While Urban Decay are famed for their fabulous eye shadows and primers, I’ve never heard a peep about their foundations before. I was therefore intrigued to get my hands on their new ‘Naked Skin’ foundation.
Here’s what Urban Decay have to say about it:
“Our completely weightless formula blurs imperfections to deliver a flawless finish that looks professionally retouched and feels invisible.”
I’ve given it a thorough road test over the past few days and here’s my verdict:
1. The Packaging: While the packaging looks lovely, it’s made entirely of plastic. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing (it definitely makes it lighter!) but it does feel a little less ‘luxurious’ than a glass bottle. You get 30ml or 1fl oz. The convenient pump dispenses the perfect amount for my whole face in just one pump.
3. The Shade Selection: It comes in an impressive 18 shades to suit all skin tones. Those with a .5 are neutral/cool tones, and whole numbers are warmer shades. The shade I tried was 4.5.
2. The Formula: It has a traditional liquid foundation consistency. (It has been compared to the YSL Teint Touche Eclat, but having compared them side by side, the YSL is slightly more of a gel texture, has more of a light-reflecting property and a much lower level of coverage). The product has a very strong, powdery scent which I’m not a fan of. While this goes away after a few minutes, it is a little off-putting initially. It is oil free and paraben free which is always nice.
3. Application: It provides medium-high coverage. While one layer would provide the perfect coverage for the daytime, it is very build-able (so perfect if you like a natural look for the day, and more coverage for the evening). Urban Decay have also launched a special brush to apply the foundation with. The ‘Optical Blurring’ brush is a dense, rounded, synthetic brush that allows you to buff the foundation right into the skin. I personally love this type of brush and it gave a lovely finish when applying the foundation with it.
4. The Finish: It provides a very natural finish. It’s not matte, but certainly not dewy. As the name suggests, it does actually look like skin!
5. Wear Time: It didn’t look perfect at the end of an 8 hour day, but pretty close to it. Combined with a good primer and a setting spray, this easily lasts all day on my skin.
6. Price: I find Urban Decay’s pricing a little hard to get my head around. Some of their products (like the naked palettes at £32 for 12 shades) are fantastic value for money, while others seem to be hugely over-inflated (The custom eyeshadow palette at £84 for 6 shades). This foundation is £27, 27 Euros or $38. I think that is reasonable, but I think it could have been a smidge lower (it’s only £1 cheaper than the YSL, which feels like a much more luxurious product)
Overall: I really like this foundation. I’m enjoying using it for everyday makeup and although I don’t think it will replace my Shiseido and Dior options at the moment, it is very nice indeed. I don’t 100% agree with Urban Decay about it ‘feeling invisible’, as you can certainly tell you’re wearing it, but it does leave you looking a little ‘retouched’! Definitely worth a look if you’re on the market for a new foundation.