Nude palette – Budget vs Urban Decay Naked

Hi guys!

Last week I posted out on my Facebook page asking if anyone would like me to start adding other content on my page as well as my usual client photos etc.

It was apparent that product reviews was a popular choice as well as suggestions for wearable makeup looks so I thought I would combine the two for this product review.

A staple item in your makeup bag should be a “nudes” palette – which would consist of browns, greys, golds, peaches… basically muted tones that when used correctly can create a perfect fresh day time look or can be applied for a heavier evening look.

One of my favourite palettes is the Urban Decay Naked palette.  Infact my palette is so loved, its battered!  The once brown velvet case is now bald on the corners and the embossed lettering is faded… but the makeup inside is still in great condition and as the eyeshadows are highly pigmented you don’t need a lot of product on your brush!  So that’s my first tip – when you pay a little extra for your makeup you are generally paying for the quality ingredients.  Some cheaper eyeshadows can look nice in the palette but as soon as you put the product on your skin it loses the colour and clarity and looks wishy-washy (that’s the technical term 🙂 ).  As a professional Makeup Artist most of my kit consists of quality brands… Mac, Urban Decay, Charlotte Tilbury, Anastasia Beverley Hills etc etc.  There can be some makeup snobbery amongst Makeup Artists and also clients.  To be honest, if I was paying someone to do my makeup I wouldn’t want them to be using Pound Shop makeup either but the benefit to using good quality makeup is that the quantity goes a long way and you get a great “true” finish.  However, sometimes through trying different products we uncover little gems that are budget items and great additions to both personal and professional kits.

So, recently someone told me about a brand called W7. It is very reasonable in price and offer a huge range of makeup and inparticular eye shadow palettes.  On a recent shopping trip at The Beauty Outlet at Dalton Park I found the W7 range – there was loads of it!  The eyeshadow palettes were on offer for £5.99 each or 2 for £10 (I think that’s right, it was a few weeks ago now).  One that caught my attention was the W7 Lightly Toasted palette.  When I turned the tin over to look at the shades they were identical to the ones in my Urban Decay Naked palette (which cost me £39.50).  I bought a few different palettes to try including Lightly Toasted and yesterday I finally got round to comparing this to the Naked palette.

On first glance both look similar in that the packaging is brown and gold in colour.  The Urban Decay palette packaging is brown velvet and the W7 packaging is in a tin (like a small pencil case).

So I decided the best way to test these products was side by side.  Each eye shadow would be applied with fresh primer, a clean brush and placed next to eachother.

So here are the results…

Left side UD “Virgin” and Right side W7 “Teddy Bear”.  These colours are the highlighters in both palettes.  The colours were identical and the pigmentation was surprisingly impressive on the cheaper one.  The W7 version went on my skin with ease – it didn’t drag (which I expected it to if I’m honest as some cheaper eye colours can drag on the skin).  Yep, great start!

Left side UD “Sin” and Right side W7 “Wonderland”.  Again both colours looked identical.  I would say UD was probably slightly more pigmented than W7 but was not disappointed.

Left side UD “Naked” and Right side W7 “Cracker”.  Hmm, if I’m honest neither of these impressed me too much.  I found the UD one dragged and the W7 was not pigmented enough to get a nice colour wash **blows a raspberry, double thumbs down for both”

Left side UD “Sidecar” and Right side W7 “Happy”.  There was a slight difference in tone with these colours however I really like both.  The UD had more of an antique bronze tone whereas the W7 looked more rose gold.  If these colours weren’t side by side I probably wouldn’t have noticed the difference.

Left side UD “Buck” and Right side W7 “Lady Luck”.  I love the UD version.  I use it regularly.  Its matte and great to wear on its own or to blend with other colours and I literally could not tell the difference between these colours.  They were identical and the pigmentation was great on W7.  Such a great copy of the UD version.

Left side UD “Half Baked” and Right side W7 “Twister”.  Again the UD version is a trusty favourite of mine.  I love to use it when doing Asian-inspired eye makeup.  The W7 was slightly more yellow in tone but again, if these colours were not side by side I really wouldn’t know the difference.  Another excellent duplicate.

Right side UD “Smog” and Left side W7 Di Di (some strange names on the W7 palette!).  The W7 version was slightly lighter (looked slightly more golden) but no difference in the pigmentation at all.

Left side UD “Darkhorse” and Right side W7 “Delilah”.  Literally identical in colour again!  The W7 had a slightly strange consistency but not worth worrying out.  When I picked the colour up on the brush and applied it to my skin there were some tiny clumps of pigment that would not brush In to my skin.  They were minimal – I am just super picky 🙂

Left side UD “Toasted” and Right side W7 “Magic”.  There was very little difference in the colours however the UD was definitely more pigmented.  I had to apply a little more on the W7 to get a finish like the UD.  It was do-able though and not the end of the world.

Left side UD “Hustle” and Right side W7 “Its A Dream”.  The UD was slightly darker in colour.  The W7 one actually looked similar to the previous W7 eyeshadow “Di Di”.  Nice colour though.

Left side UD “Creep” and Right side “Up In Smoke”.  Ok, so I wasn’t too impressed with the W7 on this.  For me personally, black eyeshadows need to be BLACK black otherwise they just look grey.  The UD is highly pigmented with a hint of a sparkle… I love it.  The W7 was not black enough.  It looked dark grey went applied to my skin and need to be layered up and still didn’t look as dark as the UD.

Lastly, Left side UD “Gun Metal” and Right side W7 “Dawn”.  There was a big difference between these colours.  UD was darker whereas W7 looked more gun metal in colour than “Gun Metal” did! I actually prefer the W7 version of this and the pigment was great in W7.  Really nice application.

So, 12 colours swatched for each palette… like I said at the beginning I love the Urban Decay Naked palette but seriously, the W7 version is SUCH a great budget alternative.  I think maybe only 2 of the eyeshadows left me a little unimpressed but for £5.99 this is a great addition to your makeup bag if you didn’t want to pay £39.50.  If my Urban Decay palette ran out, would I buy W7 instead?  Probably not for my professional kit only because I like to use branded cosmetics on my clients but I would definitely buy it for my personal makeup bag and I’m glad I have bought a few of these palettes in different colour ranges.  Cheap and cheerful and definitely did not disappoint.  Well done W7! Oh, it is cruelty-free too! Winner!!

Thanks

 

Gemma x