Sexy, no?

When Mr AMR saw me open the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette, he actually commented on it.

Mr AMR: “That’s a nicely designed palette, isn’t it?”

Me: “Yes, and look at the amazing shades inside it! I’d wear every shade! And there’s a full-size brush!”

Silence.

Me: “And it’s a really nicely designed palette, isn’t it?”

Mr AMR: “Yes, very nicely designed.”

The above conversation demonstrates exactly the level of interest that (most) men have in cosmetic and beauty-related items. If it’s something housed in metal, or tin, then they’ll comment. If it’s something with a sharp edge or a mains charger, they’ll have a (limited) opinion. If it looks like mud or something gory, they might have a sniff or poke their fingers into the jar. Anything outside of these quite restrictive categories and you will struggle to raise any interest whatsoever. You may as well be showing off a banana skin that you found in your handbag or trying to impress him with an elastic band…

So the Naked 2 gets instant top marks for packaging – it’s sleek, sexy, opens and closes in a pleasing manner and reminds me a little of the pencil tins we were banned from having at school. (They made too much of a racket, apparently. Why we didn’t ever question this reasoning at the time, I have no idea!)

I’m not going to go into excessive detail about the shades because there are so many in-depth reviews online, some with swatches and some with demo videos. I’ll definitely include this palette in a video soon, because it does house a brilliant little run of shades, but for now I’ll just link to the posts that I have seen and liked.

I think that this palette is a great buy – I’d use any of the shades on a daily basis, and it’s convenient to have all of your neutrals in one place. I find that the Urban Decay eyeshadows have excellent colour pay-off and staying power – I voted them top in the eyeshadow category when I was judging the Cosmo Beauty Awards! The brush is good quality and double-ended so that you can easily and effectively colour-wash and blend. There’s a little bonus included, too, in the form of a mini Lip Junkie Gloss. I have to say that this confuses me; the original palette included an eye primer, which is surely more appropriate!

Gloss aside, the Naked 2 gets a big thumbs-up. It doesn’t break any boundaries with the shades, but that’s entirely the point. All of them are designed to be flattering and wearable – they are timeless, not seasonal or trend-led. There’s definitely more shimmer here than matte, but I don’t find any of the finishes to be garish or OTT. Perhaps the shade “YDK” is a little pearly, but it’s definitely not glittery! I’m going to get good use out of this selection…

Naked 2 Palette, £36 with free worldwide delivery from HQHair.com

Links: Vivianna Does Makeup  (in-depth review with swatches and great photos)

Pixiwoo for a comparison between Naked 1 and 2