I’m a huge fan of Urban Decay Eyeshadow Palette’s purely because they seem to be much more cost-effective than single eyeshadows. I mean, the Vintage Eyeshadows are currently being sold on the Urban Decay website for $17, whilst the standard ones are $18. That’s $17/$18 for 0.05 US Oz of product. However, for say the Urban Decay Naked2 Palette which is currently priced at $50, for 12 0.05 US oz shades, that’s just over $4 per colour and that’s not including the cost of the makeup brush and Lip Junkie that also come with the Palette, so I don’t think that that is bad at all. I actually picked up the Urban Decay Ammo Palette on a whim from Ebay, so I got it for a little cheaper than the standard retail price. Packaging The first thing that you notice about any Urban Decay Palette is without doubt the amazing packaging. It’s certainly one of the things that I appreciate about the brand, they really do appear to pull out the stops in terms of packaging whether it’s the token-features of the single eyeshadows, the design of the Book of Shadows, or the tiny details on palette’s such as the Ammo Palette. The background of the packaging is plain black, with a felt purple gun shooting purple felt leaves and butterflies beautifully intertwined with pink foil flowers, hearts, skulls and leaves in a design that is so intricate and covers one half of the front and a large portion of the back. It’s such a nice addition that really does draw well-deserved attention to itself. Overall, the packaging does seem to be considerably thinner than any of the other Urban Decay Palette‘s that I own, meaning that it’s much lighter, but the shades of colour also appear to be smaller in size to other palette’s and they only weigh 0.05 US oz. However, even though they are considerably smaller than other palette’s and single shadows in size, it does make up for it in price, as each shade averages out at $3.80 before we’ve included the applicator. My only gripe with the packaging is actually with the magnet that is inside the lid and the base of the Palette in order to keep the Palette closed. I’m not sure if anyone else has had this issue, but I’ve found that the magnet appears to be a bit too strong, and every time I opened it up, it would pull the box around the shades up with it. It got to a stage where it actually pulled the box up almost entirely and I’ve had to glue it back down with Super Glue. Fortunately, the Super Glue appears to be strong enough to have solved the problem, so if anyone does have a similar problem, that seems to do the trick Inside the Palette Interestingly, this is the only Urban Decay Palette that I have come across that does not appear to include an Eye Liner or a Mini Primer Potion with it. It does come with a double-ended sponge applicator, but I really hate sponge applicator’s because I find them restrictive, but I appear to have lost mine anyway! There are ten shades altogether: Smog. Deep coppery bronze shimmer with no glitter. Mildew. Deep green. Oil Slick. Pitch black shade with silver glitter flecks. Last Call. Medium plum punch that shimmers but without glitter. Chopper. Coppery fawn with silver glitter flecks that shimmer. Maui Wowie. Medium gold with silver glitter flecks that shimmer. Shattered. Flashes of two colours (blue and green) with no glitter. Polyester Bride. Shimmery white with silver glitter flecks. Grifter. Lavender shade with silver glitter flicks that shimmer. Sin. Champagne shimmer with no glitter. What I love most about this palette, is that it’s such a wide variety of shades that are paired up into “coordinating duos” that work really nicely together, but there are so many shades to choose on that it’s fun to mix-and-match and try different shades together. The bottom row of shades: Maui Wowie, Shattered, Polyester Bride, Grifter and Sin all work incredibly well as a base colour, whilst the top row: Smog, Mildew, Oil Slick, Last Call and Chopper make great accent or blendable shades to add drama or create a gorgeous smokey look. The lid also includes a mirror inside. I like how large the mirror is, because it’s a bit more usable than the mirror that is included in some palette’s which I’ve found to be a bit useless due to being too small in size. Usage I absolutely love all of the colours in this palette (well, maybe not-so-much Oil Slick which I just succeed in making a mess with, whenever I try to create virtually any kind of look with). Typical of Urban Decay’s shadows, in general, they are very smooth and apply beautifully with or without primer because they are so highly pigmented. Personally, I think that the darker and smokier colours apply amazingly well when applied wet, as the already rich colour seems to shine through. The only aspect that I am definitely not a fan of, is that Oil Slick, Chopper, Grifter, Polyester Bride and Maui Wowie are really quite glittery, and even though it’s quite fine glitter I don’t particularly like it. The problem is that I always end up with shimmer down my cheeks, even though I’ve never really experienced too much fall-out from any other shades, which I’m grateful for. When used with a primer, all of the colour are very long-lasting and I’ve survived a whole night, in a sweaty pub wearing many of these shades which always keeps me happy. Overall A beautiful selection of colours, covering a wide spectrum of Urban Decay’s best shades from the popular Sin and Oil Slick, to the unexpectedly stunning Maui Wowie and Last Call. There are so many possibilities to mix-and-match, and blend into smokey or dramatic or subtle looks to suit virtually any occasion. Which colours are our favourite in this smokey palette?
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