By Devon Abelman, Allure
If you can believe it, it's been almost two years since Urban Decay came out with a new Naked Palette. Sure, there have been extensions of the Naked franchise with highlighters, contouring kits, and a basics palette, but there hasn't be a new, 12-shadow, chocolate-bar shaped Naked palette on the market since the Naked Smoky back in July 2015.
[post_ads]But that's about to change. Turns out, things have been heating up right under out noses. Urban Decay is about to drop the fifth Naked palette — Urbay Decan Naked Heat Palette — which includes all the trendy tones you've been seeing on Instagram and the red carpet, including copper and orange, in one place. And this new Naked iteration is one of Wende Zomnir's favorites. "I've never been able to say this about a Naked palette, but this is the first Naked palette that satisfies both my need for neutrals and my craving for rich, sexy color," she tells Allure exclusively. We chatted with Urban Decay's co-founder to find out all about Naked Heat and how it fits into the Naked family.
Naked Heat was based on one specific shade.
"We have this shade called Riff that we launched a couple years ago as a single, and I've been obsessed with it. I keep making more and more terracotta and orange [shadows], and I keep launching shades that have that amber-toned base to them. Then, I started thinking how these are kind of a new version of nudes. These are like modern, fresh versions of a Naked palette. That was the inspiration behind them: how do we take these shades and evolve them into a Naked palette?"
[post_ads_2]
The palette wasn't always called Naked Heat.
"We always start with a working title. My first working title on this one was Naked Scorched. I kept thinking about lighting Naked shades on fire, and those would be the shades we would create. Then I started thinking, "scorched" is kind of a weird word — not that people don't know what it means, but I wanted something catchier. Heat is just so simple and sums it up."
Naked Heat was over a year in the making.
"This might be the [Naked palette] that I spent the longest amount of time on. I think Naked 2 was the shortest, that one just really fell into place. The first one was fairly instantaneous with a few tweaks that had to be made to it. For Naked 3, I had a vision, but I had a difficult time handcrafting the shades. Then for Smoky, I knew what I wanted in a smoky eye, so that was probably like 3, where I took time getting the shades exactly right. But I feel like Heat was the most crafted, most artisanal of all of the Naked palettes. Take a look at that second shade in, called Chaser. It's got a little bit of a warm base to it, even though it's an all-over lid color. The highlight shade on the very far left, Ounce, is bright and poppy on the brow bone and illuminates the inner corners, yet still has that warmth to it, which is hard to achieve because those white shades tend to go a little blue or a little pink. So to really craft this one and get all the shades exactly right, there was a lot of work both technically and conceptually in this palette."
[post_ads_2]
She's living for the universally flattering eye shadow trends lately.
"These peachy, burgundy, red-based shadows look good on everyone because they resonate with that warmth that people want to bring out in their skin. It's very satisfying for me to see this evolving as a trend because we launched red and orange shadows probably 17 years ago, which was crazy innovative at the time. People thought we were a bit bananas, and I was like, 'They're so pretty, you have to try them.' And I feel like the world is finally coming around to believing what we've been telling them all along."
The organization of the palette is intentional.
"It's sorted into look. On the far left, you have your base eye shades. You've got your highlight, you've got your all-over lid [color], and you've got a crease or transition color that could work for almost anyone. On the right side you've got a dark shade, [Low Blow], that's great to define and edge up any look. Then in between you've got a big range of shades that can take you either very terracotta, very butterscotch, or very burgundy. There are a lot of options in this palette, and it's organized so you can see them all. You can see the burgundies to the right, the amber colors in the center, butterscotch-y shades on the left. There's no rhyme or reason for how you need to use it, but there is some vision on how you could use them."
[post_ads_2]
Zomnir has a favorite shade.
"Yesterday I wore the sparkly orange shade [called Lumbre]. I wore it all over and it gave my lids this peachy, orange look. I left it really simple, blown out, pretty, fresh, and [paired it] with a deep lip. I've also used that shade as a pop shade on my lid when I've used a deeper, more intense matte shade in the crease. That shade alone transitions from day to night."
You can basically pair these colors with any lip color.
"I'll put them on with a bright red lip, which looks so pretty, polished, and clean — like jeans and a T-shirt. Sometimes neutral shades can have a dirtiness to them but these have a bright, fresh look. And you can put on almost any lip color with the shadows in this palette. I've worn a hot pink, but I also love a metallic red with them. I've even used my son's namesake shade, Cruz, with this palette, which is a purple shade. I love the orange-y eye with a pretty orchid lip."
He Devil is no mistake.
"I love the shade He Devil because it's supposed to be She Devil and everyone thinks it's a typo — but it's really not. It's the men in my life that are the He Devils."
More palettes you'll love:
