Archived Post
Rant & Rave: Urban Decay
Share: Tell us what you love and hate about Urban Decay!
my answer: I’m a huge fan of their lipstick and eyeshadow ranges, and I love that they have a pretty good variety of colors to choose from. I’d love to see their lipstick range offer more finishes and more cool-toned shades, though. And one day, I’d love for them to take the buttery, dense formula of their eyeshadows and apply it to blush! They need standalone blushes/highlighters! I don’t like their build-your-own-palette system at all and think it was a huge miss.
They need to add more eyeshadow colors that are not neutrals.
Which is hilarious since when they launched they were all about being edgy and carrying unconventional colors.
Oh my gosh, have you seen any of their non Naked eyeshadow products?! Thats what i love about UD, they are so colorful and bright with their shadows and liners! For example, the Vice palettes, the Electric palette, really any of their palettes not in the Naked line, and tons of their permanent single shadows are so colorful and not at all neutral.
A miss, i would say, is that their shadows do have a lot of fall out.
They have a ton that aren’t neutrals, their singles and Moondust formula are full of them.
haha, good one!
Have you checked out the single shadows? Lots of color there!
I agree. Not one yellow eyeshadow in their whole lineup? Not one orange? Not one bright green? More than half of their permanent range is now neutral, and about half of that is all brown. Beauty with an edge? Yawn.
Have you seen the Electric palette?
Yes, I have the electric palette. It’s not really part of their permanent collection because you can’t buy it as a single. Even there, they have *an* orange and *a* bright green, but no yellow. It’s pretty disappointing for a company that’s supposed to be “beauty with an edge.”
Well, “edge” can be left open for interpretation. When I think of “edgy”, I don’t necessarily think of bright colors; in fact, I consider it mainstream/pedestrian. To me, “edgy” is deep, dark, smokey shades, which UD definitely has a lot of! I consider my overall aesthetic alternative/edgy, and my 2 favorite UD palettes are Smoked & Black…
Actually, a lot of the Electric palette colours are marketed as “not for eye area use” like the red and the hot-pink.
I feel like they’re relying on provocative names for colors to maintain their “edgy” image at this point. lol
I love Urban Decay; they’re pretty much my favourite brand, and have been for the past 10 years. I love their lipsticks, eyeshadows, liquid liners, and foundation. However, I wish they offered more variety in their palettes in terms of finishes, instead of just shimmers and like two mattes. Their pencil liners smudge like crazy on my super oily lids and I wish they had a gel liner instead of a cream one (I’m not a huge fan of cream liners). I also agree with Christine about the blushes and highlighters. And lastly, I wish their brushes were just… better. I feel like maybe they just need to be more dense? I don’t know.
UD is by far my favorite brand, especially their powder products (eyeshadows, finishing powder, even the Flushed palettes!). I feel like their formulas work well with my skin type/chemistry.
That being said, it really irritates me that they seem to focus more on releasing “new” items and lines instead of beefing up their permanent collections. Why not add items to the permanent line that fans have requested for years, such as the Stray Dog eye pencil, instead of weird spinoffs like the 24/7 Velvet Pencils – which, like many of their more gimmicky products, will probably be discontinued in a couple years.
Oh god! Don’t put that into the world- their Velvet liners are my favorite, since my oily lids hate their original 24/7 formula!
That said, I love a lot about Urban Decay, especially in the last few years, but I wish that they would take the lead from MUFE and introduce a much broader eyeshadow/blush line.
What I love the most about UD is that the brand finally came to Switzerland a couple of months ago 😀
I think I was in the minority but I absolutely loved their creme blush and was cranky when it was discontinued. 100% agree about the cool toned lipsticks. I also find the shadows (not all, but some) really make my eyes burn when I wear my contacts, but that doesn’t stop me from loving the formula. I have the naked palettes and I get sucked in each time even though they lean warm. This makes me almost always reach for other brands in my makeup drawer. I think I am in love with idea of Urban Decay even though the products that I have from UD do not truly work for me. This does not stop me from buying it!
I love them! I have mostly tried out their eyeshadow and liquid liners, they’re great. Urban Decay’s is my favorite eyeshadow formula. I’m looking forward to expand my collection.
Rave: I love their eyeshadows, eyeliner pencils, Perversion anything, lipsticks and lipliners.
Rant: I do like the Naked products, but I wish they’d do more with developing non-neutral palettes with new funky colors. I wish smaller palettes had a better color variety instead of repeating shades so often. Or better yet, new funky colors. I think the Naked Flushed palettes were a miss. I don’t like how they handled the Vice Ltd. release.
I’d like to see more single matte eyeshadows, preferably not neutrals. Palettes are great and all, but make no sense if you’re only going to use a few eyeshadows.
UD is the best when it comes to eyeshadow quality, hands down. And then of course there is the legendary UDPP, which is now thankfully in appropriate packaging.
I do wish they would scale back on the packaging for the majority of the palettes, including the various “box of shadows” and even N1-N3 in my opinion. Its all quite bulky to me, and one of the biggest reasons I don’t own any of those palettes. I think the Basics palettes have got it right (I own both of those, along with the original Ammo palette in cardboard packaging)! And I do agree Christine, the build your own palettes where a huge miss in my opinion.
