Everyday Girl's Guide with YouTube Tutorials of Urban Decay's Naked 3 Palette

So, I'm doing something slightly different today. I'm giving a review for the new Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette. If you're not a makeup junkie like me, you may not be familiar with the big fuss over this palette. They've previously released two hugely popular palettes, which I've purchased over the past year, and this one recently came out in November. The 1st palette was bronze neutral shades, the 2nd was taupe cool-toned neutral shades, and the 3rd features rose-gold neutral shades. I know, I know.. like I need another eyeshadow, but these looked amazing. They said these shades would like good on a fair-skinned, blue-eyed gal like myself, so I went ahead and bought it for myself for my birthday. Sure, the price may seem high, but for 12 higher-end eyeshadows, the cost for each one ends up being $4.33 per eyeshadow, which is a great price for great quality (and long lasting--I've had the original Naked palette for almost a year, and I haven't even come close to using up to half of any shadow).

Disclaimer: I am no makeup expert. I do love everything related to beauty, especially makeup. I own several brands of makeup (MAC, Stila, Nars, Urban Decay, Tarte, Fresh, Bare Minerals, Benefit, Smashbox, etc), and I tend to buy more than I actually use. I am also not a creative person, so I rely on the creativity and expertise of others to help me out. So, that's why this is a guide for the everyday makeup girl like me.

This is what the palette looks like:

(I decided to use a stock photo from Sephora because my own swatches and photos turned out badly.)
                                                     

Some of my favorite shades include:

Liar:
Beautiful mauve-gold. Blends great and looks multi-dimensional.

Darkside:
This is a great rose-y taupe color. It blends amazingly and can help make a dramatic or more everyday look.

Blackheart:
This is a dramatic black matte with red sparkle. It helps make a gorgeous smokey eye. However, you must use this with a very light hand as the pigmentation is deep and the color will be placed where you put your brush. So, be careful when you use this and be ready to blend, blend, blend!

Some of my least favorite shades include:

Burnout: 

This one was a major disappointment for me. It's a great rose-champagne shimmery color. It looks beautiful in the pan and when swatched on my skin. However, the color payoff on my eyelid was not so great. I had to really pack it on to even get close to showing up. Also, it ended up looking a little orange-y on my lid. I've been trying a million different looks with this palette (everyone else on YouTube seems to love this shadow!), and I've been getting really frustrated when I have to use this shadow.. that's how much I dislike this shadow.

Buzz:

This is another great pink-rose color with glitter. However, it's not all it seems. Not only is there fallout from the glitter, but the color payoff isn't great on the eyelid. Check out my tips below for better application and color.

Dust:
A beautiful, light pink that is packed with chunky glitter. I don't mind glitter on my eyelids if it stays there. Chunky glitter on my face? Don't like that at all.

Pros to the Naked 3 palette: 

You can easily make a beautiful and soft work-appropriate look with these shades. The looks you can make can be very feminine and pretty. In my opinion, the Naked 2 palette smokey-eye looks can sometimes end up being a little aggressive or harsh. The shadows blend well and you can easily build up the color and intensity. They have included a couple of matte shadows (nooner and limit) that really help build dimension and depth of your eyes. The colors can also be appropriate for cool or warm skin. I've seen it described as both, depending on which shadows you use.

Cons to the Naked 3 palette:

Some of the colors I listed above didn't show up well on my lid. Also, depending on what colors you use and how you blend them, the eyelid can end up looking muddy without much defined color. The rose golds may also not look great on certain skin tones.

Some tips/tools I've been using to maximize the palette:

For Dust, the most glittery eyeshadow, I use Sephora's 12-hr waterproof jumbo liner in White as a base. When I apply Dust under my brow or in the inner corner, I apply some as a base, and it really picks up and emphasizes the light pink color and helps the glitter stick to my lid and inner corner.
                                                     

Urban Decay's glittery eyeshadows often have a lot of fallout on my cheeks (I'm calling you out Sidecar, Toasted and Chopper in the Naked palettes, with Buzz and Dust from Naked 3), so I invested in a glitter eyeshadow primer from Too Faced to help them stick to my lids. I usually brush on my crease color, then apply this lightly to my lid if I'm using a glittery eyeshadow to the lid.

