“It’s finally here: the long-awaited follow-up to Naked and Naked 2 (two of the industry’s all-time bestselling palettes)! And this time around, we’re giving you a dozen NEW ways to get Naked. (Yes, we loaded this palette with 12 NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN shades.)”

Boy, did those words set my heart aflutter–almost as much as opening that box when it arrived on my porch!

I don’t think I need to go into too much detail on what Naked 3 is; Urban Decay did a fine job breaking it down in the blurb above. There has been so much hype for this item that I was not at all surprised when it sold out in (roughly) 8 hours on its launch-day last week. Urban Decay is known for its great eyeshadows (only second to MAC, in my mind, and even then sometimes giving the kingpin a run for its money), and their Naked palettes are hard to beat in pigmentation, value and sheer awesomeness.  Urban Decay goes on to describe what’s new about the shadows in this palette, saying:

“Choose from every finish imaginable: ultra-smooth mattes, gorgeous pearls and glimmering metallics. From the palest, shimmery pink to deep, warm black, these neutrals will make you want to get Naked all over again. Every shade features our Pigment Infusion System™, the proprietary blend of ingredients that gives each shade its velvety texture, rich color, serious staying power and blendability.”

Oh; Naked, you had me at ultra-smooth…

(Though “blendability” is right up there in my wheelhouse too.) I adore the cool, almost grey-based colors of Naked 2 (slightly more than the warmer, bronzier colors of 1), but when I heard the 3rd edition would feature rose-toned hues? I nearly died. Some of my favorite looks (bridal and personal) are mixtures of brown and pink neutrals, and I immediately thought that this palette was what was missing, to really make the other two come alive. (I swear; if they come out with a 4th palette that is 12 purple/plum-toned neutrals? ::drool:: My collection might just be complete. Not sure how I’d handle not buying more eyeshadows, but that might do it. I guess I’d have to start obsessing (more) over lipsticks…)

But, I digress. So. This is indeed the awesome palette of awesomeness. (Technical term, right there.) The sad part is, this item is currently sold out on the Urban Decay website. It went crazy fast, which was no surprise, but still a bummer for a lot of people. They do have a mailing list up for those who want to be notified the instance it comes back in stock, but some people said they never received their emails for the original release. (I, however, did get an email that morning, so YMMV.) It will also be launching in Sephora and Ulta in mid-December, though no hard release date has been confirmed, to my knowledge.

Okay, I’ve babbled enough. Lets get onto what you really came here to see: the palette and its extra goodies.

Extras

The extras included with the palette are also pretty nice. Inside the case, along the bottom of the shadows (as with the other two Nakeds), there is a double-ended shadow/blending brush. They say this is a new brush, and it does differ slightly from the brush that came with the last palette. It is still the same, great quality of all Urban Decay brushes (rather than some crappy throw-away kind of brush), featuring a flat shader on one side and a more poofy, blending brush on the other side. I like their brushes, so this was a nice extra; I probably will keep it housed in the palette (again, like the other two), for emergencies where I somehow forget to bring along extra brushes. (You can see the brush in its holder, in the shot of the palette below.)

Also included (outside the palette), is a carded Eyeshadow Primer Potion sampler. Inside are four resealable foil pods containing all four Primer Potion formulas: original, Sin, Eden and Anti-Aging. Normally I’m not a fan of foil samples, but the fact that these are resealable and that each of them holds about a week’s worth of its primer makes it a pretty generous freebie. I’m a big fan of the original formula and of the yellow-toned Eden, which makes colors pop on my pale skin. I’m not so much of Sin; it is a lovely shimmery champagne color, but its so shimmery. I find it hard to work colors onto, so sometimes I actually wear it alone on my lids for a “wash  of color” kind of look. The last one is one I’ve never tried, but I’ve been wanting to for awhile. So this is  a great way to give that one a go. These little packets are also a good idea for travel, if you’re going on a trip for a few days and don’t want to bring the full-sized primer along.

The Palette

“Our art-school-inspired tin case is a gorgeous rose-gold color (a subtle hint at the shades inside). Embossed on top with a big “Naked3” and cool facets that beg to be touched, it’s sure to inspire lots of jealous stares.”

Oh, she is a sexy, sexy beast! (I’m weird. Deal with it.) Now, I love rose-gold anything, and the case alone is so darn pretty. Its all shiny and ripply and just… Awesome. I find I prefer this style case (the metal, snap-style case) to the original palette, which was a sort of flocked velvet cardboard that had a magnetic closure. I feel like these last two tin palettes are more durable and safer during travel. Not that anyone cares, really.

Ahem. Okay. Let me just get onto the contents here.

Guh! What gorgeous shadows. I was smitten with Burnout (third from the left), Nooner (seventh from the left), and Blackheart (last one, on the right) right from the get-go, before I swatched them and fell deeper in love. The twelve brandy new shades included in this palette are:

Strange (pale neutral pink matte-satin) This is a lovely pale pinky white. Its surprisingly pigmented and has a matte finish. It even showed up quite well even on my pale skin! It feels velvety smooth going on. This will make a lovely highlight/blending color.

