The Urban Decay Naked Basics has been treated as though it was a savior of the eyeshadow world. It’s a 5-matte-1-satin neutral palette that works as a standalone palette or the perfect companion to either of the two über shimmery Naked palettes.

The pigmentation is of excellent quality, as to be expected from Urban Decay. The colors are just a bit too light for my skin tone. I feel like it’s a bit uninspired, but that’s from someone who likes playing with makeup. If you’re looking for something that will give you a great neutral eye day after day, then this might be your best bet.

Swatched, top: Crave.
Swatched, L-R: Venus (satin), Foxy, W.O.S. or Walk of Shame, Naked 2, Faint

The colors are gradations of a standard brown, and while this is completely usable, I’d love to have seen something more “exciting,” like the purple-toned Tease from the Naked 2 Palette.

The other awesome thing about this palette is the overall portability of it. This is freaking small and handy, great for traveling, especially for business trips and whatnot, where you just want to look presentable and don’t need a whole array of colors to experiment with.

Here’s a quick day-to-night look, step-by-step instructional.

DAY LOOK

W.O.S./Walk of Shame all over the lid, up to the browbone. Naked 2 on the crease.

NIGHT LOOK

Whoa, daylight!

Faint on crease. Crave on outer corner and lower lash line. Venus as inner corner highlight.

As you can see, you can definitely build up the contrast and the drama~*~* with these shades. However, I don’t really find it to be versatile for my particular needs and taste because I like having a lot of variation and this doesn’t do that for me. Which brings me to the comparison.

When I got the NARS And God Created the Woman Palette (a href=”http://softly.nothingspaces.com/2013/03/10/nars-spring-gifting-2013-and-god-created-the-woman-set/”>review), there were some people who wanted me to compare the two and someone asked if it was necessary to buy the NARS Palette (which is part of a set at $65), if they already had the Naked Basics ($27). I’ll attempt to help you out. 🙂

Main differences:
— More color adventure with NARS
— NARS has less light colors
— NARS has more textural variation, UD is mostly matte with 1 satin highlight color
— The price difference is quite big, but you get a travel-sized eye primer and a short-handled #3 Eyeshadow brush with NARS
— NARS is a limited edition palette, but the colors are all available on their permanent range
— Both are travel-friendly and compact
— NARS has 6 x 0.03oz eye shades, UD has 6 x 0.05oz eye shades.

And here are some looks using the NARS palette, just for reference:

MY VERDICT
For my makeup “needs” and preferences, I like the NARS Palette a little bit better. Both are great quality, but the shade range and textures don’t make these palettes really all that similar to each other.

What I mean to say is that it’s not a “if I have one, I don’t need the other one, because they are the same” kind of issue. They’re very different six-pan palettes that will yield very different looks. Ultimately, I think you have to decide which suits your lifestyle and beauty style better.

I hope that helps anyone who’s been thinking about purchasing both. As far as I know, you can only still get the NARS Set from Sephora’s website, while the Naked Basics is part of Urban Decay’s permanent range.

Urban Decay and NARS are cruelty-free.