Urban Decay Naked Basics: Review and Swatches

The Happy Sloths
The Urban Decay Naked Basics palette ($32 at Sephora) is an all matte neutral set of 6 shadows. As nice as the Naked and Naked 2 are sometimes I don't like a lot of glitter, especially when I do not want to deal with the fallout. The basic palette is good for a nice neutral look that is versatile and buildable.

Unfortunately with this palette, the wear isn't the best and I have found it fades fairly easily unless I prime or conceal my lids, which isn't the biggest deal to me. I love the neutral day to day look it gives, you can still get that little bit of shine with the semi-matte Venus shade. And the range of colors is really great to make that smoky eye. It is also good for layering, so what I would do is do a base look using the basics, then go over with a color or cream shadow. It allows me to add some depth without needing different shades of the same color set.

Pigmentation for the later three shadows are fantastic and show up really well. The lighter three, Foxy and W.O.S. are fairly close to skin tone and have good pigment but are more for creating a base since they will blend easily to the skin. Venus is the lightest of the six and is much more sheer but for its function in creating a look, it is a very good shadow.

Swatches under natural lighting.

This palette is good if you want to play around with neutrals and maybe aren't ready for the daunting twelve shade set of the Naked palettes. Four of the shades in the set are new and two of the shades can be found in other palettes, Foxy in the Naked2 and I am unsure about what the other one is. 
I love this palette and it is an easy go to and travel palette.

-Angela