I’m very late on the bandwagon with this one as I forced myself to resist buying it until the very end of January and after using it exclusively for two weeks – I think I wore an eyeshadow from a different palette maybe once – it’s safe to say that I’m in love and I’m not one to declare my undying love for a palette unless it’s something magical. I’m not saying that the formula of these shadows are magical but they are really nice shadows that one expects from Urban Decay (but with some fallout as can be expected from shadows of this texture) combined together in a versatile and flattering way – for my skintone at least. When I saw the first photos on the palette when its existence was rumoured, I was not interested one bit because those icy pinks do not suit me and I’m not into that whole extremely girly look. I’ve said it before I use the Naked 1 constantly and I’ve been happy with it as it contains the flattering warm shades for my skintone but some essential lighter shades are missing from the palette in my opinion. Because Naked 3 was cool-toned, I didn’t think it would be a wise choice for me but I’m pleased to say it’s not as it seems. Naked 3 is a warm-toned palette, but unlike the first in the series, it has more colour options on the lighter end of the spectrum and the shades lean on the warm rosy side rather than the bronzes and as much as I like bronzes, these shades are some of my favourites.

The general tone of the palette follows shades like MAC All That Glitters, NARS Kalahari and Urban Decay Hustle and Sin. In my humble opinion, this palette would be great for two specific groups of people (a) those who suit warm-toned shades and (b) those who want to work with warmer toned shades but find bronze-based shades pull to orange-y on them. I know it’s premature to say this but I think that this might be my favourite palette of all time, pulling ahead of the original Naked Palette.

The shadows themselves are pigmented while still remaining easily blendable and smooth. The mattes are particularly impressive in formula here – I’m including Strange even though it’s listed as a satin here – and serve as flattering highlight, transition and crease shades on my moderately fair skin; the palette is versatile and great for travelling on account of the inclusion of these three staple shades. Strange is a pearly ivory shade with a rosy lean to it that is a highlighting shade, the transition shade is Limit, a light rosy-taupe and Nooner, the darker rosy brown, is my crease shade of course. A few of the lighter shades are prone to fallout but most of this can be prevented by being careful; the only shade I dislike working with is Dust, the pinky champagne shade as it is verging on glittery with fallout issues and doesn’t impart a great deal of colour onto the lid – nevertheless as it’s a light shade it is workable. Trick (coppery rose-gold) and Buzz (warm rosy-shade that is perhaps the pinkest but has some mauve-taupe in there for sure) can be prone to some fallout (but this can be remedied by applying it with the fingers onto the lid or tapping the excess off of the brush) but their texture and pigmentation is still great nevertheless – these have to be some of my favourite shades in the palette. And they don’t transfer onto the lid as glittery as they appear, I’m pleased to report. I can’t actually detect any of the microglitter like I could with Sidecar. The mid-toned shades seem to contain a refined shimmer and translate smoothly onto the lids; these include the more muted rosy-taupe shade, Liar, the darker taupe with mauve undertones called Factory and the more medium-toned mauve-taupe shade with some grey in it called Mugshot. The final two shades in the palette, Darkside and Blackheart, are the two truly deep shades in the palette that can be used (and I do frequently) to add definition and smokiness to the eye and they are both fantastic shades. Darkside was one of the shades that I didn’t expect much of and was flabbergasted when it blew me away – it’s a warm dark blendable grey with rosy-plum undertones and a satin finish. I’m also quite a fan of Blackheart, the palette’s “black” shade that is pigmented and workable without being chalky with gorgeous pink shimmer/glitter running throughout.

 Each of the shadows is full-sized (all twelve containing 0.05 oz of product each) and comes housed in the durable packaging that has a secure closure and a large mirror. It comes in a metal tin with copper swirled lettering over the rose-gold packaging. It came with the individual primer samples which didn’t really impress me but I can’t complain and I was quite a fan of the brush. The brush was a double-ended synthetic one, featuring a more precise paddle brush that is great for precise placement and a larger fluffier brush that works well for blending. I much prefer this brush to the one they brought out with the original palette. And of course it’s $52 US/$62 CDN. It’s worth that sum if you ask me and believe it or not I can be quite cheap.

Have you picked the palette up? What are your thoughts?

Maggie, x.