I mentioned in my London Haul that I might have picked up some Urban Decay dupes from the MUA stand at Superdrug. I knew that MUA was supposed to have duped the famous Naked palettes, so instead of splashing out for those, I thought this would be a great option, as they're all 4 pounds each, except for the Smokin' palette which is 6.
As far as quality goes, the MUA shadows aren't bad at all. There are some shadows that aren't as pigmented as others, but for the price, I'm not complaining. Compared to the UD shadows, the quality isn't as great, but compared to Dior shadows, the quality is very similar. Packaging-wise, I would've loved to see these palettes with a mirror. It's kind of annoying to have a big palette and have to use a separate mirror. All palettes except the Smokin' palette come with a dual-sided sponge tip applicator. The Smokin' comes with a black liner that needs to be sharpened. It doesn't bother me that these have the sponge tips because I actually found that they packed on the color really well, so all you need are those and a blending brush.
The first palette I picked up is the Matte Palette. This is supposed to be the dupe for the Naked Basics, but in my opinion, it's almost better color-wise, although the pigmentation isn't as great as the UD palette's. First of all, it's all matte. The UD one has one shimmer shade, so that's where this doesn't perfectly dupe that palette, but I like the matte, and white shimmery shades are so easy to find, so I honestly don't care. This palette also has four more shades that I get even more use out of than the six UD dupe shades (shadows 1-3, 5-6, and 10). There are some shades that don't show up that well or are hard to work with, but the quality is great for drugstore mattes overall, though, and for four pounds, this could be a nice Naked Basics alternative.
I also picked up the Undressed palette, which is supposed to dupe the first Naked palette. This palette is really awesome. The only shades that aren't too spot on with the Naked are 3, 5, 7, and 9. The dupe for Naked, 3, is slightly lighter, the dupe for Buck, 5, is way lighter, 7 is a bit darker than Toasted, and 9 isn't that pigmented and doesn't have the same quality as Creep. However, this palette is still incredible for four pounds, so if you don't want to pay for the Naked, it's pretty safe to just get this one.
I was surprised that I would love the Undress Me Too palette as much as I do. I like it even better than the original Undressed. The quality of every single shadow is spot on, and the colors overall just seem more wearable to me. You get some nice pink tones in here, and the mattes shades are really great. You don't need to splash out on the Naked 2; seriously just get this. The only shade that isn't a very good dupe for the Naked 2 is the first one. It doesn't really show up that well.
I wasn't planning on getting the Smokin' palette, however, I'm so glad I did. This is my favorite of all the palettes I got from MUA. I was originally intimidated by the colors, but out of ten shadows, there are only three colors, and all of them are really surprisingly wearable. You also get an insane amount of product for your money, including an eye liner. This is a great dupe for the Smoked palette from Urban Decay and so much cheaper. I use this so much because it's so versatile. It has light shades in it so you can still create a day look if you want, it's got a shade that works for my dark brows, a nice matte black which works perfectly to line the eyes, and then a lot of the shades in here work so well as one-wash colors. You can just slap one on, blend, and you have your whole eye look. My favorite colors in this palette are the sixth and tenth ones. They are so pigmented and just gorgeous. I have never used a shadow I like more than these two shades. The sixth shade is also a great powder alternative to the Maybelline Bad to the Bronze, although it is a bit darker and warmer. I also love the colors in the palette, especially the bottle green, and I find that they're gorgeous combined as well as alone. The only disappointing shade in this palette was the third one. It's the only shade that lacks a bit of pigmentation, and compared to the UD Mushroom, it's just not as nice to work with. The pencil the palette comes with isn't bad either. It's creamy and goes on well. However, it does smudge a bit, and it's a pencil you have to sharpen, so it won't be something I reach for all the time. But still. Six pounds, guys.
Overall, with these palettes out there (at Superdrug) from MUA, you definitely do not have to splash out on the Urban Decay ones. If you have the UD palettes though, you of course don't need these. All four of these palettes only cost me 18 pounds, whereas all four of the UD palettes would've cost me $185 dollars, and they come with less product (I've only worked with the UD palettes; I don't own them).
Overall, I'm just so impressed. Thanks, MUA!
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