LOL, UD is not the best when it comes to eyeshadow quality. MUFE is kicking their butts with all of their 210 shades. They’re even doing glitter shadows better than UD. I’ll agree that the average UD shadow is better than the average MAC shadow, but I know UD isn’t the best eye shadow on the market.
OK, I’ll give you that. MUFE did up their game in the shadow department and they are definitely more accessible now than they used to be. And I actually haven’t branched out into MUFE shadows yet, because I already have every color I’ll ever need in UD and MAC lol. I do recall some incredibly complex shades in the swatch gallery however…..*runs to look lol*
The MUFE shadows are just amazing. It’s like painting with acrylic paints — you just dab the color on and it’s 100% true to pan. You don’t have to try hard to build up to the pan color. They also blend out like nothing else. I know I have just about every eyeshadow color known to man already, but I’d buy them all over again in the MUFE formula because they’re that good.
Just because the colours are available in a similar quality by a different brand those can’t be interchanged easily for everyone.
Unfortunately MUFE throws the preservative Chlorphenesin in almost everything now, same as NARS (at least the shadows and blushes), which is why I personally won’t buy from those brands anymore, as I get a reaction from the products and this ingredient does not really sound all that safe, especially for eyeshadows. So actually one factor of quality for me is also which ingredients are in a product.
It is a bit OT, I apologize, but when comparing products, I don’t just check the performance but also what they are made of and I have a long list of ingredients that I avoid for health reasons.
I really wish they wouldn’t fall into the “manufactured-hype” trap. They have established themselves as a brand, and have a loyal following; they’re also a brand well-loved by many top-rated bloggers, so theyhave the potential to gain even more. They also have counter space at commercial retailers, such as Macy’s, so they have every angle covered on that point. I don’t get why they feel a need to piecemeal the release/distribution of product… This is something I noticed since the release of Naked 2, when they should have anticipated the market, but it seemed they kept “selling out”, yet 2-3 days later they’d have more… Obviously this was before L’Oréal took over, so I don’t think the two are related.
I totally agree! As someone else said below, it seems like the original [genuine] Naked palette shortage at UD must have sparked their current marketing strategy, lol!
I gotta say, I’m not a fan of UD’s marketing in general…their press releases for new items/lines/collections are so overblown these days it just makes me roll my eyes. Come on, UD, not every product has to be “mind-blowing,” “never-before-seen,” etc. etc. And I find it awkward how they always manage to include some amazing anecdote about how makeup genius Wende came up with *or* inspired whatever new product they’re pushing at the time. Like the blurb for their new Mascara Resurrection has something about Wende putting a “skunk stripe” in her hair after a breakup…really? I dunno, it just seems so obnoxious and self-serving to me. Phew, rant over! I really do love UD’s products, just not the way they promote them haha.
Scarcity creates demand — it’s a well-known marketing strategy. If something ‘sells out’ due to limited roll-out, buyers will flock to snag an item they might have been iffy on otherwise, had full stock been released at initial launch. Lots of brands do it, b/c it is proven to work.
That said, it can definitely get old when that strategy seems to be used for multiple releases by the same brand.
I get that, but I expect more from a brand that has *proven* their worth on the market. It’s just an insult when they do this to longtime/loyal customers, and the products end up on eBay for 5X+ the MSRP.
Estee Lauder was the first brand to implement this practice, and while it has fared well, EL doesn’t really do it themselves, anymore. It seems MAC has even pulled back, or people have just stopped making the effort-which would prove thos scheme will eventually backfire. All it does for me, and others I’m sure, is make me turn to one of the other myriad of brands of whoch there is no shortage. I stopped buying MAC for over 5 years, I can do the same with UD.
Exactly, doing this will eventually backfire, as it is alienating me from the band. Instead of feeling excited when new things come out, it will make me not interested as I know this will not be worth it for me to look into, and I will look elsewhere absolutely. With that said, I’ve really been enjoying Nars more and more these days.
I hate that so much, too. In fact, I used to have a favorable opinion of Urban Decay but Holiday 2013 changed that for me. Now I hate UD because of their marketing, and I just don’t feel like their products can hold their own against other brands.
I would only say the customer service has kind of declined over the years. I haven’t had any problems personally…. But with the launching of limited edition palettes/products and all the issues that came up with that has been a nightmare for many.
Love their eye shadows, but I’m meh on their lipstick and gloss offerings. Except for Rapture, most of their lipsticks suitable for cool toned folk are pretty bright. I was also pretty bummed by how sheer their Naked glosses are. I love the formula, but I have really pale lips and require more color from my lip products!
Also, not a rant or a rave but i’d love to see them do a line of cream/gel liners!
They did release a black cream liner recently. But if you mean they should release other colours, I think that would be awesome! Perhaps they’ll expand some day.
I used to love UD palettes, but I hate them now. They’re always releasing palettes, running out of stock, and then bringing them back again. I believe the first shortage of Naked palettes was real, but everything after that has been a load of marketing bs. I’m really sick of seeing and hearing about their palettes being out of stock. They’re not that good anyway.
