But time proved me wrong and removed those rose-colored glasses.

This first of many entries in this series (I really need to keep track of how many of these I’ve created) features two makeup products that weren’t as great as I thought they were.

I really thought I’d love the products mentioned in this series and consider them my ride or die, until their setbacks finally cut through the infatuation that glazed me over the first time I saw them.

Urban Decay Naked 3

It kinda pained me to write that. There’s some sentimental value to this palette: this was my very first mid-end palette that I bought when I got my first stable job and I was finally able to buy eyeshadow that wasn’t (at the time) the shitty drugstore quality I’ve been burned by resigned to. This was also one of the first things I bought on my shitty 26th birthday (the age I was when my ex decided that I wasn’t worthy of respect and cheated on me twice), thus witnessing my descent into the rabbit hole that is makeup.

I was immediately drawn to the pinks and purples and the rosy-esque theme and I was so determined to have it. And by that, I mean you would have to pry the palette off my cold, dead hands. Whenever I wanted to wear eyeshadow, it was THE palette that I’d use.

Using the Urban Decay Primer Potion, I’d pack on the pinky shades that I thought would look really lovely on my lids and my skin tone. Until I started taking some selfies to see the finished result and realized three things:

1. My eyelid folds worked against me. Any eyeshadow work I’d do on my lids would vanish within the folds that would appear when my eyes are open. No wonder Instagram makeup has so much eyeshadow shouting at you onscreen.
2. The pinks clashed horribly, depending on the lighting, and can only pop out with Blackheart (the newer versions have this shade renamed Darkheart).
3. The neutrals vanished into my skin tone.

 

But that wasn’t enough to deter me: I chalked up my disappointments initially to my amateur skills (eyeshadow placement was not something I was readily good at). But as I refined my eyeshadow application, the glazed look that would nestle itself over my eyes whenever I looked at my Naked 3 slowly began to disappear.

In time, I realized that the Naked 3 simply leaned more neutral than rosy – at least, for my skin tone. I ended up buying some pink single eyeshadows that I felt should have been in the palette more, but I still ran into the same issue: they ended up looking cool-toned compared to the warm-toned palette they were applied on.

Should this have been listed under What Went Wrong? Not necessarily. Urban Decay wasn’t bullshitting when they marketed Naked 3 as a Rosy Neutral – sure, there may be some pink shades that fit the rosy aesthetic, but at the end of the day it had to be a neutral palette at its core to fit the Naked line. I could still pull off eyeshadow looks that I really like with this palette, so it’s not really neglected and it’s not a total loss in terms of buy-and-use.

I don’t regret buying Naked 3, but it’s not something I would repurchase once I’m done with it and its backup (yes, that’s how much I love the palette). If anything, it definitely added a pearl to my wisdom of eyeshadows.

Until the next entry, stay Blooming!