This Christmas, I asked for a ton of makeup. I've always been into beauty (obviously) but I definitely got more interested in it this semester. One of my roommates and her sister are crazy good at makeup, and they always try to teach me things when they doll me up before we go out. A couple of my sorority sisters are also super gifted and they've been teaching me things, so I figured I'd ask for a couple high-quality products to start actually getting into it. The Urban Decay NAKED 3 palette was one of them!
Though I had wanted this palette for a long time, I never actually got it because I never really wore eyeshadow. Every time I tried, I would just mess it up and it would look so bad. But this semester, my sorority sisters taught us a makeup class, and I learned a little more about blending and which types of colors to put where on my eye. I started playing around, and now I feel empty without eyeshadow!
NAKED 3 is honestly perfect for me! On a normal day, I wear neutral colors on my eyes like beige and tan, which is exactly why I wanted one of the NAKED palettes. I loved the rose gold tones in NAKED 3, and there's honestly a ridiculous variety. The palette goes from super light shades like Strange, which I usually use under my eyebrows, and Burnout, my go-to, to darker crease shades like Factory and Darkheart. Honestly the names of these are super cute too, like Mugshot, Liar, and Trick! It just makes getting ready in the morning that much more fun.
I also really like that every color has a sparkly complement; it makes it really easy to pair shades together and play around on my lids. They're more shimmery than sparkly, with just enough shine to add a little pop to your look but not so much it looks like you're attending a red carpet at the grocery store, if that makes sense.
And the BRUSH! It's double-sided, with one end for applying and one end for blending, which completely revolutionized my eyeshadow game since I've never had a blending brush! I've never had an issue with my brushes, until recently I realized they get really dirty really quickly, and they're really difficult to clean (what the hell, e.l.f.?!). One of my sisters told me that I'd never realize how crappy my brushes were until I used quality ones, and I completely believe her now that I've used this brush and the one that came with my Cocoa Contour palette. It's so soft!!! I feel like a literal princess when I use this brush.
I'm so so happy I was fortunate enough to get this for Christmas, because it's seriously changed my makeup game forever! And as a bonus, Urban Decay is cruelty-free! If you’re interested in going cruelty-free, check out PETA’s Searchable Database and Cruelty-Free Kitty’s alphabetized list of cruelty-free brands. If you have any cruelty-free recommendations, please comment them below!