There’s really more things that I hate about UD than I love about them. I will say I like their finishing mist. I like that much better than Model in a Bottle. I do really like their lipstick in Naked, but I don’t like the price.
I feel like UD’s really lost right now and they keep playing the ‘palette card’ to create buzz about their brand. That might work on makeup newbies but it’s not working on me or other people who have been into makeup for awhile now.
I totally agree!! Among the many things that I find so underwhelming about this brand is their marketing and branding. I don’t need 16 shades of eye shadow or an overpriced mushy lipstick in a “cool” package or a bronzer with chunky glitter that smells like dessert or a goopy gloss with a skull design on the lid. Their price point is unreasonable given their marketing. If I’m going to spend $20+ on a lipstick it will be with another, better line.
Uh huh. Their lipstick range isn’t even that extensive. For lipsticks, I prefer the Bite Beauty lipsticks — they’re only $2 more and 66% larger. (UD is .09 oz compared to Bite being .15 oz) Bite is also food grade, so I feel less disgusting about eating it. Their lipsticks just aren’t special, and for what they charge per ounce you can buy a Chanel or YSL, so why not splurge?
I totally agree with you, Christine. I have several UD palettes and have recently fallen in love with their lipstick formula (I only have one but would love to have more!). But the fact that the blushes are only included in their holiday palettes or build-your-own palettes is a buzzkill. If they had individually packaged blushes, I would absolutely try them out, as they’re one of my very favorite makeup brands.
I pretty much hate everything about Urban Decay. I hate their name, their branding and packaging, their price point, and the majority of their quality. Their blushes have too much muddiness or cool tones, their eyeshadows are unrealistic colors and are either too powdery, chalky, or glittery. Their eye liner is uncomfortably unwearable, and I’m not impressed with their foundations. Their mascara is G.A.R.B.A.G.E. (especially big fatty). I HATE HATE HATE their bronzers- too much glitter!! Their lipsticks would be redeemable (69 is my favorite red) if they didn’t go on so inconsistently and settle in my lines and wear so poorly. I like Naked 1 and 2 begrudgingly, though half the shadows have too much fall out.
What I like…. their setting spray. That’s pretty much it. :/
Haha, I’m with you on the setting spray! I guess I have a soft spot for UD because they were a new brand when I started getting into makeup a little while ago, ahem. They were just so 90s grunge when they first started, and now they’ve grown up and they seem confused. When they’re not doing chunky glitter shadows with tons of fall out, they’re putting out “naked” palettes for natural looks like no one ever made a neutral eyeshadow before.
Completely agree with you on the build-your-own palette system not really taking off. I also think they need to revisit the formula of the 24/7 glide on pencils. Like others have said, they smudge and migrate like crazy on me.
I love their palettes! The pigmentation is pretty consistent. I just wish that there were warmer transition shades in them.
I don’t like how expensive their singles are. I know all eyeshadow has gotten pretty expensive, but I think the amazing pricing of their palettes makes it way less appealing to do $18 for a single with no price break for multiple shades. I would be more inclined to buy if they did a discount for more than one, like MUFE has going.
I also have no interest in their blushes or highlighters. Really limited color/finish range and I like to buy all those things seperately.
I wish their shadows weren’t so heavy on the glitter, and they offered more colors in finishes like satin, pearl etc. I also wish they had a better build your own palette option. But… I really love the two Naked Basics palettes.
Yeah Mica based glitter, but has some serious fallout issues. I can work with Chopper by Midnight Cowboy….. yikes!
Yep, Midnight Cowboy Rides Again is one they used to love to put in just about every single palette and it’s basically unwearable unless you like having glitter all over your face (I suppose going out in the evening to a club or rave, this isn’t a big problem….maybe???). Otherwise, it would be such a wonderful shade. The same is true of Maui Wowie, even in the newly reformulated issue – FALLOUT, no matter how much you tap your brush, press rather than sweep, etc. And Sidecar (from the first Naked palette) is the same. I’d have hit pan on it years ago if it didn’t have all that fallout but as it is, I don’t even touch it!
My biggest issues with UD are eyeshadow glitter fallout, the stupidity of the build your own palettes and their penchant for vulgar names. I love me my shimmer and glitter but I prefer that it not rain down all over my face and even remain visible in odd places a day later. The build your own palettes – ugly and bulky AND there’s really no cost saving at all, unlike MAC or Inglot. And the vulgar names – really, it’s not chic or clever; it’s just vulgar. I teach highschool; I hear vulgarity all the time and it’s just trashy and low-class. I don’t need it (or subtle glorification of illegal drug use – I see too much of the real ugliness of that too) on my cosmetics.
I hear ya! 🙂
Vulgar names seem to be quite a trend. Tom Ford and Nars give testimony of it. Genitals (male ones) being shown in Paris catwalks this year and genital shape golden pendants last (again by Mr. Ford). I just find it all revolting, and cannot agree with you more!!!
