Review! Urban Decay Naked Palette

I finally did it.

Urban Decay's Naked palette has been out for... what, forever?

I finally, finally, talked myself into buying one.

They throw in a little bottle of primer potion, too.  I cannot skip primer if I expect any eyeshadow to neither crease nor fade, and getting a little deluxe sample size is nice.

One pan was not completely filled.  I contacted Urban Decay, and they offered to replace the palette, if I sent it back to them.  It would have cost more in time and postage to replace what amounted to maybe $2 worth of product, so I declined.  So, while the resolution didn't appeal to my practical side, I was happy that they offered a solution.

Here you can see how it is a little short...

But it's obviously not that bad, just bad enough to notice when scrutinizing your brand new, $50 eyeshadow palette.  Again, customer service very promptly offered to replace it if I sent this palette back to them.  Since it was only one pan that was just a little bit short, this didn't really damper my enthusiasm for the palette.  It was more of a surprise that it got past their quality control.

There are countless reviews and tutorials and swatches out there, so I'm not going to re-hash that here.  I've been having a grand time finding tutorials and trying them out.  There are thousands of Naked tutorials out there, and here are a few that I have tried and loved:

BYCELINA - Naked in the Daytime – Makeup Tutorial :)
MakeupByTiffanyD - UD Naked Palette Tutorial: Smokey Natural Bronze
Glam Morena - Tutorial Barely Naked

The tutorials I've linked to are all very natural daytime looks.  However, this palette is not a one trick pony.  You can easily glam it up, just use darker colors in the outer V, and over-emphasize the crease.

I'm pretty sure that just about any combination you can think of has been done, and a tutorial on it has been made.  This palette has been around for a few years now, so makeup artists and makeup junkies have had plenty of time to play with it.

They've also had a lot of time to get bored with it, and you know what?  It is still a favorite.  Knowing that this palette has been around for so long, and that it is still so popular, is what finally convinced me to just bite down hard and buy it.

So, since there are plenty of swatches out there, I'm just going to talk about what I thought.

What do I like?  Just about everything.  The colors are gorgeous.  The brush is very nice.  The primer potion is handy, and big enough to use enough times to know if you like it.  As just about any review you will see says, these shadows are pigmented, smooth, buttery, long wearing, and extremely flattering!

What don't I like?  I don't like the packaging.  I sincerely hate cardboard packaging because it feels flimsy and cheap to me, no matter how thick they make the cardboard.  When I ordered this (and several other Urban Decay palettes), I didn't read the descriptions carefully enough to realize that Urban Decay favors cardboard packaging.  I like metal compacts.  After that, I favor plastic for sturdiness, and then cardboard for biodegradability.  On top of the cardboard, they applied flocking, so the palette feels like suede.  *sighs*  This is going to drive me nuts when it gets used more, and gets dirty.  I hate dirty cosmetic cases.  Grrr.

Well, I needed a solution to house my new palette, and then I remembered a vintage-y easter bunny tin I have.  Luckily, the palette fits inside perfectly!  This solution will keep my palette clean, and protect it from getting dinged up!