Urban Decay Naked Palette Dupe? Swatches and Review
Saturday, June 25, 2011
After months and months of telling myself I didn't need it, I caved and bought the Naked palette. As a beauty blogger, it was an inevitable defeat, so I don't feel so bad. I guess.
See, I noticed that the colours I got from the Naked palette were pretty similar (if not almost identical) to my 88 Neutrals palette (reviewed here).
To confirm my suspicions, I decided to swatch the colours, and since I was already going to do it, I thought I may as well share the results, right? So here you go. A review and swatches of the Urban Decay Naked palette, as well as comparison swatches to the 88 Neutrals palette.
My apologies for the bad swatches - my other sister has a really shaky hand (LOL)
Colours
As you can see from the swatches above, the only completely different colours that the Naked palette has compared to the 88 Neutrals palette are Creep and Gunmetal. The other colours in the Naked palette tend to be very slightly cooler than their 88 Neutral dupes, but otherwise, they are essentially the same.
Quality
Quality wise, the Naked palette is superior - I'm not going to lie. One swipe of the Naked palette gives you intensely pigmented, ridiculously buttery smooth eyeshadow. I've never swatched anything like it before.
In the swatches above, I had to swipe the colours from the Neutrals palette about 2-3 times to achieve the intensity that the Naked palette eyeshadows managed to achieve in one swipe.
In both palettes, I found the matte shades were significantly less pigmented and buttery, which was quite a disappointment with the Naked palette, since I paid so much for it.
Value for Money
If you have the funds for it, I definitely recommend getting the Naked palette, especially if you buy into that brand name thing (yes, I buy into it, and yes, I am that shallow *sniff* *embarrassed*).
But if you're looking for good value for money, and a great budget-friendly option, then definitely go for the 88 Neutrals palette. I love mine, and I find myself reaching for it a lot. I like that the 88 Neutrals palette has a matte dark brown, and a matte black option, not to mention the abundance of choice of other neutral shades - both matte and shimmer.
Availability
The Naked palette is always sold out, so you'll have to watch out for places like Sephora (via a parcel forwarder) or BeautyBay to see if the palette is in stock.
The 88 Neutrals palette is easily available online, however there are different manufacturers and with some manufacturers, the eyeshadows are less buttery (gotta love buttery eyeshadows). I got lucky with my first purchase, so try and find a more reputable seller. With these palettes, more expensive doesn't necessarily mean better quality.
Verdict
I had to see what the hype was all about. I needed to know, I wanted to be in. If I was able to play and swatch and compare to my heart's content (the way I did in preparation for this post) before I had to decide whether or not to buy the Naked palette, I probably wouldn't have purchased it.
The Naked palette is a wonderful palette, and the eyeshadows are of great quality, but I cannot justify spending the AUD 60+ that it took to buy it from the UK and ship it here. I bought the 88 Neutrals palette for about AUD 10 (including shipping) from eBay - a much more practical, budget-friendly option.
I hope this helps!
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