I would love for Urban Decay to include better blending or transition shades in their palettes that cater to People of Color. It’s frustrating that I love the shadows but can’t solely use my favorite palettes because I have to use a separate transition shade or risk my makeup looking blah… The formulation of the shadows are amazing though! I have no other complaints about the brand.
Or, blending shades for paler folks! If I didn’t have the Naked Basics palettes, I would find my Naked palettes unusable (I don’t like using different brands of eyeshadow in one look), which they were for ages until the first Basics palette was released, or I had to mix shades. Like all brands, they just use the largest demographic as a reference point.
I have really grown to love UD. Esp the naked foundation, powders and lipsticks . I have issues with the eye shadows all of them I am afraid. I have oily skin and with that oily eye lids. I have tried all the primers and I can only get 4 hrs of wear on UD shadows before they fade and or crease. I love my naked palettes and continue to use but not fully in love with them. I have amazing luck with other brands.
I agree with a lot of what you said…
UD is my FAVORITE brand, so I love pretty much everything, except:
– The fallout on their glitter shadows is horrendous.
– I agree about the build-your-own-palette system. I’ve been using Z-palettes for years, and was annoyed that their system is so specific to their own system. (Like, I can buy MAC pans and not have to use them with MAC palettes.)
When I first started reading this blog, there were a lot of good comments and reviews on UD so I dove into it asap. Being a MAC fan for over a decade, I decided to explore and this was the brand I started buying from the most. I love love love their eyeliner selection. But, the naked palette was so underwhelming that i still don’t get the hype. Yes, the colors are nice but the fallout is ridiculous and can’t be ignored. Every time I wear it I look like tinker bell sprinkled pixie dust on me by the end of the day (and soon after it’s applied no matter how careful I apply it). I do have a duo and a few single shades that I do like though. I also love my electric palette although I don’t use it as much as I thought I would. No complaints on Vice 2 either….love it! Lastly, their lipsticks are usually great but I’ve found that a few of the revolutions have been a little dry until I get through the first few layers on top. The colors are fantastic though.
Too many warm tones!
I love so many shades in their Revolution Lipstick line, but absolutely despise the vulgar names, which are so passe and make them virtually un-giftable. It’s a shame, really. Especially since the lipstick is so nice in every other way.
Hah, I never thought about it, but 3 of my fave lipstick colors are Bang, 69, and F-bomb.
Not a fan of their Naked palettes. Too much glitter and too much fall out.
Not a fan of UD really. I rarely ever feel attracted by their products.
Rave: cruelty free.
Rant: Sometimes too much glitter for my taste. I love their shadows, they look beautiful…but I come out a glittery mess if I stray beyond the mattes and the satins! But that’s just my lack of blending ability!
I’m not sure why I still love UD considering I have pretty much only rants:
– I miss their fabulous old packaging. I mean OLD like in the 90s when you could get UD at Hot Topic and hardly anywhere else – apothecary style nail polish bottles, metal tin eyeshadows, metal bullet lipsticks.
– I miss the old colors that were actually edgy instead of just claiming to be. The elder goth girls need our darker lipstick! Rat and Roach were my jam back in the day.
– overpriced, in my book
– now owned by a huge company that isn’t cruelty free :/
That said, UD mushroom is one of my favorite eye colors of the last few years.
Ahhh! My first UD eyeshadow was in “Mildew” in the twist off tin. 🙂 I wish I had kept it just for posterity. I have a bunch of the old ones in the “subway token” style that are NIB. I hate those lipsticks with the plastic case and the mini sword sticking out, though. The swords just broke off for me and made it impossible to get them out of the tube.
Omg yes! I ordered the reissue of Gash lipstick in the sword case, and while cute, it was really impractical (not to mention the color was NOTHING like the old Gash). I actually still have some of the original metal tins (let’s see: Chains, Polyester Bride, Lust, Rat, & Roach – I have Mildew, but depotted it, which I regret) and honestly they’re still just as good after all these years, texture & color wise! I have a bunch of the token ones too. Yes, clearly I don’t pay attention to makeup expiration, heh.
I wish they would have a range of less glittery and less frosted colors. I’d love a slightly shimmery and matte Naked 3.
I wish they’d release some separate powder blushes. I wish they had some more colour variety in their lipstick range (no mid-tone purple? no unusual/”unwearable” colours?). I wish their build-your-own-palette system was more like MAC’s or Inglot’s. I wish they’d focus more on colour again. (Yes, I’m aware of the Electric palette and whatnot, but look at their single eyeshadow range. Most of the colours ARE neutrals.) I wish their glittery shades weren’t fallout city.
More ranty, but yeah.
I like their products, but I am very bored of the brand. I wish they would brand out and do a little more. When was the last time they came out with powder blushes? Blushes on their own, not in the NAKED flush palettes. Give me blushes that aren’t involved with the NAKED line.
Rave: They’re my favorite (well, tied with MUFE) brand for eye shadow and liner. Their color palettes are /actually color/ and not half neutrals. I love how sparkly the Naked Illuminated pressed powders are.
Rant: I wish they offered individual blushes again. Their build-a-palette system is bad. The Revolution lipstick line is nice but I wish they’d added more non-traditional colors (at least black I mean come on) and a few mattes. Their permanent shadow singles could have more color range.
