Day 72. Urban Decay Naked Basics palette [review & swatches]

A couple of days ago, during moment of weakness and enabled by my friend C., I bought the Urban Decay Naked Basics. I am a Urban Decay fan, truly, and I had resisted the temptation this palette posed for a long while. But now it's in my grubby little hands and I am so so happy, even though someone (my friend G., cough cough) may say I am biased and the palette is not very convincing, I find myself adoring it.
Without further ado, here's my review!

I am very impressed by the packaging Urban Decay did for Naked Basics. The palette is small and compact, in a hard, sturdy plastic with some kind of smooth, soft finish that makes it pleasant to the touch. It fits in the palm of one hand, so I think it would be perfect to keep in a bag for retouching your make up on the go or for traveling.

It has a mirror on the back of the top lid, which I think it's very handy.

It contains 6 full size eyeshadows, 1.3g/0.05 US oz each, the same exact size of the shadows in the other Naked palettes.

The shades contained in this palette are Venus, Foxy, Walk of Shame (W.O.S.), Naked 2, Faint and Crave. While several other shades may seem identical to the ones in the previous Naked palettes, only one shade, Foxy, is actually present in the Naked 2 palette.
In the future I'll try to do a post with side-by-side comparison with the Naked and Naked 2 palettes.

Out of the six shades in this palette, only one, Venus, has a satin finish; all the other shades are mattes.

Swatches for the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette
(from the left) Venus, Foxy, W.O.S., Naked 2, Faint, Crave.
first swatch of every color on naked skin, second one on UD Primer Potion
(pictures on the bottom taken with flash)

Venus is a shimmery light champagne color: it's very light, barely visible on my skin; the shimmer is seriously subdued, but this makes it perfect as a subtle highlight shade. It is soft and blendable. It applies easily.

Foxy is a matte yellow toned beige color. It's powdery but it applies quite well and has good pigmentation: just one layer of color goves enough coverage.

W.O.S. is the pink-tone answer to Foxy. It's the same exact shade of my skin, so it's not really visible on my skin and the camera could not pick it up well. This shade is also powdery. It may take more than one layer to have perfect coverage.

Naked 2 is a matte taupe-y color. It applies evenly and it's buildable in intensity. It may work both as a all-over-the lid color, or as a crease color.

Faint is a matte brown shade. It has really good pigmentation, one layer is enough to reach full intensity.

Crave is a matte black color. It is the only color of the palette that applies a little unevenly, as you may have noticed from the swatches. Still, it is bearable, and the color is still soft, if a bit powdery. It can still work as a eyeliner shade.

In my opinion, Venus, Naked 2 and Faint are the best shade in terms of application. Foxy and W.O.S are excellent in colors but are a bit powdery. Crave could be less patchy.

The whole palette, with its basic colors, can be very versatile, from a day natural look to an intense brown or black smokey make up for a night out.
SO far I am very satisfied, especially I see myself traveling with this palette quite a lot. Last year I used to bring the Naked 2 palette with me in my travels, but it is quite bulky. The Naked Basics is going to work so much better for me! Since I travel a lot for my job, the portability and the natural, matte color are perfect for my needs.