Dust (pale metallic pink shimmer w/iridescent micro-glitter) Oh, glitter; how I loath the. This is a beautiful metallic light pink, but that micro-glitter kills it for me. It had the worst fall out of all the shades and felt a bit gritty. Once on, it didn’t seem to shed any more sparkles, so perhaps it will have it uses when I play around with it a bit.

Burnout (light pinky-peach satin) I love this one; its a beautiful peachy-pink with just a hint of gold shimmer. It calls to mind their X eyeshadow a bit (which is a peach with gold shift), but it has a touch more pink in it. Gorgeous. I can easily see this becoming a go-to color when I want a sheer wash of something to make my eyes pop.

Limit (light dusty rose matte) This mauvey pink is a lovely matte shade. Like the other mattes in this palette, it is super smooth and glides on like a dream. It looks cool in the pan, but on my skin it warmed up just a bit, bringing out those rose tones they claim it has. Lovely.

Buzz (metallic rose shimmer w/silver micro-glitter) Thankfully, this was wasn’t another glitter-bomb. There was a bit of fallout, but it wasn’t nearly as bad on this one as with Dust, and it only felt the tiniest bit gritty. The color is very spot on when described as metallic rose.

Trick (light metallic pinky-copper shimmer w/tonal micro-sparkle) Trick was the only color I had trouble getting to show up on me, which is sad because its such a unique color! I had to do two passes to get it to show up in the swatch below. I’d call it more of a peach-copper than pink, with a definite golden sparkle atop it. The more I layered it, the orange-ier it appeared. It’s an interested color and one I’m going to have fun playing around with.

Nooner (medium pinky-brown matte) This is my favorite color in the lot. Nooner is everything I wanted MAC’s Haux to be on my skin; the perfect rosy-brown matte. Its perfect; just perfect. Velvety, blendable, and very pigmented. Just a light swipe gave me a beautiful, creamy swatch of muted rose-brown. I foresee this being the color to hit pan first!

Liar (medium metallic mauve shimmer) Liar is a liar, that’s for sure! In the pan, its not very impressive; its a metallic mauve, sure. Once swatched, however, it really comes alive. There’s a wonderful peachy-gold shimmer that draws out around the edges,  with a lovely rosy undertone throughout. I didn’t think I’d care much for this color at first glance, but I can really see it bringing dimension to an otherwise boring neutral eye.

Factory (pinky-brown satin) “She hears a chrous of factory girls / Singin’s aoin and all / Empty are their pockets / But their voices are filled with song…” Anyone else a Flogging Molly fan? ‘Cause that’s what I immediately started singing in my head when I saw the name of this color. Anyone…? Ahem. Anyhow; this is a nice shimmery brown, with a rosy-plum undertone to it. I’d say its more brown than pink, but its pretty and I can see it going well with the others in the palette.

Mugshot (metallic taupe shimmer w/slight pink shift) Mugshot is a bit similar to Factory; though it has a more golden shimmer to it. I see it as more of a bronzey brown than taupe, and while they call it pink shift, but it sure looks closer to golden on my skin, with just the slightest hint of pink in certain lightnings. Its one of the least pinky colors in the bunch but will still pair wonderfully with some of the other shades.

Darkside (deep taupe-mauve satin) Darkside is another color I wasn’t crazy about in the pan, but that grew on me as I swatched it. Its a cool, taupey mauve, but there’s a really nice purpley (almost eggplant) undertone to this color that gives it a lot of depth. This will be dynamite in a more subdued smoky eye. I think this could easily become a go-to crease color in my looks in the months to come!

Blackheart (smoky black matte w/rosy red micro-sparkle) Wow; another winner. The base of this shadow is a smoky charcoal color, but its the micro-sparkle that makes this color sing. A deep, rosy-red sparkle makes this shadow really pop! Its a stunner, that’s for sure. It suffers just a tad from the dreaded Urban Decay glitter effect; it didn’t have fallout, per say, but that sparkle all did seem to gather in the tail-end of my swatch. I’m wondering out well it will blend out, but I’m betting that it will look great smudged under the lash line if all else fails!

Swatches

I try, I try; but sad pandas my swatches remain. I keep blaming the lighting (which really is quite terrible, I assure you), but I don’t think my super pale and damn near reflective skin it helping the cause any. Perhaps I’ll start borrowing a less-pale-more-photogenic arm… Ooooor I could just direct you over to Temptalia, who has some amazing swatch shots that make me drool… (and possibly cringe with jealousy. Shhhh–don’t tell her she’s my beauty idol. My hero worship is a bit embarrassing.)

Verdict

5/5 and then some. This palette was love at first sight via the internet, and it did not disappoint when the relationship got physical. Urban Decay continues to blow me away with their original colors and amazing finishes. This is my favorite Naked palette so far and I cannot wait to see what looks I create with it!