Rave: the Naked palettes, even if they’re a bit repetitive in color selection; most of the 24/7 eyeliners I’ve tried; Revolution lipsticks; foundation brush. Generally, I find those products to be high quality and at a price I’m willing to pay. I also appreciate that they work to be cruelty free.
Rant: I don’t care for the packaging of the N2/3 (which I believe is still the same for their build-your-own palettes). I don’t like the clunky-ness of them, and I feel that over time, the fasteners will break off and my palettes won’t close. It feels like some of their limited releases are going the way of MAC–great ideas and pretty colors, but lacking in quality and pumped out so quickly it’s hard to keep up. Not all, mind you, but some!
I love some of their stuff, but they haven’t been that great lately. Their naked palettes are excellent. Their brushes are decent. They need to make palettes in plastic or metal packaging that are the same quality as the naked ones, but more colourful. Agree that they need individual blushes. Like their original revolution lipstick formula. They need to stop making cardboard packing with cheap quality shadows that are inferior to their singles. I would love a burgundy/gold/bronze naked palette.
Rave – Love the Vice 2 and Naked range – great colours and pigmentation
Rant – too many products have been released that are not up to their usual standard.
This could really be said for MAC too – quantity does not equal quality.
UD was my first go-to brand after I started falling out of love with MAC. I do like their optical blurring blush (or whatever they call their foundation brush) but other than that, it’s hard to rave lately. Their foundation line doesn’t have anything that plays well with porcelain skin, their so-called “cool-toned” Naked palettes are anything but (in general, I think their line is direly missing cool-toned neutrals), and their palettes are just so ridiculously bulky. Even my previous go-to the 24/7 liners aren’t as exciting anymore – brands like Sephora beat them on price and Ardency Inn and Marc Jacobs are beating them on interesting colors, especially since in the revamp they wiped out most of their cool toned (like the purples!)
I keep an eye on them, but am hardly excited by them anymore.
Only thing UD I really love is their setting spray. Haven’t had anything quite like it make my make up ‘set’ as such to my face. That being said.. Not much of a fan of their other products.. I just feel I can do better with other brands for better Quilty and price point 🙂
I forgot to mention this in my post! The De-Slick is a holy grail product for me.
I love their eyeshadows and lipsticks. I just wish UD would add more lipstick shades. Totally agree about the blushes too. I wasn’t too impressed with the cheek palettes once I saw them in stores. I’d love to see a full line of buttery, pigmented blushes!
Maybe it’s just me because I never hear this from anyone else…the eye shadows don’t last on me! No matter what base and/or primer I use, what setting spray…they fade so much quicker than other shadows. I had the Naked 3, but gave it away…the colors were so close that I found they blended right into each other. And I agree with the others…way too much fallout!
First of all, I feel a warm spot for Urban Decay because of their company stance on environmental responsibility and animal cruelty. These are topics that are near and dear to me, so I care greatly. As for the products, I love Urban Decay’s broad range of single eyeshadows and palettes. They offer bright pops of color (such as the pigments in the Electric palette) and neutrals (such as the Naked range). The lipsticks are fine, but the shape of the lipstick itself makes it nearly impossible for me to apply straight from the tube as it is not shaped like most lips I have seen. My rounded lips do not like this straight packaging at all. This is a deal breaker for me as I can buy a formula I like equally as much (usually more), with packaging I like more. The blushes are nothing special. I debate with myself over the 24/7 eyeliner almost daily as the range of colors and formula quality cannot be beaten, but they all sting my eyes a bit. The Subversion and Perversion duo are excellent, but weigh on my eyes by the end of the day. I never have this problem with MAC’s Haute and Naughty Too Black and the results of the look are similar. The quality of the Naked foundation is mediocre at best and does not come anywhere close to being my fair shade (plus it oxidized on me, giving my cool toned skin a bright orange tone). The Naked powder is very good and finely milled, but again, is nowhere near my shade. I would appreciate the devotion to shade range that MAC and MUFE give. The eyeshadow Primer Potions are magic. I adore the Anti-Aging Primer Potion as it enhances the buttery smoothness of certain eyeshadows. The setting spray is fine, but needs packaging like MAC’s so I do not feel like I am a dog being house trained. Overall I like Urban Decay, but to meet my needs and desires, they need to step it up.
I don’t like their buildable/ personalized palettes at all, what a horrible idea! I do love their pre-made palettes, Naked, 2, 3, and Naked Basics. I also think they could use an amazing blush formula! Their current “flushed” sets are awful, I ended up donating mine.
For me, UD has been hit-or-miss. The 24/7 eyeliners smudged and smeared on my oily lids; I bought a set and had to return it. The UD Eye Primers doesn’t last on my oily lids either. I have the Naked Palette and like it, but some shades have ridiculous amounts of fallout, even with primer. Many of their kits have shadows that are too bright, shimmery, frosty, and glittery for me. I have their Naked loose powder, but it’s kind of drying for winter, so I’m saving it for summer. Their All Nighter Setting Spray works, but not something I would wear everyday, since my pores need to breathe. I hope they don’t come out with another Naked palette – 3 is enough, time for some new ideas!
