Earlier this week, Snapchat stories flooded with spicy unboxings by beauty influencers, showing Tapatío sauce ™, Sriracha ™, Flaming Hot Cheetos ™, and many other sizzling treats. The packages were sent as PR for Urban Decay’s new palette, “Naked Heat.”
(photo credit: Ellie Jane Anti-Haul Blog)
The intention was to pack heat and display it for the world the next day, yet the launch seemed to fizzle out rather than sizzle our tastebuds. Most notably, Allure Magazine released swatches of the 12-shade palette which were less than flattering; or, in the beauty world, less than pigmented.
I first found these swatches on my resident makeup investigator Stephanie Nicole’s Instagram page, in which she screenshotted a tweet by beauty influencer Thomas Halbert. Halbert was in the news recently for exposing James Charles for shady behavior regarding his infamous “ebola” tweets as well as his general need to lie for attention. Needless to say, I trusted he and Nicole both.
(photo credit: Stephanie Nicole)
Nicole even wrote on a previous post that she didn’t enjoy the first three Naked palettes, only liking a few colors, yet she had high hopes for the newest launch. In the middle of my upset and desire to tear down the company because of my previous gripes with their toxic metallic shadows (more on that later), Nicole posted another photo on her Instagram showing better quality swatches, reposted via beauty influencers on the social media site.
(photo credit: Stephanie Nicole)
Halbert promptly apologized for his carnage on Twitter, also deleting any defamatory tweets quicker than his rival James Charles could backtrack on an apology. I began to think I had been judging Urban Decay too quickly, and as the spice on my tongue from the “Naked Heat” palette dissipated, I started to put things into perspective.
(photo credit: Thomas Halbert)
When I first saw the “Naked Heat” palette, I thought Urban Decay was ripping off Anastasia Beverly Hills’s “Modern Renaissance” palette. Sure, the colors aren’t exactly the same, with Anastasia having a touch more flare to it with purples and pinks, adding some light aromatics to an otherwise flaming palette. In the sauce rack of the beauty world, “Modern Renaissance” is Tajín and “Naked Heat” is garlic powder: garlic is delicious, just a little too common.
I also considered the versatility factor when comparing the two palettes. I believe, even with my annoyance of this new Urban Decay launch, that the “Naked Heat” palette is capable of being a neutral-makeup lover’s dream. And if the quality of the shadows turns out not to be horrendous, this could potentially be the palette of the summer. Ironic, considering that was their intention, yet the fire seemed to die down before it started.
The “Modern Renaissance” palette certainly took the world by storm, releasing before the fall of 2016 and becoming a staple for Instagram eyeshadow tutorials. Even influencers on YouTube, from the likes of those who are excited about the “Naked Heat” launch, claimed it as a favorite at some point or other, though they rarely used it in videos. That, to me, is how you know it’s good. The same cannot be said of most Urban Decay eyeshadow palette launches in the past.
(photo credit: Anastasia Beverly Hills)
I plopped into the YouTube scene a bit too late to see the rise and fall of the Naked palettes, but after seeing Stephanie Nicole’s lament over the original quality I started to piece together the opinions of influencers. In general, influencers are not the end of criticism, but they do represent both “the average consumer” as well as the “makeup artist” community, being rational but also quite picky.
Kathleen Fuentes, known as KathleenLights on YouTube, for example, said in a recent eyeshadow collection video that even though she still owns the Naked palettes, she never reaches for them. “I don’t reach for this” is code for “even though most of us were excited about this, I couldn’t bring myself to use it often.” Kristi, or RawBeautyKristi on YouTube, said a similar thing in a video regarding “overhyped” products in the beauty community. Never have I heard such a perfect adjective to describe the Naked series.
(photo credit: Kathleen Fuentes)
The unfortunate difference between Anastasia Beverly Hills’s palette and Urban Decay’s is that the first brand epitomized a trend of quality against the latter. Urban Decay wasn’t subjected to picky influencers, so they were able to maintain neutral standards and stick to brand loyalty in order to get their products sold. Nowadays, however, palettes considered luxury are expected by the general public to be creamy, buttery, velvety, and some other adjectives that should be used to describe food and not makeup.
Major companies in the beauty industry now realize that if they make a crappy product, people are going to find out about it even before it’s in stores. They do it to themselves of course, with these over-the-top packages that they send influencers for PR. But you have to give the brands credit for having the balls to send anything in advance at all, especially if the product is lukewarm.
Urban Decay may have dug itself into a Naked hole, trying to capitalize on bare neutral nudity as much as possible. They did this with the “Naked Ultimate Basics” palette earlier last year, which contained, true to its name, basic neutrals for everyday looks. Such attention to the average consumer makes Urban Decay look better, certainly, which is what resulted in the hype surrounding “Naked Heat” in the first place. This new launch represents a lot of what Urban Decay has been missing: warmth. But my concern is that it may be too late.
For those who already own the “Modern Renaissance” palette or various other palettes that have been launched in the last year, it may be a bit underwhelming or even redundant to see yet another warm-toned palette. Warm shadows are the trend as of late for the beauty community, and up until now Urban Decay has not been in touch with the latest craze. In my opinion, it’s just too late to capitalize on a trend that’s been marketed to death. Nobody needs a new warm-toned palette, especially for the retail price of $54.
I also mentioned earlier the toxic eyeshadow debacle, which is something that has recently come closer to the light among influencers concerned about makeup toxicity and cruelty free brands. According to “somethingtoconsiderblog.com” Urban Decay’s first Naked palette contains some toxic chemicals such as silica, butylated hydroxytoluene, and other parabens.
And that palette isn’t the only questionable product, as StCB continues: “It would take too long to list all 500 or so poorly rated products, so I’ll highlight a few,” subsequently listing products from the Naked line as well as everything from single metallic shadows to mascaras. (But seriously, why make a lipgloss that isn’t lip safe?)
With all of these things in mind, including the quality of the palette as well as the redundancy and potential toxicity, it is important to be a wise consumer and not be blinded by any “hot” PR brought about by fizzling trends. Compare, research, and rationalize before buying this palette.
It is set to be available for purchase on the Urban Decay website as well as Ulta.com and Sephora.com on June 30th.
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