Recently I purchased the Naked Basics palette, as I have been in much need of some matte colours in my eye shadow collection. So far I have been very impressed. The only colour I have not really used more than once so far is Crave the Matte Black eye shadow but I am not blaming this on the palette but more on my particular lifestyle right now. I am home for easter and have not had the need to cover my eye lids in a dark smokey look, so I look forward to using it then. Therefore this palette has been a great success in my make up looks the past week or so, where I have been out and about making the basics palette perfect to carry around in my hand bag instead of a great big 12 shade palette. 

When I first took the palette out of its cardboard packaging and looked at it in just its packaging case, I thought it summed up the palette perfectly. It has a matte look and feel to it, in a bronze like colour. The palette exterior feels incredibly smooth and some what soft for a hard material, which I think reflects the shadows inside perfectly. Smooth, soft and simple - with the ability to create a dramatic look alone or stand out even more when used as a base and combined with some of the other naked palettes. 

When opened up, there is a large mirror covering the entire top casing of the palette, which is perfect for on the go make up, which I feel this palette is great for. The eyeshadows are laid out like any other naked palette in long rectangles which to a first buyers surprise will last you a long time as I have experienced with the Naked 1 palette which is going strong after 2 years of use .. some shades more than others. The palette also clicks shut, which makes it good for hand bag use as your palette stays safely shut and your expensive eye shadows don't end up as a coating to your hand bag lining, which is always a plus right? 

There are 6 shades in the Palette, 5 Matte shades: Foxy, W.O.S, Naked 2, Faint and Crave and 1 Satin shade: Venus. I use venus (the lightest in the palette) as a highlight as the very slight shimmer to it catches the light slightly brightening my brow bone and inner tear ducts. Foxy matches my skin tone for a very no make up make up look on me and manages to brighten my eyes a lot when used all over my lid. It has yellow undertones unlike the next colour W.O.S which is ever so slightly darker due to the pink undertones used. I like to use this shade instead of Foxy as a base colour or as a highlight when using other palettes such as Naked 3 which is a very pinky rose gold based palette. The palette then darkens again, with Naked 2, a slightly cooler toned colour than Urban Decay's Naked in the Naked 1 palette and is easier to use as a matte colour than Naked. This is a good transition colour if you are very pale, or to blend over the top of some darker colours to make them blend seamlessly. I haven't been using Naked 2 as much as the other colours in the palette as of yet, as it is a bit of an in-between colour for me. My favourite colour in the palette is the next colour, a warm dark matte brown: Faint. It is perfect to define the crease of my eyelid, using a blending brush - I have been using a Mac 275 for a slighting winged look on my outer corners and blending it into my crease. This colour is also perfect for creating any smokey look as a colour to blend out any eyeshadow to your natural skin colour. I fear for the day I hit the pan on this shadow. Then finally, the matte black colour Crave, which I haven't been attacking too much with the make up brushes but it is a very handy colour to have to make a dark smokey eye and is also great in the outer corner of my eye to darken up my look a little bit. It works well as a good transition from day to night look, if I am wearing a very simple look in the day this colour could dramatise the look wonderfully. Which I have tried once or twice and it looks great. I also recommend using Faint and Crave as under eye liners as they smoke out nicely and work perfectly in place of a dark kohl eyeliner. Everybody loves a multi tasking product. 

Usually cost is an issue when it comes to Urban Decay products, as they are highly priced. This has been on my wish list for a long time and I only bought it due to a gift card I received for urban decay. However it only comes in at £21, not as expensive as some other UD palettes due to its size. But I do think that urban decay eye shadows are well worth the money, they are long lasting and have a great consistency that is easily bendable as well as build-able. Particularly with a good primer underneath these eyeshadows really come to stand out from the crowd. Which I was quite disappointed I didn't receive a small primer potion or any free gifts with this palette as I have done previously with Urban Decay products, this being said is the only real downfall I can find in the product. Which I only expect due to previous purchases so I guess I cannot really complain. 

Overall... 

I think that the Naked basics palette is a must have in your make up collection. The colours are universal, they are great for blending and will work with any other colours as a base or crease colour. Even though it is expensive it is a very good palette to start with in the Naked collection in my opinion - as the whole collection can be very daunting. They are perfect for beginners in the make up world as they are not too out there and dramatic but can also be used by beauty gurus and pros to create a really dramatic look. The name really explains it all though, these are basic colours - but to me that means they are necessities. I also love the way it is the perfect size to carry around with me if I need a touch up or to do my make up on the go, instead of hauling around my entire naked palette I can just bring this mini one. 

I definitely recommend this product, to both beginners delving into the high end of make up products for the first time and pros. 

I also just recently purchased a Naked 3 Palette along side this one, let me know if you would like to read a review on that Palette also.