I adore all things eyes from Urban Decay. The shadows are outstanding and the 24/7 eyeliners are unmatched in my book. I wear a hard contact lens (because I have to, certainly not because I want to) and their eye liners are seriously the only ones I can wear without getting smudges and grossness on my lens. I don’t know what it is about other liners and how they cause the smudges, but Urban Decay is perfection. My #1.
Rant – None of their products are light enough for me! I’m super pale so I can’t use any of their foundations, BB creams, concealer, powder, or bronzing/contouring products. Super disappointing.
The lighter eyeshadows released since bos IV have just been real garbage. I feel like they all turn the same color on the lid, even with primer. The worst shadow I’ve ever tried was crystal by them, and I found it hilarious they brought it back in the vice ltd. if anybody liked that shade, please tell me how on earth you got it to work! On top of that, the glitter shadows they put out are ridiculous. They should really work on that before anything else. No more naked stuff until you fix the glitter problems, UD.
One the flip side, they were the company I learned makeup with, which made it pretty darn easy. Their shimmer and frost shadows are soooo easy to work with. and their cream blushes were pretty nice too. The old lipsticks, although clunky and bad smelling, had a great texture. It seems that everything from them has a downside that you just have to cope with to get the good. Perhaps waiting for a sale is the best option.
Rave: I do love me some UD! They’re the brand that 99% of my eyeshadows are from, 99.9% of my liners are from and… ok, only one of my many lipsticks are from, LOL! Partly that has to do with the awkwardness of getting UD here though.
Rant: They need to stop flogging the ‘Naked’ thing so hard. Also, they need to up their customer service game – I was one of the first however many to order the Vice 3 palette this year (as evidenced by the random perversion mascara sample?), but then they cancelled my order without giving me a reason. When I emailed them to ask, I got a very offhand response about how they weren’t working with any other mail forwarding systems other than MyUS (or whatever it is) now – I was using YouShop, which I had done for my previous, what, 6 UD orders with no issues. I said OK, well, maybe next time put up some sort of warning that you’ll be changing the policies, and got a response along the lines of ‘Yep, totes, whatevs, LOL’. I exaggerate slightly, but it was a very dismissive reply indeed. None of this was a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but all I wanted was some sincerity. I wasn’t even asking for anything except information, but it kind of stung more after I’d waited to be ‘first in’ on a product of theirs, and having to wait two days for a reply after seeing on their Twitter that they leap to attention to offer solutions if someone so much as whines about how they dropped their Naked palette on concrete and now the hinge is funny or something. In the end, I don’t think I missed out on much with the Vice 3, and the response of one CS rep =/= all of UD, but the experience rankled…
My naked 1 palette has got a lot of love from me. But the smoked palette was a bit disappointing. The colours were great but I had fallout with most. Does anyone have a fix for that? My nars smudge proof didn’t seem to do anything. Also perversion eyeliner makes my eyes water like crazy!
Love the pigmentation of the eyeshadows. Hate the 24/7 liners–they don’t last and smear on me.
i love the colors of the UD liners, but i can’t use them on my waterline at all. they itch, i feel like i have something in my eyes, and by evening, my vision is blurred. i’m talking about the non-shimmer, non-glitter ones. i must be allergic. i gave lots of them away.
I love UD shadows. I don’t buy anything else from UD except two pencils. The pencils are so expensive. I own six Naked 1. I still have the first one I opened and only sin has hit to metal.
Unlike everyone here, I love the glitter shadows….not the micro glitter…I want it to flutter all on my face. The Chanel, the Dior, the Guerlain, the YSL, the Mac, not even Cle de Peau all do not have eyeshadows like UD….not even Tom Ford originals. I swipe a bit and it is so pigmented and not dry like those brands. I own many nice brushes, but I use this cheap painters goat brush (4 bucks) to apply and the shadows last all day and I don’t use primer.
Rave: cruelty-free, love my Naked3 palette (longest-standing everyday usage of any palette in recent memory), huge fan of their makeup remover (no sting, works great on waterproof and stubborn liquid liner), glad they have at least started to do some nail polishes again.
Rant: glitter fallout problems, taming/toning down of the line over the years (I started buying them in ’97 and they were far edgier then, I actually boycotted for a few years after the Loreal takeover), weaksauce gloss game, Naked line overkill (that mega-collection released at the holidays was the Jumped The Shark moment for me). And 24/7 liners are, on me, smudge-y, lid-transferring messes after about 3-4 hours. Meh.
Back from the Dead wishlist:
– I pray one day they will bring back new, 5-free versions of some of the core 90’s polish line! Mildew was my first polish purchase that was not Revlon or Wet-n-Wild and I would love to have a bottle again. Especially if they brought back (even as LE) the classic bottle shape. (Brush could use an update, though.)
– A Classics re-release of some sadly-disco lipsticks, but in the old bullet-casing tubes. I still have a 13-year-old tube of Jezebel (I do not use it; it’s just in The Archive) in the bullet casing and that is another product I miss. It was my tied-for-#1 HG lipstick along with Gash.
