Make up collection: Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

It’s here. It’s finally here! The other week the Urban Decay Naked 2 eyeshadow palette was introduced to the Dutch market without as much as a whisper. No one knew when or even if it would show up in our tiny country and then suddenly it did. So when I went to The Hague last week, I decided to check the Sephora there to see whether they had it stocked and they did. Since my plan was to pick it up in the UK next week, I thought: why not buy it right now as I’m going to spend the money anyway. This is what the palette looks like:

As you can see the palette comes with a mini lipgloss which I have yet to try and a double ended synthetic brush. The brush isn’t ideal when you store brushes the way I do, but I think it will be ideal to take with me when traveling because you get two brushes in one go. Urban Decay brushes are good brushes. I have one brush that came with the original Naked palette and love that so I’m sure these will work fine as well. Let’s move on to the colors shall we?

Just like in the original Naked palette there aren’t many matte shades, but the prettiness of the colors make up for that. One thing that immediately stands out is the fact that the colors are more cooler toned than the original palette and there are also fewer darker colors. That suits me just fine as I never use very dark colors for my eyelooks as it can make my eye sockets look quite dead.

So far I have used the palette a number of times to try out some combinations. I tried out a taupy-brown look using tease, suspect and busted and I tried a gray look with verve, pistol and blackout. One thing I love about this palette is that it has colors with a purple undertone and that it comes with some more taupes and grays. Those are my favorite colors for creating looks and so I really do think that this palette is a good addition to the original Naked palette which was more brown/ bronzy oriented. Now on to close ups and swatches and what the colors look like in my opinion:

From left to right:

• Foxy: matte, soft yellow shade which you can barely see against my skin. Great as a highlight on your brow bone.
• Half baked: already part of the first Naked palette AND the Sustainable palette. Great golden brown shade for all over the lid or to add some shine in the middle of your eyelid.
• Booty call: shimmery cream colored highlighter.
• Chopper: coppery color with a pink/ rose undertone. This looks best all over your lid or on your lower lash line.
• Tease: matte soft brown color with a mauve undertone. Can be worn as an all over lid color or soft crease color.
• Snakebite: dark brown with golden shimmer. Good crease color or for your lower lashline. Can also be used to create a subtle smokey eye.

From left to right:

• Suspect: shimmery taupe/brown color. Again a solid all over lid color, but I also like this on my lower lash line or in the crease with very subtle looks.
• Pistol: shimmery silver gray color. I wore this as a crease color the other day, but would also work on the lower lash line or all over the lid.
• Verve: light gray color with lots of shimmer. This is quite possibly my favorite shade in the palette. Again: an all over lid color or for the lower lash line.
• YDK: shimmery rose gold color. Also featured in the Sustainable palette. I would preferably wear this all over the lid.
• Busted: dark brown color with a dark brown undertone and some shimmer to it. Good for creating a crease, outlining your outer V area and dark smokey looks.
• Black out: also a great crease color as it is a matte black without any shimmer. Best color in the palette for a true smokey eye. Also feature in the Urban Decay 15th Anniversary palette.

As you can see from the swatches, the pigmentation is amazing, just like with other Urban Decay palettes. I’m thinking that Urban Decay is quickly becoming my favorite eyeshadow brand as their eyeshadow palettes are just the best. This is now my 5th Urban Decay eyeshadow palette and not a single one of them has let me down so far. The eyeshadows are smooth without being powdery and especially in this palette the shadows do not suffer from a tremendous amount of fall out.

I already own the original Naked palette too and was skeptical as to whether I would ‘need’ this one as well. After seeing some reviews and comparisons though, I knew that it was different from the first one and since this girl loves her wearable nude shades of eyecolor I thought it would still make a good addition to my make up collection. I will show you my original Naked palette some time in the future as part of my make up collection series. For good comparisons of the original Naked palette and the Naked 2 palette I would like to refer you to this website (Dutch), or you can watch this video (English).

What are your favorite types of eye shadow to wear? Nude colors like I do, or do you prefer a pop of color?

