Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics

Okay, I am very aware that I am incredibly late on the bandwagon in regards to this palette from Urban Decay. I was at first hesitant to purchase it as I was very content with my Naked Basics 2 and the original Naked Basics had never really interested me and I did not, at the time, feel it was necessary to have even more matte eyeshadows. Oh, how I was wrong. If I am completely honest it was the shade Extra Bitter that really caught my attention and trapped me in a state of lust which led me to promptly adding this to my Debenhams bag and purchasing it without a second thought. 

First up, I feel the shade range needs to be discussed. As I have previously mentioned, I am fully obsessed with the warm-toned orange shade, Extra Bitten, as I feel this colour is vital in a matte formula for any warm-toned shadow lover like myself. Orange will also be a prevalent shade this Spring/ Summer which also explains why many other brands are opting to include orange tones in their palettes. I also love the top three left shades as I feel it offers a real spectrum of opportunity in terms of a matte brow bone highlight which is always completely necessary. I feel the only shades I would not get a full use out of are the two on the bottom right, Magnet and Blackjack, as I am not one for grey tones as I usually tend to go for purples and reds when it comes to a smokey-eye. I also found that these two deeper tones do lack in pigment so would not really work to their full potential if used to smoke out an eye look

Essentially, this palette would be ideal for those who tend to use predominantly mattes as the shade range does cater for a variety of looks and most typically, warm-toned looks as there is a lack of cooler hues. Equally, this palette is great for those, who like myself, may already have a wide range of palettes that offer an abundance of iridescent finishes but need a matte to complement them in which case, this palette would be a perfect addition to use in companionships with the majority of warm-toned palettes

The pigmentations of the shades do vary as you can see in the swatches above. Whereas some shades such as Extra Bitter and Pre-Game really pack a punch and apply seamlessly with little fall-out (a rarity for UD eyeshadows) others fall short at the hurdle such as the greys and unfortunately the purple-toned Lethal which disappointed me. However, these powdered shadows can still be built up if you are willing to put the work in so don't let yourself be put off by this fact too much. 

All in all, I am very pleased that I finally purchased this palette and I now wonder whether I would have still purchased the Naked Basics 2 if I had known this was in the pipeline as that has pretty much become redundant thanks to its successor.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Have you tried any of the Naked Basics palettes?