With 3-and-a-half eyeshadow palettes, Urban Decay has proven that the neutral world is actually pretty expansive. Like I mentioned in my Naked 3 review, there is a total of 40 shades in the Naked line right now (2 are repeats), so what do you do when you can’t seem to pick which palette is the best one for you?

You look for swatches online, of course!

And, happily, I am here to oblige, as promised. Luckily, I have all 4 palettes at my disposal, so let’s begin, shall we?

These are the palettes arranged in order of release:

Naked (review) — pretty tacky cardboard packaging with a faux velvet covering~ and the name embossed in a gold foil-like material. Magnetic closure, pretty small mirror, holds 12 eyeshadows and an eyeshadow brush.

Naked 2 (review) — pretty sturdy plastic-made-to-look-like-metal packaging (a cloudy silver-pink) with debossed grey label. Snap enclosure, big mirror the size of the lid, holds 12 eyeshadows and an eyeshadow brush.

Naked Basics (review) — rubberized plastic (similar to NARS) in a midtone warm brown, with the name debossed in a darker brown. Snap enclosure, mirror the size of the lid, holds 6 eyeshadows.

Naked 3 (review) — beautiful rose gold packaging with the same construct and material as the Naked 2. Weird textural crinkly thing on the lid (accurately described as the “wavy pattern that is reminiscent of what happens when you are reading in the bath, accidentally let water splash on your book, and then let it dry” by Robyn) with debossed name in gold. Snap enclosure (though not as secure as Naked 2), big mirror the size of the lid, holds 12 eyeshadows and an eyeshadow brush.

And here are the pans all laid-out next to one another:

L-R: Naked Basics, Naked, Naked 2, Naked 3

And here’s all of them swatched:

Urban Decay Naked

Urban Decay Naked 2

Urban Decay Naked Basics

Urban Decay Naked 3

Each release has a “reputation.” Naked is touted as the palette for warm skin tones; Urban Decay calls it the Bronze Neutrals. Naked 2 is the opposite, leaning more towards cool skin tones; Urban Decay regards it as the Taupe Neutrals. The Naked Basics is filled with very neutral mostly matte shades (Venus is the only satin/demi-matte shade) and is meant to stand alone or accompany basically any other eyeshadow palette you own. Lastly, Naked 3 is the rosiest of them all; Urban Decay deems this the palette with rose-hued neutrals.

I thought I’d show some of the shades next together, too. At first, I was grouping the similar shades together, but I saw that the shade range was very varied, so I just ended up mooshing together some similar ones.

“Matte Highlight/Base Shade”
Foxy is yellow-toned, Walk of Shame is a bit peachy, Strange is pink-tinged.

“Satin Highlight/Base Shade”
Venus is the closest to white, Virgin is champagne, Bootycall is similar to Virgin but a little bit less pink.

“Shimmery light pink”
Sin is lighter and more neutral, Burnout is more pink, maybe a bit warmer?

“Soft, light-ish lid colors”
Sidecar is a beautiful pinky brown that has tons of fallout, Chopper is a more coppery and warm, Dust is a cool pale pink and applies a little patchy, Buzz is a beautiful frosty medium pink, Trick is a rosy copper.

“Rosy, pinky shades”
Toasted and YDK are the pinky browns in a sea of conventional neutrals in both the Naked and Naked 2 palettes. Against Buzz and Liar, you can see just how rosy the Naked 3 palette is.

“Matte crease shades”
Naked 2 is a very neutral midtone brown, Naked is a pale brown that’s closest to my skintone, Faint is a neutral greigey brown, Tease is mauve-y midtone brown, Limit is a neutral pale mauve with a strong purple tone, and Nooner is a very muted and neutral midtone purple.

“Midtone brownish shades”
Smog is warm and golden, Snakebite has gold in it as well but is a bit more neutral and less warm, Factory is a neutral brown with a strong rose undertone.

“Deep purple-y taupes”
Hustle is a purple toned frosty taupe, Busted is kind of a deeper version, and Darkside is similar but is heavy on the grey tones.

“Black… ish shades”
Crave IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DEEP BLACKENED BROWN—sidenote: I was ambivalent about this shade, but swatching it again for this post, I saw just how beautiful it truly is—Blackout is a basic matte black, Blackheart is a complex shade with a matte black base and a smattering of red sparks that makes it appear burgundy.

As for add-ons, here is a list:
— Naked: flat shader brush + an Urban Decay Primer Potion deluxe sample
— Naked 2: dual-ended brush (flat shader + crease) + lip gloss
— Naked Basics: N/A
— Naked 3: dual-ended brush (flat shader, crease/blending) + 4 samples of different UDPP variants

Personally, I am enjoying the Naked 3 the most right now. That could very well change in the future, when it’s not as new and shiny, but I’m totally feeling it for spring. 🙂 I think I might actually let go of my UD Naked on my next makeup cleanup, since it’s just too bronzey for me. It’s still a pretty great palette and I love certain shades that make me not want to give it up, but we can’t live in excess forever.

Anyway. Phew. I hope this was helpful. 🙂 As always, questions are always welcome, though I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back to you just yet, since I am in Japan right now.

Surprise! I’ve queued up some posts while I’m gone, so stay tuned for those. Thank you for reading!

Urban Decay is cruelty-free.

Follow me: Bloglovin' • Twitter • Instagram • YouTube • Facebook