At work, I found myself thinking about writing a blog post today. After writing about my barely used Tarte blush, I found myself thinking about the other makeup products that get neglected because I don’t reach for them enough for some odd reason. Let’s just say there’s a lot. In terms of palettes alone, I have at lest 10 – even more altogether because some are LE repeats. The paranoia of discontinuation is too damn real with me.

I have all 3 Naked palettes (I love 3 the most because I’m a sucker for rosey colors) and I bought the first 2 out of sheer boredom and being annoyed at my dad for making me drive him to a freakin’ golf course on our way to Maryland because 1 was the palette that really made Urban Decay a household name and 2 was also a huge hit. What kept me initially from buying them when I had the opportunity to do so?

I wasn’t drawn to the colors. I felt like 1 would blend with my skin tone since the colors were warm and 2 didn’t really interest me.

I swatched both palettes to see what was so great about them – yeah, the eyeshadows felt really soft and buttery on the fingers, but that was all I could agree on. Color wise, they weren’t too impressive for me. But somehow, I ended up buying both. In part because Urban Decay released the UD Vault 2, which had all the Naked palettes in one box for less than what it would have cost to get them individually. That shit sold out so damn fast (no thanks in part to scalpers), I got frustrated. And then I realized that I wouldn’t have been able to use the Smoky and Naked Basics – if I wasn’t too impressed with Naked 1 and 2 initially, it was worse with these. And I still can’t bring myself to like them.

The only time my Naked palette ever got touched was when my cousin saw them in my Sephora bag and she wanted to swatch them. After that, the palette mostly sat on my makeup shelf (I remember using it one time this summer), along with its sibling and other palettes. I don’t regret buying the palette and I don’t have any interest in giving it away or selling it.

So what made me buy 1 and 2 from that Sephora store in Jersey?

My cousin would rave about it but she couldn’t decide which palette to buy whenever we’d see it at our local Macy’s. And it seemed that every beauty blogger or vlogger or self-titled makeup addict has Naked 1. But it was the disastrous mishap that was the AudaCITY in Paris and a longing for variety that I found an appreciation for Naked 1 and 2, respectively. I’ve never had a cool-toned palette before either.

Today, I decided to give my Naked 1 palette more love. But there was a problem: my oily eyelids. You see, I regularly use UD Primer Potion as my eyeshadow primer, but at some point my eyelids get oily, especially at the outer corners – my eyeshadow will migrate from my lid to that area and the result is not exactly flattering. I have yet to come across Wet n Wild x Fergie’s eyeshadow primer, which is apparently good for people with oily lids, and I have stashes of the regular Wet n Wild eyeshadow primer (which for some reason I can’t bring myself to use, most likely because it sells out so damn quick and it’s ridiculous to find in my neighborhood).

Plus, UD PP was my first eyeshadow primer ever, so there’s a bit of sentimentality to it as well. But there had to be a way to keep my eyeshadow from migrating and pooling at the outer corner of my eyes. Then I had a lightbulb moment: if people use translucent powder to help keep their makeup in place, why couldn’t I do the same with my e.l.f. undereye translucent one?

Sure, the product is meant for my underye, but all it really did was highlight the deep set fine line that ran from my inner eye to the rest of my face. But I try to repurpose my makeup whenever possible and the most I stood to lose was 3 bucks, so I figured I’d give it a try before losing all hope. I gave my lids a light dusting after giving my PP some time to settle and dry, followed by the Naked 1.

I wasn’t sure what to expect: did I layer enough setting spray to keep my eyelids from becoming oily? Or will the eyeshadow look slightly washed out because of the undereye setting powder’s white color?

One thing I didn’t take into consideration was how much I’d be sweating. It was supposed to rain but it never did, resulting in muggy air. But a quick glance in the mirror when I got home after biking around for a bit showed that my experiment worked – my eyeshadow stayed in place. I didn’t see the telltale pooling of dark eyeshadow colors on the corner of my eyes.

Not only that, the pigmentation on my eyelids were more visible than the times I wore my AudaCITY. I finally understood why the Naked 1 was so hyped, though it seems that it’s all the rage to hate on it now because of that very reason. At least, now I have a reason to use it instead of letting that velvet casing collect dust.

Looks like I won’t have to call it quits with my UD products after all.

*Images of my Naked palette to follow because my Internet is being a dick at the time this entry was written and posted