The Urban Decay Naked3 Palette | Review, Swatches & Photographs

First off, a big Merry Christmas Eve to you all! I hope you've all had a fabulous day and are now enjoying some good ol' festive telly and the first pickings of the Quality Street tin.  I've had a little walk around a local garden centre today (sounds rubbish but I'll have you know it's one of the best garden centres I've ever been to and it always looks amazingly Christmassy!) I ended up slipping a couple of decorations into my basket and realised when I got home that they were all bird themed in some way shape or form. Woops! Anway, I did have a jolly good festive post planned for today but it didn't quite work out how I'd imagined - so, instead, I thought I'd post about my newest addition to my palette collection - the Urban Decay Naked3 Palette.  If you were thinking of treating yourself to it after Christmas, then hopefully this post might be of some use.  I could just end the post here because it doesn't really need any words, does it? Just look at it! In all its rose gold, sparkly, glittery glory...

I told myself I really didn't need the third palette. Although, when they started selling out everywhere online and in-store (released just before Christmas - brilliant timing ;)), I couldn't resist any longer and snapped one up at House of Fraser with student discount as quick as humanly possible.  I use my Naked Palettes to death - I don't think there's a single day I've done my makeup and not used at least one shade from them.  I even take them on holiday with me.  Yep. It's love! If you've never tried Urban Decay eyeshadows then I really recommend them. They're hands down my most favourite shadows ever - in my opinion - they're hard to beat! I preferred the Naked2 ever so slightly over the first Naked palette, and so when I saw the third version with its rose gold tones and similar taupes - I had to snap it up.  Rose gold tones can be difficult to wear, but these ones aren't overly pink and are much easier to wear than what I first thought they would be... So what are the shades I hear you say? Here goes:

 

I won't provide a run-through of every single shade - as you can easily see for yourself in the photographs above (and there's been plenty of posts about this palette all over the bloggosphere already), but I thought I'd mention a few of my instant favourites! I adore the shade 'Half Baked' from the first 2 Naked Palettes, and am a massive fan of 'Chopper' from the second (a lovely antique gold) so I was instantly taken by 'Trick' - a stunning true rose gold colour.  'Buzz', 'Burnout' and 'Dust' all stand out to me as perfect everyday shades and are perfect to wear for uni with either 'Limit' or 'Nooner' - the two matte brown shades - blended into the crease.  The 2 matte brown shades in this palette seem to have a plummy undertone to them, compared to the taupe and warmer brown tones included in the first 2 palettes - so bare this in mind if you struggle to get on with plum colours and tones on your eyes! It's not always the most flattering! The other star of the show for me, has to be 'Blackheart' - it's unlike any colour I've seen in the palettes before. It's a beautiful deep brown/almost black colour with purpley-red flecks of glitter running through it (you can see it more clearly in the photographs below).  This will definitely be a main component in any smokey eye I decide to create over the festive season! I love it!

I have to apologise that my swatches are hard to decipher - but it's incredibly hard to photograph an arm full of swatches (although I think I deserve a gold star for managing not to twist my arm in the process...) I thought I'd pop them up there anyway so you can see how all the shades work together and compliment each other. The lightest shade in the palette (a matte creamy white called 'Strange' which can't really be seen on the swatches) doesn't show up too well on my arm anyway and isn't too noticeable on my eyelids - but it would make a lovely subtle highlight.  All the shadows are incredibly pigmented and creamy - and only require a quick dab of a brush in order to achieve a good colour pay off. I didn't expect anything less from Urban Decay - they always get it spot on!

As well as the palette (which comes packaged in a lovely box - always important!), you also get 4 weeks worth of different eyeshadow primers to try (not pictured) - I love their primer potions so this was a welcome addition into the box for me!  The brush is also the best one I've received in a palette so far.  It's double-ended and very similar to the Naked2 brush, but less dense and easier to use for blending.  It also seems slightly softer to me.  I also have to mention the tin the palette comes in - I much preferred the sturdy packaging of the Naked2 over the Original so I was really happy to see they'd continued this through the the Naked3.  It contains the same big mirror and is still fairly lightweight if you tend to travel with palettes. The interesting wavy shaped indentations over the lid make it even more unique and help set it aside from the Naked2.

Overall - I'm so glad I bought the Naked3 palette.  I wear their shadows on a daily basis so for me, it really is a fabulous purchase and one I know I'll get plenty of use out of!  I can see myself using the left-hand side more than the right (but i guess this is true for all 3 of the palettes) but I must admit I do love the darker shades included in the Naked 3.  On first impressions before I bought it, I did wonder whether I'd be wasting my money - in photographs - it does seem very similar to the Naked2.  But when viewing it in the flesh - it's very easy to see obvious differences and it actually has to be the most unique of the collection! The shades are undoubtedly more pink and plummy than the other two palettes - but definitely not so much so that they're hard to wear and I can see this palette suiting a lot of skin tones and eye colours. If you're a fan of Urban Decay shadows like myself, it's worth having a look into. I still don't know whether it has the potential to knock my current favourite, the Naked 2, off the top spot - but we shall see!

If you quite fancy rose-gold hues, pretty neutrals and plummy browns - I'd definitely recommend this palette.  They still have them in stock on House of Fraser for £37.00 here - so head on over if you fancy snapping one up! ( you can also grab discount with UniDays if you're a student) Or - keep your eyes peeled for some boxing day discount - you never know!

Have you given in to the lure of the Naked3 Palette yet? Which has been your favourite palette so far?