I have been putting off writing this tonight because I’ve been obsessively watching NASA’s livestream of the Mars Curiosity Rover’s landing on Mars. MARS, people. Frakking Mars! It was hugely exciting and inspiring.
Science… It’s a beautiful thing.
Ok, ok, back on topic! I recently picked up Urban Decay’s “Smoked” palette and let me tell you, it’s a winner. I know their “Naked” palettes are hugely popular but I am just not really into earth tones. But this? It’s… dare I say it….MARS TONES. Ok, ok not really, I’m still just super excited. If it was based on Mars, it would be red, right? But if I were to create a palette inspired by space, I think it would be pretty close to this one.
Pictures? I haz them:
Urban Decay “Smoked” palette.
Urban Decay “Smoked” palette.
Urban Decay “Smoked” palette.
Urban Decay “Smoked” palette.
top row: Kinky, Freestyle, Mushroom, Backdoor, Blackout
bottom row: Barlust, Rockstar, Evidence, Loaded, Asphalt
Urban Decay “Smoked” palette, daylight:
top row: Kinky, Freestyle, Mushroom, Backdoor, Blackout
bottom row: Barlust, Rockstar, Evidence, Loaded, Asphalt
Urban Decay “Smoked” palette, indoor with daylight bulb:
top row: Kinky, Freestyle, Mushroom, Backdoor, Blackout
bottom row: Barlust, Rockstar, Evidence, Loaded, Asphalt
The colors are gorgeous and richly pigmented. It’s also nice to see several matte shades included (Kinky, Freestyle, Backdoor and Blackout). The real standouts for me are Mushroom (a taupe-tinged silver with slightly warm undertones) and Asphalt (a lush metallic pewter.) The only shadow that didn’t wow me was Blackout, which was a little patchy. Another nice thing is that the non-matte shades are more metallic/shimmery than glittery.
It’s a really well balanced palette that has both warm and cool tones, which I think makes it extremely versatile no matter what your skin tone or skin undertone. These colors are fierce. Not only that, but it comes with a full sized 24/7 Pencil in “Perversion” which is amazingly smooth and inky-black. It’s like the Spinal Tap album of black eyeliners:
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Pencil in Perversion
It also comes with a travel-size tube of Urban Decay’s Primer Potion which seems to be the gold standard of eyeshadow primers, though if I’m honest, it’s one that has never worked that great for me. (I prefer Too Faced Shadow Insurance though even that one will not stop the creasing of my unusually oily eyelids.)
But wait, that’s not all! It also comes with a little booklet! The booklet is pretty nice as it not only includes a variety of 12 different smokey eye looks, but also has a glossary of terms and techniques and examples of brushes you can use to get the best smokey eye.
Urban Decay Smoked Lookbook
Urban Decay Smoked Lookbook
Pretty handy, right? If you’re wanting to expand your Urban Decay eyeshadow collection, I don’t think you can go wrong here. All the shadows are beautiful an great quality. If you love a smokey eye, again, you can’t go far wrong here. And if you love a smokey eye but have no idea how to do one, you might find this just the trick. (Pssstt… you can also buy the booklet separately!)
All in all, I’m going to give this 4.5/5 Kitty Skulls. (Um, my new rating system, ok?) I took off one kitty eye because the Primer Potion is pretty meh for me.
The Smoked palette can be bought at Sephora, Urban Decay and wherever Urban Decay products are sold.
Bonus: Urban Decay is Cruelty Free!
PS: I keep changing my layout because I can’t settle on one! I think this one will work for now though! And now back to your regularly scheduled programming…
brightlycoloredperson 