First Impressions :: UD Naked Basics Palette

Hi Everyone! So I'm pretty sure most of you are aware that Urban Decay came out with their newest "matte" palette called the Naked Basics Palette. 

Their first MATTE palette, featuring six gorgeously Naked neutrals to build on or wear alone—including four never-before-seen shades.

picture I had posted on our Instagram Page

Retails: $27.00 

Description from the UrbanDecay.com Website:

Naked Basics is more than just the long-awaited, multipurpose MATTE companion to Naked. It’s the palette EVERY woman needs in her beauty arsenal. With six stripped-down, Nakedly neutral shadows, it has everything you need for the perfect neutral matte eye—including four totally new and exclusive shades.

Use these shadows to contour, line and highlight to create the right amount of definition for any occasion. Or for the days when you’re craving more color, pair them with your fiercest, boldest shadows. Richer than other mattes, the color goes on with a smooth, luxe finish (never chalky or powdery). There’s even one demi-matte shade, Venus, which has the tiniest touch of satin—perfect for highlighting and adding dimension. 

While this palette is small, we loaded it with full-size shadow pans, just like our other Naked palettes. Every shade features our Pigment Infusion System™, a vehicle for color that holds tightly to pigment and gives the formula its glide. The proprietary blend of ingredients allows color to weave itself through the Eyeshadow formula. What does all that mean? Insane color payout. Color that stays on your lids. Sparkle that doesn’t fall. And velvety, suede-like smoothness and blendability. 

It all comes in a sleek compact (embossed with a pretty, metallic “NAKED” on the front) that has a slight sheen and a suede-like feel that practically begs to be touched. (Hello…how gorgeous will THAT look coming out of your bag?!) Best of all, the slim design is perfect for travel—so you’ll never have to be without these must-have shades.

What you see is what you get: Venus (soft, off-white demi-matte), Foxy (cream bisque matte), Walk of Shame (very light nude matte), Naked2 (taupe matte), Faint (warm, dusty brown matte) and Crave (deepest, darkest brown/black matte). 

Fill Weight: 6 x 1.3g e 6 x 0.05 US oz

And here are pictures & swatches:

This was their secret sample they gave out as well:

New Beauty Balm

I think this is a great palette. The size is awesome and very travel friendly. The packaging is quite sturdy which I love.. and as you can see from the photo above, it's tiny enough to fit in your purse. But don't let it's small size fool you! The pigmentation for such a tiny palette packs a punch. The shadows feel buttery and smooth like all of Urban Decay's eye shadows. This is a great palette to have because even though there are only 6 shades, you can still do quite a variety of looks.. from neutral/natural to downright smokey. 

I'll be posting some looks soon so you can see how versatile this small palette is. I know some people are like ehh, whatever with this palette.. but you can compare this palette to the other two (which I did a review & comparison HERE)

I really like this palette so far! so I'm really glad I got my grubby little hands on this.. it's perfect for me because I like doing neutral/natural looks, but I like how you can go into the darker colors to spice up your look. 

Did you get this palette? Are you going to? What are your thoughts? 

Original Naked Palette vs Naked2 Palette.. swatches & comparison

So, I've had the Naked 2 palette for a little while now that I could definitely discuss the differences between the two and what i like about both palettes.. and also show you all some swatches - for those that are on the fence about getting the naked2.. 


I didn't do an unboxing of the naked2 palette, like I originally did with the original naked palette because there are SO many videos already showing swatches - and I know how redundant that'd be for you all.. (plus I wasn't lucky enough to get it the first time around like I did with the original naked palette) 

So here are swatches of Original Naked palette: (click pictures to enlarge)

Video :: 3.5 Month huge Collective Haul (requested) Pic Heavy

It's been awhile since my last haul video, and I had asked on twitter and instagram if you would rather see a HUGE 3.5 month collective haul video.. or a blog post with pictures of the haul. only one person on twitter ever did reply that they'd rather see a blog post.. and the majority of people on instagram had requested a video :) 

So hence the reason why I did the longest haul video ever lol. it was 20 minutes long and that was with cutting out a few things lol.. mainly because I was talking too much about the product or the story behind it. but nonetheless I filmed it and I do hope you enjoy it! 

Tutorial :: Soft Smokey Eye for Date night

So if you've seen my latest blog post (about My baby shower) I was asked to do a tutorial on the look I was wearing. I decided to also wear that same look (minus the lipstick) for Valentine's Day Dinner date with My Husband. I decided to skip the lipstick because we were going out to dinner and I didn't want anything on my lips lol... but I thought it was perfect for a date night look :) you can dress up the look with lashes, lipsticks etc.. but thought the soft smokey eye was perfect enough :)






Someone tell me why, Youtube always picks the ugliest thumbnails for me LOL

(CLOSED) 400 Follower Giveaway :: Urban Decay BOS IV & more!