                                                    

I've also been trying out applying eyeshadows wet on the lid, using MAC's Fix+. I get a little eyeshadow on a flat brush, spray Fix on my hand, then I dab the brush on the liquid. Then, I apply it to my lid. I find that this helps increase the color payout with lighter colors, especially with the shade Buzz.
                                                         

The eyeliners that I am partial to with these looks include:

Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero
Bare Mineral's Round the Clock Waterproof Eyeliner in Midnight and 8 PM
MAC's Eye Pencil in Coffee
Stila's Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Black
*You can also easily use Blackheart eyeshadow as liner.
*Urban Decay also offers a double ended liner made specifically for each Naked palette in Darkside and Blackheart, but I haven't tried it.

Tutorials:

So, I've been searching out tutorials in blogs and YouTube videos, and writing down the shadows they use, where and how they apply the shadows, and their methods. I've decided to put them all in one place for easy access. Plus, there's a million of them available, and some of the tutorials online don't produce very good looks (trust me--I've tried a good number). I've also separated them by daytime and night-time looks. Just an FYI, I sometimes wear more dramatic looks for work that some people may not be comfortable wearing in the day. I am not one for the "no makeup look". I figure, why the heck am I putting on eyeshadow to make it look like I'm not wearing anything? I've also personally tested all of these looks and liked them enough to share. I've weeded through these as well, and didn't post the tutorials that had nearly identical looks. I will continue adding more of the links to tutorials as I keep finding and testing out more looks!

These are my favorite daytime look tutorials using the Naked 3 palette:

Soft and Smokey by MakeupByTiffanyD
Daytime Smokey Eye by Megan McTaggart (this may be more dramatic for some of you)
Easy Eye by Urban Decay
Bright and Smoked Eyes by Sona Gasparian
Soft Rose Day Look by xsparkage
Bright Look by sarahsloveaffair (this is one my favorites--really pretty and brightens your eyes!)
Simple, Coppery Eye by metaldiamondsfur (this is for those days when you don't have a lot of time to blend)
Day-to-Night Look by pursebuzz
Soft, Shimmery Look by GlammyMommy89
Everyday Smokey Rose Look by Buttaripple
Winter Spice Look by FromInsideMyCloset
Matte Eyes by Megan McTaggart
Soft and Flirty by ShadesofKassie
Romantic Rose Gold Eyes by hubombshell254
Daytime Romance by HeatherReallyHearts

These are my favorite night-time dramatic look tutorials using the Naked 3 palette:

Blackheart Look by Phyrra
Dark, Smokey Eye by Keiko Lynn
Winged Rose-Gold Eye by GlamJackie (you obviously wouldn't have to wing it out as much)
Black and Taupe Smokey Eye by CoffeeBreakwithDani
Dramatic, Holiday Look by Megan McTaggart
Rose-bronze Smokey Eye by Amber Cherie
Soft and Smokey Eye by Tarababyz
Valentine's Day Eye by macshadowcombos (my new favorite--it's even appropriate for day)


I plan on typing up a step-by-step list of every single look using these tutorials, like I previously did with the 1st and 2nd palettes, but I'm trying every single one of the looks that I've recorded, so it may take me a couple of weeks until I've tried all of the looks. Plus, there are new tutorials posted daily on YouTube using this palette, so I'll be struggling to keep up. I've even been putting on eyeshadow before bed so I can try out all of the looks. I did such a terrible one last night that I removed it immediately after. Let's just say that glittery shades are not meant to be blended people. And, don't trust every makeup "guru" on YouTube. That's why I've put together this guide for people like you (and me) who aren't possibly creative enough to think of a million different ways to wear eyeshadow, but want to try new and fun looks that have been tried and tested by a non-professional (i.e. me).

**UPDATE**

I now have Word files available with 24 different looks using each of the three Naked palettes. Please leave a comment below with your e-mail or e-mail me at shewi128 (at) hotmail (dot) com for a copy of any of the three.