Shoplog: Zara, Bershka, MAC & Urban Decay

Yesterday I took another trip to The Hague to see my allergy doctor. This time not only to get my shot, but also to find out whether I have an intolerance for gluten. Luckily I don’t and these monthly trips usually entail hitting up some stores that I cannot get to on a regular basis as they are not in my town. I had already spotted some neat blouses on the ZARA website in their spring collection so I had my mind set on going there and just couldn’t help picking up a few other trinkets on my way there. Scroll down to see my purchases.

Tribal/ Aztec print sweater dress (Bershka)

My first stop actually wasn’t ZARA but Bershka, ZARA’s little sister and I bought a few things there. They still had a sale going on, so I picked up this sweater dress with this very neat Aztec/ Tribal inspired print for 10 euros. With sweater dresses it’s always a bit hit or miss for me. I tried on a different one in the store which looked hideous on me but the same on the hanger as this one. When I tried this one on it fit perfectly. The mannequin makes it look a bit weird at the bottom but you get the general idea. Here’s a close up of the print:

This type of print is going to be pretty hot this year. It already was for autumn, but for spring and summer I’ve been spotting it too. I think the green & purple give this dress just that little extra that makes it perfect for winter, but also spring as the colors can go with that season too.

Mustard yellow/ blue polka dot skater dress (Bershka)

Another dress I found was this mustard colored dress with dark blue velvety polka dots. I wanted to get a dress in this particular cut as it is very flattering when you’ve got a narrow waistline but are bigger at the top and bottom. They also had a black one with stars, but since I already own a few black dress I decided to go with some color instead. This dress was only €6 on sale.

Mustard colored narrow belt with bow detail (Bershka)

The last sale item I found was this mustard colored belt. At only €2.99 and with that incredibly cute bow I couldn’t pass up on it! I will be wearing this as a narrow waist belt.

Sea foam colored button down shirt with balloon hemline (Bershka)

Of course all of the spring collections are in stores by now too and I have to say that all those pastels aren’t really my thing. However, this dark sea foam colored shirt hits everything right on the dot. It is not too fitty as it is meant to be quite baggy looking and the color is spot on. It makes for a nice contrast with my blonde hair and I think it will go nicely with the petrol colored pants I bought last month. This button down shirt cost €15.99.

Mint green sheer polka dot button down (ZARA)

Finally my stuff from ZARA which actually isn’t too much. I had already spotted this very nice minty green color on their webshop last week and so when I went to the store that was what I was looking for. I said before that I don’t like pastels but this is the ONLY pastel color I can pull off without it making me look dead. I had seen several items on their website and tried all of them on. When I put on this shirt it was perfect straight away. Yes, it’s sheer, but it will be perfect over the bustier I bought on sale at H&M for €4. And sheer is another trend that is definitely going to be around this spring. Price: €25.

Cream colored sheer dress shirt with buttons & pussy bow (ZARA)

Another sheer shirt, which again looked amazing on. I love the fact that it has a pussybow AND polkadots. Two of my favorite things put together. Again I intend on wearing this over a bustier or a nude colored tank and possible with highwaisted pants or skirt. This shirt also cost €25. The polka dots up close: cuteness!

MAC Fresh Honey blusher (Naturally collection), Urban Decay Naked 2 eyeshadow palette

I also bought a few make up items. I’ve been wanting to get a MAC mineralized blush for some time now, but I actually didn’t like the ones they stock in their regular collection as they are quite shimmery. When I heard the mineralized blushes in the limited edition Naturally collection released this Saturday are void of shimmer and super pigmented I had to pick one up. I went with Fresh Honey: a warm peach colored blush that gives just the right amount of glow without making me look like Christmas decoration.

And then quite possibly the most coveted item in this entire haul post: the Urban Decay Naked 2 eyeshadow palette. It’s here already. I really thought we’d have to wait a year until it would be released in The Netherlands, but then the palette was spotted in Rotterdam last week and now I found it at Sephora in The Hague. I am so excited!  I will show you the palette in a separate post including swatches. It is too gorgeous not to devote a separate post on it.

So there we go! I had told myself to not buy anything until my London trip, but these are things I would have picked up there anywayz. It will just save me some weight in my suitcase. I can at least take the skater dress, mint colored shirt and the UD Naked 2 palette from my wish list.

Which spring fashion trends are you looking forward to adding to your wardrobe?