When Urban Decay announced it was discontinuing its fan-favorite Naked palette in 2018, you could practically hear millions of beauty fans' hearts breaking around the world. The 12-shade eyeshadow palette reached the kind of virality other brands only dream of, with more than 30 million units sold—that's about one every six seconds—all without the influencer culture we know today.
Millennials and my fellow older Gen Z-ers will remember spending the 2010s recreating YouTube makeup tutorials with the original. It was so beloved, that many devoted fans kept it well past the expiration date. I myself used the eyeshadow palette every single day to create a smokey eye that was far too dark for the daytime hours of high school.
What made the Urban Decay Naked Palette so iconic was its perfect curation of neutral shades. The neutral eyeshadow palette was born in 2010 after Urban Decay’s product development team was asked to choose just four shades they would bring if they were stranded on a deserted island. Tasked with the impossible, they instead created a 12-pan palette that became a hit. (At least, that's how the corporate-sanctioned legend goes.) With a mix of creamy mattes, beautiful shimmers, and glittery shadows in both warm and cool tones, the Naked Palette could be used for every occasion under the sun.
Between the expert curation and the sales success, fans always wondered why Urban Decay would take an obvious hit away. But six years and several other eyeshadow launches later, I come bearing good news: Urban Decay’s Naked Palette is finally back for a limited-time at Ulta.
The 2024 version of the Naked Palette is essentially the same lineup you know and love with a few key differences. The colors have been meticulously matched to the original, so you can still cover your lids in the Sin shade like it's 2012. They’re even housed in the same fuzzy brown packaging as before.
Now, however, the shades are completely vegan with a modernized formula that's said to be creamier, more blendable, and longer-wearing. Urban Decay also updated the dual-ended makeup brush with new vegan bristles. It looks the same and it feels the same, but does it feel the same? I’d say it actually performs better than the original.
I was able to get my hands on the new Naked palette early and immediately got to work swatching the shades. They indeed felt creamy and packed a pigmented punch of color.
The real test came when I did my makeup the next morning. I decided on a subtle shimmery look for my day at the office. First, I blended Naked into my crease and below my brow bone to add some depth, then I used the light matte shade Virgin as a base all over my lids and under my brows. For added shimmer, I tapped the ever-popular Sin in my inner corners, then went in with Buck on my outer corners for a subtle, smokey look. Finally, in lieu of my go-to liquid eyeliner, I used the dark taupe shade, Hustle, to line my lashline and draw a subtle wing.
The resulting look made my eyes look bigger than ever in less than ten minutes. The shadows blended like a dream and I didn’t get any pesky fallout, even with the shimmery shades.
The pigmentation impressed me the most. I’m currently in the middle of an eczema flare-up around my eyes, so my lids are dry, somewhat flakey, and red—not exactly the best base for eyeshadow. However, that didn’t prove to be a problem with this palette; every shade glided on smoothly.
All in all, the new Naked is well worth the $59, whether you’re an OG fan or simply looking for a new, do-it-all beauty product. I recently asked my group chat if anyone still had their original palette, and to my surprise, four friends still had theirs—albeit with a few empty shades. When I told those friends they would soon be able to throw away their dusty old palettes for good, they were ecstatic.
The re-issued Urban Decay Naked Palette is available at Ulta and UrbanDecay.com for a limited time.
