One week with Urban Decay Naked Heat

One of my favourite blog posts that I've written over the past however many years I've been writing on this thing is the 'A week with the Naked Smoky Palette'. I spent a week where the only thing I used was that one palette to see if I could make it work for a variety of different looks. So, I thought, two years on' that I'd do the same with the Urban Decay Naked Heat Palette. I bought this last year and although I used it a heck of a lot when I bought it, over the past few months it's been a bit neglected. So I used this palette everyday for a week, different looks for different occasions, and gave it a proper test.

So, how did the week go?

I started off with a makeup look that I used to wear all the time. Back in the day when I was at university I used to do a smoky eye situation everyday. I mean why I didn't want those extra precious minutes in bed I don't know! I do love the way it looks though especially with the warm tones of this palette. Basically, Ounce all over the lid (shimmery cream), Chaser through the crease (light matte brown) followed by Low Blow (matte brown) and Lumbre (shimmery peach) all over the lid. Finishing touches are Cayenne (dark warm toned matte brown) on the outer corner and Ashes smudged into my lash line. Loved this look and it wasn't too hard to do - the eyeshadows are so easy to blend that they're not hard to work with in the slightest.

Recently I've been all about the one stop eyeshadow. Basically a one swipe wonder that I can put on in the morning and not have to think about for the rest of the day. This palette has got a lot that can work for this. I love Sauced for everyday, a warm toned brown that is way on the reddy side but I'm totally in love with it. A couple of swipes blended out into the crease and I'm all set. The same with Lumbre and Scorched except they're a bit more jazzy as they have plenty of shimmer in them.

I went out on a big hurrah with another old favourite - a bit of shadow with some winged liner. I realised when I wore it how much a love it but boy does it take a lot of maintaining. The basic shadows I used were Ounce (the shimmery cream) all over the lid with a mixture of Low Blow and Chaser in the crease (matte browns) and then on the outer corner. Easy and simple because, let's face it, doing winged liner is traumatising enough without having it mess up a load of shadows underneath!

By forcing myself to use this for a week I've totally fallen back in love with the palette. I never didn't like it anymore but I got out of the habit of using it and every time I went back to it - the warm tones scared me a bit. But after getting back into the swing it's a yes, yes, yes from me. This will be my go to for a smoky eye situation and my one swipe wonders, in fact pretty much anything!

Go to guys: Sauced, Lumbre, Low Blow, Scorched, En Fuego, Ashes

Take them or leave them: Ounce, Chaser, He Devil, Dirty Talk, Cayenne

No thanks: Ember