peach with a frosty finish. The color is similar to Inglot #330 but the finishes are different. theBalm Luscious Lani is less orange.
• Evidence is a dark navy blue with a subtle sheen. This is a shade that most brands have–we’ve seen it often–and it’s similar to MAC Deep Truth (less intense), MAC Blue Sheen (less intense), Inglot #428, Make Up For Ever #308.
• Blackout is a really deep, dark black with a matte finish. Make Up For Ever #57 is similar.  It seems darker than Perversion and has such a smooth texture with great color payoff.
• Chase is a golden bronze with a frosted finish. It’s kind of like a much lighter version of Deeper (in this palette). Inglot #406 has much more copper in it. Urban Decay Smog is much darker, but the feel is the same.
• Deep End is teal with a frosted finish; it seems to lean green in the pan but blue when swatched, which leads me to think it’s right there in the middle. It is a bit bluer than MAC Surf USA, but it is very similar (just more pigmented) to Milani Teal the Truth. Urban Decay Minx is greener, as is Flipside.
• Half Truth is a smoky purple. As soon as I saw it, I was reminded of Urban Decay Rockstar, because it’s the cool-toned sister of it–there is the same muted, smoky color, but Rockstar is more of an eggplant purple with strong, red undertones. theBalm All the Way Annie is similar but still redder–which is also how Giorgio Armani #3 compares.

Please read Part 1, which has detailed information about the color payoff, quality, texture, packaging, etc. for the entire palette.

The Glossover

	15th Anniversary A
	There is a good variety of colors in this palette, though it does have a surprising amount of neutrals, with good color payoff and soft and smooth textures. You might find you have too many similar shades already, but for those who don't, it's a great way to snag high-end eyeshadows without breaking the bank.
	Product 9.5/10 Pigmentation 9.5/10 Texture 9/10 Longevity 9.5/10 Application 4.5/5
	Where to Buy
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See more photos & swatches!

For photos of the palette itself, please see part one.

Vanilla, Omen, Ace

Flow, Evidence, Blackout

Chase, Deep End, Half Truth

Urban Decay Vanilla Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Vanilla Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Omen Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Omen Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Ace Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Ace Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Flow Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Flow Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Evidence Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Evidence Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Blackout Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Blackout Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Chase Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Chase Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Deep End Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Deep End Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Half Truth Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Half TruthEyeshadow

Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow Palette

Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow Palette

Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow Palette

Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow Palette