Hi Everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your holidays! I was supposed to have this up at the beginning of the week, but due to school and life, I was not able to :D.. but here it is now!


I wanted to give a big thank you to all my loyal followers here! I cannot believe I have 400+ awesome blog friends on here! When I originally started my blog, I never thought i'd even have one or two.. so 400 is such an accomplishment for me! 


I thank you all that stuck by me when I decided to convert this blog into a collaboration with my Amazing Husband in November of last year! Thank you all so much for those that also supported his weightloss/transformation journey - we couldn't have done this without any of you! So without further ado... on to the prize! 


There will be two winners a grand prize winner will win the Urban Decay BOS IV palette (brand new in box), and some other goodies, while the 2nd winner will receive some amazing goodies that i've collected over the past few months and some that are just my favorites that I wanted to share! 


So here are pictures of the prizes!


Grand Prize Winner will receive the following:

and some other goodies from me :)

(PIC HEAVY) Huge Collective Haul :: Xmas gifts, MAC, Sephora, Ulta & Drugstore!

So it's been such a long time I feel since my last major haul.. with Christmas and what not, I thought it'd be perfect to do a blog post (and a video to come) on my Haul from the past few months! :) 


(Warning :: Sorry the pictures are all over the place/sideways, for some reason when I save it, it's upright, but when i post it here, it's sideways or upside down :( )


So let's start with the bigger items and move our way down the line..


Naked 2 Palette
My dad got me a gift card to spend, so of course I had to choose this palette when it came out (i'll do a separate review/comparison with the original naked palette)

Small Sephora haul plus swatches

If you remember my last haul (around november) for the VIB event.. I got the Josie Maran seductive golds set as well as the Lancome hypnose doll lashes mascara set.. well I tried them out.. and I did not fall in love with them.. so I figured i'd return them to get something else I might have use for.


the reason why i wanted to get the Josie Maran set, was really only for the gold skin illuminator, but honestly, when I used it.. it did nothing for me.. it didn't even last on my skin long enough for me to enjoy it.. and I really didn't use the other stuff in it (i know the argan oil, didn't use it)..


Don't get me wrong, the lancome set was a steal! I'm aware, but honestly - it's a waste if I wasn't going to use it.. and that's pretty much what ended up happening.. i used it once.. didn't like the artliner (it was too watery and not dark enough) the lasting power was not the best, and ultimately kept choosing my maybelline line stiletto over it.. 

(L-R: Lancome artliner, Maybelline Line stiletto, Physician Formula, L'oreal Lineur intense, Eve Pearl)

So I had been doing some research, and thought i'd stop by my local sephora to see if they had the items I was looking for.. 


Luckily they let me return the items even though I didn't have a receipt (for store credit only, which was fine because that's what I wanted).. so I ended up getting:


- Urban Decay Mariposa Palette
- Urban Decay 24/7 travel size set of 5 (electric)
Also had left over money from a gift card my mom gave me last month and snagged these:
- Tarina Tarantino Jewel Palette in "Magical"
- Bare escentuals Multi-tasking concealer in "Summer Bisque"


I also redeemed my 500 point beauty insider perk which was what I had been waiting for.. forever! the Laura mercier flawless favorites.. so excited to try it out! 


On to the photos!

Urban Decay :: Book of Shadows Vol. III Swatches

i had originally purchased this item during the Sephora Friends and family 2010 sale.. I was waiting for another purchase to open them together to show you all, but there was a problem with the other package.. it had been "lost" and they had to resend it to me.. which that's another story..

but i wanted to share with you all the Urban Decay Book of Shadows Volume III.. since i did this with the urban decay naked palette, i thought it'd be fitting..

So some of you are like, what is the Urban Decay of of shadows Vol III.. no it's not a book ;) but from the sephora.com website..

What it is:
A playful, pop-up eyeshadow kit that lights up when you open it.