– Oh, oh — and the lovely, spicy, scented bronzer/blush Paranoid. Actually, resurrect the Gypsy Den Face Case! That was the best palette I ever bought. (Also have it in The Archive. Too old to use now.)
– Final wishlist item: Flavored Body Powders! Gimlet and Red Hot were the bomb.
I have a soft spot for them because they were the first high end makeup my mum used to buy for me in highschool. I love their eyeshadows and eye pencils and lipstick (though I do miss the old lipstick packaging)
I am 100% over and done with the NAKED line. The reason UD was the first makeup brand I got into was because they had an edge to their products (I still have my ‘The Black Palette’ from back in the day lol) They’re not bad palettes by any means but do we really need NAKED everything?? I mean really, it’s getting nauseating.
Raves: I love their eyeshadows, and lipstick formula- Fiend is my absolute favourite lipstick. I need to order a new one soon. I like Naked 2 and love Naked 3, and I like quite a few of their other palettes. I like most of their packaging, though some items are too bulky. I love their lipstick packaging. I feel neutral about their colour names, though some have gotten a laugh out of me (Rule 34 for example) and I’ve occasionally learned new (but, as yet, unused) slang.
Rants: They don’t sell in Australia. There are online stores I order from, but it would be nice to be able to test the products before buying. The glitter! I love the colour of Chopper, Trick, Midnight Rodeo etc, but can’t handle the glitter fallout most of the time. I didn’t like their mascara, I just felt it was nothing special. I feel neutral about most of their eyeliners, I’ve bought cheaper ones I preferred and Perversion made my eyes water. They release a lot of overlapping or repeat colours in palettes which might appeal to some customers but I think they could be a bit more creative (how about some duochromes instead of another mid tone brown or purple?).
On the whole I love them and I always look forward to new palette releases, and I want more of their lipsticks.
They’re coming to Mecca Maxima in March 😀 😀 and it’s 100% TRUE, CONFIRMED, DEFINITELY HAPPENING.
http://mecca.com.au/urban-decay.html
I love their eyeshadow formula, my Naked Palettes are pretty much the best beauty products I’ve ever bought. I also love that they’re OFFICIALLY LAUNCHING IN AUSTRALIA AT MECCA MAXIMA IN MARCH!!
I usually find the packaging tacky, I wish it was a bit more sleek. How ever, I do really like the packaging for their lipsticks!
I have to agree with Viva. I fell in love with UD back in the day when they had great products, like Pot Holes eye shadows, the best 9 dollar lipsticks you could get, great powder blushes, even the eye pencils and the cool colored mascaras as well as lipgunks . I still love some of their products, but they had better products years ago, and the price points were better. Plague eye shadow didn’t need a primer, Alley Cat and Stray Dog eye pencils stayed all day, and the lipsticks were amazing and came in so many colors. I liked the old Surreal Skin foundations and powders, the powder blushes like Lounge and Paranoid were fabulous. They just seem like they want to compete with high end, yet they have no focus. They just throw too many products out there and discontinue many great products to make room for over priced products that don’t have the same quality. I remember when the eye shadow single were 9 bucks too. I am glad I have backups of my old favorites, as well as some of the palettes, but I am not going to spend that much money on a lipstick that doesn’t have the appeal as the old style. L’Oreal has really had a negative influence, the line didn’t get better when they bought them out, and the only decent new products are the Naked foundations, but the old formula, Surreal Skin was much better, and 15 bucks, as was the powder, not the mineral powder, the compact powder. The old colors were better too. Some did have a lot of fallout, but the Pot Holes didn’t, it just seems to me, they had a good line, and now they are hit or miss.
Alot of these “changes” came about well before L’Oréal got involved… Also, L’Oréal owns several HE branda (Lancome, Armani), as well as Maybelline, all of which put out amazing products, all unique to one another.
You know what I miss? Those flavored body shimmers. THOSE WERE SO NEAT. I had Gimlet, the lime-flavored/scented one with mint shimmer?
Also, OMG the lip gunks. Remember the lip gunk pencils? I loved Perversion. That almost-black red with a bit of purple? Love.
I feel that the glitter in their products have gone down in quality. Back in the day, I don’t remember as much fallout? I don’t know.
I used to love UD, but now I go more for Sugarpill if I need a bright color fix, or high end brands like Dior if I want something more neutral. *shrug*
I was allergic to something in the naked 3 palette and had to return it 🙁 I loooved that palette! I like their lipsticks okay, but honestly, I tend to look elsewhere for most of my products.
As a true makeup junkie and collector i think UD always hits the mark on something that i “need” to have. My first ever makeup purchase was my beloved Naked pallet when it was only 44$! Now i seem to own mostly UD in my makeup collection. They have my favorite formula of lipstick with my favorite shade being Naked2. I LOVE the velvet line of liners, they stay in the water line like no other! My dream as a makeup junkie was to one day maybe work for them. Now 6 years later that dream has come true. Im sorry that most of Temptalias viewers have something negative to say about UD. But i will tell you that we only have great amazing products to come in the future so you better start saving now!!!!
