In light of the success of the original Naked palette, Urban Decay launched a similar palette in late 2011- the Naked2 palette. The Urban Decay Naked2 Palette ($50 USD / $60 CDN) palette features a slight redesign of the palette compact itself, as well as a lipgloss instead of a mini primer. Urban Decay had a unique marketing approach to the launch of this palette, having all bloggers and YouTube gurus who received the palette sworn to secrecy until the date of its announcement- and availability! Interesting approach…here are my thoughts!

The Packaging

The Naked2 palette comes encased in a hardshell compact with a huge mirror inside which I love! The case snaps shut at the corners which makes it handy for travelling, but a little frustrating for daily use (I’ve sent the brush flying a few times after successfully struggling the palette open).  The case is sleek, smooth and looks like it will be a lot more durable and clean than the original.

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Packaging

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Packaging (Back)

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette (Snap closures)

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette

The Eyeshadows

This palette includes 12 neutral eyeshadows in an array of warm and cool tones.  All of the eyeshadows are of spectacular quality- smooth, pigmented and blend like a dream.  I’m really in love with the formulas, even the mattes are impressive. One or two have a bit of fall out from glitter (like every other glitter eyeshadow on this planet), but overall no eyeshadow stood out as a rotten apple in the bunch.  Here they are:

• Foxy - A pale yellow buttercream matte shade- one of my favourites for highlighting or even using all over the lid to even out any redness (makes you look like you just got 10 hours of sleep)!
• Half Baked - The only eyeshadow making a reappearance in this palette from the original, a golden bronze eyeshadow that looks beautiful in a bronze smoky eye.
• Booty Call - A pale pink frost that really helps to brighten up the eye; similar to Virgin from the original palette, but a little more pigmented.
• Chopper - A warm copper shade with silver glitter- a bit of fall out on this one, but the base is really beautiful and unique.
• Tease - A light brown with purple undertones and a matte finish; my favorite crease color lately!
• Snake Bite - A deep chocolate brown with shimmer, a staple crease color (also very similar to Smog from the original palette)
• Suspect - A light greyish taupe with shimmer that looks beautiful all over the lid!
• Pistol - A light pewter grey shimmer shade, similar to Gunmetal from the original palette but a bit lighter (in fact, these two colours pair up perfectly for a smoky eye)!
• Verve - A light oyster grey frost; a bit deceiving as it is super frosty and really appears nearly white on the skin.  Great for brightening up the eye!
• YDK - A midtone taupe brown with shimmer that looks very similar to Toasted from the original palette- gorgeous when blended with Booty Call!
• Busted - A deep purple shimmer (similar to Hustle from the first palette); I like switching up my regular black eyeshadow liner with this one for a lovely pop of color.
• Blackout - A rich, deep matte black that is super pigmented and incredibly blendable. One of the nicest black eyeshadows I’ve ever seen.

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadows in Foxy, Half-Baked and Booty Call

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadow in Foxy

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadow in Half-Baked

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadow in Booty Call

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadows in Chopper, Tease and Snake Bite

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadow in Chopper

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadow in Tease

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadow in Snake Bite

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadows in Suspect, Pistol and Verve

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadow in Suspect

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadow in Pistol

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadow in Verve

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadows in YDK, Busted and Blackout

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadow in YDK

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadow in Busted

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Eyeshadow in Blackout

I think Urban Decay really would have struck gold if they re-released the Naked palette (or a very similar one) but with all matte and satin shades…then it would be totally necessary for everyone! This palette, as you can see by my descriptions of the shades, is very similar to the original (if not by looking at it, but when worn on the eyes).

The Lipgloss

Included with the Naked2 palette is a mini Lip Junkie Lip Gloss in Naked, a gorgeous mid-tone neutral pink with shimmer.  I love the look of this gloss, but really can’t stand the sweet mint scent.  There are some mint-scented lip products I love (like mark. glow baby glow lip gloss and Bobbi Brown High Shimmer lip gloss) but these just smell too sweet and unnatural to me. I would have much preferred to see a mini primer potion instead.

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Mini Lip Junkie Lip Gloss in Naked

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Mini Lip Junkie Lip Gloss in Naked

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Mini Lip Junkie Lip Gloss in Naked (Swatched)

The Double-Ended Brush

The last thing I need is anther eyeshadow brush but the Naked2 palette comes with a double-ended Good Karma Shadow/Crease brush for applying the eyeshadows. I think I would have felt like the palette was a better value if it would have included a double-ended eyeliner like the original palette (maybe even with Perversion this time? That would have been amazing)!  Having said that, I do think its a great brush and I have found myself using it (mainly out of convenience) for apply my eyeshadow.  Both ends are synthetic bristles, one a flat shader for applying eyeshadow to the lid and brow bone, and the other a fluffy tapered blending brush for contouring the crease and blending colours out.

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Good Karma Shadow/Crease Brush

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Good Karma Shadow/Crease Brush

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Good Karma Shadow/Crease Brush (Shadow side)

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette Good Karma Shadow/Crease Brush (Crease side)

Original Naked Palette vs. Naked2 Palette

There are some pros and cons for each the original Naked palette and the Naked2 palette, however overall I feel that they are very similar and that you do not “need” both.  I like the hard-shell case of the Naked2, but prefer the ease of the magnetic original palette.  I would have preferred a mini UDPP over a lipgloss, but mainly I would have liked an eyeliner duo instead of another brush. In terms of the eyeshadows, both palettes are very good, high quality eyeshadow palettes worth every penny- but I’m more drawn to the Naked2 palette overall. The extra matte shade helps provide some variety and I just find the colours more suitable to my skin tone.  Many of the colours look very similar, if not impossible to differentiate when worn on the eyes- so it’s not necessary to own both.

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette (top) and Urban Decay Naked Palette (bottom)

If you own the original Naked palette, you can probably skip over this one without worry of missing out on anything spectacular.  If you don’t own the original Naked palette, I recommend checking this one out as it is my favorite out of the two.

See More

• Video Review

Summary

• Price: $50 USD / $60 CDN
• Availability: Sephora
• Overall: A gorgeous neutral palette with 12 high quality eyeshadows (mostly shimmer/frost shades) as well as a mini lipgloss (which I love the color, but dislike the mint scent) and a double ended brush (which I would have preferred an eyeliner duo, but actually works pretty well).  Overall I prefer the Naked2 palette over the original.
• Rating: A