What it does:
Inspired by the glimmering lights and iconic landmarks of New York City, Urban Decay's Book of Shadows Volume III features 16 versatile, shimmering eyeshadows, two 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils, and a travel-size Eyeshadow Primer Potion. The pop-up book package is so cool and artful, you'll want to keep this scene of the Big Apple on display.

 here are pictures of the swatches of everything! :) enjoy!

 umm don't mind me HAHA

the paper that came from the package/box thingie

 swatches of Zero and Ransom with flash

 No Flash

And for the swatches...

 perversion, uzi, loaded, kush (no flash)

 perversion, uzi, loaded, kush (with Flash)

(top flash, bottom no flash)

 midnight cowboy rides again, last call, rockstar, money

(top no flash, bottom with flash)

 Haight, Maui Wowie, smog, Bordello

(top no flash, bottom with flash)

 Radium, Snatch, suspect, Psychedelic Sister

the set :)

So if you don't have this palette, and don't have many eyeshadows - this is a great palette with versatile colors.. a range of bright/vivid and neutral to muted colors.. great to play around with.. I've heard Urban Decay is notorious for re-promoting eyeshadows in different palettes.. but this wasn't the case for me.. well minus smog, since that eyeshadow came in my urban decay naked palette, but nonetheless i loved that color, so i don't mind.. but every other color in this palette, i did not have.. (then again this is only my second palette from urban decay)

the towers on the pop up are supposed to light up, they used to.. i don't know what happened.. they light up occasionally lol.. sucks! but anywho i really use it for the shadows and liners so that's okay i guess..

there were some colors that were really gritty/glittery and i didn't like that which were only 2 i think.. but the rest of them were just like the naked palette buttery feeling and just pure amazingness! LOL

Quick FOTD using Urban Decay Naked Palette

okay, this is going to be super quick post.. i just wanted to share some pictures of a look that i did before work using the naked palette.. because i have read a few people have gotten the palette but not sure what to do with it or want some look ideas ;)

here ya go!

:) hope ya like it!

Urban Decay :: Naked Palette Video Unboxing/Swatches

As some of you who follow my blog regularly, have seen that I had posted about the Urban Decay Naked Palette  and how it was sold out the minute it was put online. I signed up to get updates when it would return online. and it just so happened it was re-stocked on My 10 Year anniversary :) and as a gift from My Husband, he let me purchase it online as my gift! (i'm a sucker for make-up, i can do without shoes, purses, etc)..

So I did, and got some free samples as well. So I did a little video on me getting the palette and just quickly showing a live view of the Palette itself in all it's glory and everything it comes with. :)

Here ya go! (Sorry I'm not wearing much make-up - just came from work and was just excited to share the Palette with all of you)



don't mind my little girls in the background screaming haha!

And Here are some pictures/swatches. these are in natural light (no flash) indoors. My skin is roughly NC25. I put these eyeshadows on my arm with NO base (i didn't use the primer potion, to me it's a little chalky on my dry skin lol)

I will have a real/complete review soon. But my first thoughts upon swatching each eyeshadow is - it's very silky/satiny feel to them. not really fall-out like dusty/loose eyeshadows would, they sort of are in clumps, but when rubbed in skin, they are amazingly satiny and smooth. and blend very nicely together. I'm sure they'd be a lot more vibrant with a primer - so on my upcoming review I will do them on with a primer.

there are 12 colors in total:
Virging, Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal

they come with one mini primer potion tube and one double sided eyeliner. One side is in Whiskey (brown), and the other is in Zero (Black). they glide on with easy and don't budge (on my waterline is a different story lol)..

out of these 12 eyeshadows, Urban Decay says on their box that 4 of them are exclusives (urban decay is known to repromote their eyeshadows in most palettes) so if you don't have any urban decay eyeshadows (this is my first palette) then this would be great for you!

I think this would be great if your into neutral colors that are safe for work/at the office/daytime looks. and the darker colors can easily transition any look into a sexy sultry smokey eye.. these
eyeshadows are rich in texture and consist of matte, shimmer, satin and sparkle finishes. i think from the swatches like 2 are really glittery/sparkly.

So overall, thus far (i have not been able to play with them on my eyes yet) it's a cute little palette. the cover has a magnet in it, so it's magnetic flip top and it's pretty solid. and love the fact it's $44.00 and comes with 12 eyeshadows that are extremely pigmented and lovely, and comes with a duo eyeliner AND a mini primer potion! it's a steal - if you have not gotten this palette and are thinking about it - i think it's worth a try. I might get another one to tote around with me since it's small enough and has a mirror! plus this is my first Urban Decay palette - so really lovin' it. I know it comes out in stores (sephora) August in the US. so keep your eyes peeled - but keep checking back on their website and at Sephora! :)

Hope this was sort of helpful! :) are you planing on getting this palette or any of their newest products?

**Disclaimer: this product was purchased by me, I was NOT paid to review this product nor post a video. this was all on my own behalf**