Well, it doesn’t matter how “amazing” the products are if we can’t buy them! I would personally rather pay retail for an item, instead of a 500%+ markup on eBay, and spend it directly on UD products. If I have $200 to spend, I can either spend it all on UD, or give it to arice-gouger on eBay, and UD only gets about $50… Perhaps this is something you can forward to marketing…? Like I stated above, I’ve stopped buying from brands who pull this nonsense, and as much as I love UD, there are waaay too many great brands out there who seem to *want* my money. UD should be happy to have the loyal following they have…
I only own Primer Potion and Naked 1. Both of which live up to their hype and reputation for me! I haven’t really tried any of their other products though. At that price point, I can make do with cheaper products that perform pretty closely, at least well enough for my needs, so I’ve never been that interested in the brand as a whole. Only rant is that I’d wish they’d stop milking Naked, I’d really like to see them create the next Naked!
I love the naked flushed blush, bronzer and highlight combos! And, the perversion mascara with subversion primer is amazing!
UD eyeshadow is the only eyeshadow I wear, pretty much. I have very oily eyelids and it is the only shadow that does not budge on me. I have been impressed with the palettes I have bought in the last couple of years: Naked 3 is my all-time favorite for work or a quick look; Pulp Fiction was a standout for some colors I actually didn’t have in my collection (don’t wear a lot of browns); Electric is excellent quality and I really enjoy using those shades to add some oomph to the basics; I may be the only person who is a Naked 2 Basics diehard, ha.
I have also been very impressed with the Revolution lipsticks (Manic is one of the best colors for me I have ever found and they all wear evenly) and I like the Naked Skin foundation a lot.
UD is probably my top brand, but I have not loved the Flush palettes either, and wish they had a blush line – I also liked their old cream blushes and highlights, their current highlight powders are so glittery!
I do not love the 24/7 liners (see: oily eyelids; pencil liner in General is not my jam) but was extremely impressed with the Velvet formula.
There are certain products from Urban Decay that I love. I have a huge amount of eyeshadow and most of it Is Urban Decay because they have a large color selection and the formula is just amazing. I love their lipsticks and eyeliners as well. And their primer potion. However, I do sometimes wish they would focus more on expanding their selection of single eyeshadow shades. I feel like I already have most of the ones they currently make either as a single or in one of their palettes so I’m ready for something new. I have all of the Naked palettes and I love them but I almost feel like it’s starting to get overplayed since almost every new release they have includes some sort of expansion to the Naked line as a whole. While these are amazing products, I would like to also see something new. That said, I continue to love the brand as a whole and will continue to buy my products from them.
I love how amazingly smooth and pigmented there products are, and they seem to cater for everyone. Not sure what I don’t like really, there products look nice and work well. I personally like the build your own palettes and think more brands should follow.
I absolutely adore their 24/7 pencils and their shadows are my go-to. I love my urban ammo palette, plus I have and constantly use Vice 2, 3, and LTD. I just wish they started trending back towards their ~*~edgier~*~ days of old. NO MORE NAKED! I’m so tired of naked! The Naked flush palettes are terrible, naked on the run is boring (and that bronzer is beyond awful), their liquid foundation is blah. Just boring! I wish they’d embrace going strong in their core categories and just doing a huge expansion of singles in a range of shades (and at a less ridiculous price point), and an expansion of their lipstick line (NOT this ridiculous sheer in all the same colors nonsense).
Beauty with an edge as a tagline for them makes me just kind of laugh after they release naked this naked that all of the time. I really adore their eye primer, their vice releases, their single shades, the eyeliner pencils, and some of the lipsticks, I just wish they’d go a little retro to themselves 🙂
I wish they hadn’t discontinued Gash! Also, Ladyflower needs to be a permanent lipstick shade.
Maybe I have a limited perspective on UD’s product, as I’ve only used their eyeshadows in the Naked palettes (Naked 1, 2, 3 and Naked Basics 2). I know they are pretty neutral shades, but I’m a neutral-ish makeup kind of girl. I must say that compared to other eyeshadows I’ve used, their consistency is pretty spot on. Applies smoothly, not chalky as compared to some other brands. I originally didn’t buy any of their product because of the names they used, but couldn’t resist when I first saw the Naked 2 palette…… and then proceeded to buy the rest! (not all in one fell swoop, mind you!) When I think of it, Urban Decay probably introduced those more neutral colours to appeal to folks like myself that wouldn’t necessarily buy the more out-there, vibrant colours and broaden their consumer base. Mind you, I think their colour range is beautiful and amazing, just too afraid to wear some of them!
I wish they put out some more palettes with neutrals and colorful shades! I love my Ammo palette, but sadly I think they discontinued it. That’s the kind of palette I love seeing from them, I feel like they used to make them all the time but now we just get a Vice palette a year and the rest is Naked. As much as I love my Naked palettes, it bothers me that they built their company on color and are now expanding only on that line, it seems. :/ Nothing they have put out recently interests me in the slightest, and I feel like their eyeshadow formula in limited edition palettes has worsened which is a shame because it’s one of my favorites. I wish I could afford to buy their single bright eyeshadows, but I just can’t justify it when their palettes are such good values.