On New Year's Eve at approximately 11:59 p.m., I made a promise to myself that I was going to steer away from neutral eye shadow palettes in 2020. Not because there's anything wrong with them, but because I already owned 27, and the time had come for me to start playing with color. Despite all the bullshit this year brought us, I did a pretty good job of sticking to that goal, however, I back-tracked when the new Huda Beauty Naughty Nude Eye Shadow Palette arrived at my door.
Although I do admit I'm a sucker for any good neutral palette, the Naughty Nude palette is different. It's more than just a beautiful lineup of shadows and innovative formulas (we'll get to that part later). This palette is all about being physically nude with yourself and embracing your personal sexuality.
Huda Kattan, the founder of Huda Beauty, exclusively tells Allure that she wants this palette to make people feel empowered. While growing up in the Middle East, Kattan struggled with expressing herself in a conservative environment, which partly inspired Naughty Nudes. "I want whoever buys this palette to feel in love with themselves, their bodies, their sexuality, and their minds," she says. Kattan adds that her original New Nude palette and the new Naughty Nude palette were both created to help redefine what "nude" means — it's not just a shade range.
The Huda Beauty founder also feels that right now, given the current state of the pandemic, this palette can help provide the self-love 2020 has made increasingly sparse. "It's our mission to give everyone the confidence to love themselves inside and out and to really feel empowered to be their sexiest self," she says.
With all that being said, let's get into what makes this palette hit so different.
If you've tried Huda Beauty's eye shadow formula before, I don't need to sell you on how good it is. But if you haven't, let me be the one to say that these shadows are creamy and blendable; the fall out is minimal, and the different textures are every eye shadow lovers' dream. This beauty includes eight mattes that are buttery and extremely pigmented, five metallics that can add subtle or out-of-this-world sparkle to the eyes, four marbled creams that have reflective hues, and one never-before-seen pearl-gloss hybrid, a unique formula that adds a glass-like glow to the lids. According to Kattan, that formula took two years to finalize (it was so worth it).
When I first got this baby in my hands, there were three shades that jumped out to me most: Provocative (a marbled lilac), Slippery (a pearl-gloss hybrid that's made of a clear gel and berry-colored pigments), and Shameless (a baby-pink metallic). When I first dipped into the palette, I realized that the best way to apply Slippery was with my fingers. The jelly texture works on a brush, too, but to get that extreme wet look, your fingers are the most effective. To give you a visual, here's the entire palette swatched on my arm:
Left image top to bottom: Filthy, Passion, Shameless, Please Me, Hypnotic, Hard, Untamed, Irresistible, Flower Power, Rough.
Right image top to bottom: Spicy, Arouse, Slippery, Tantric, Naughty, Provocative, Desire, Juicy.
Here's how I used it. Because I wanted to create a really fall vibe with the palette, I focused on the more brownish shades, and I dipped into a few of my favorite pans to create this look:
To achieve it, I first dipped into the shade Juicy, a neutral matte, and dusted it on my entire lid as a base. Then I deepened it up with Arouse, a burnt orange, working that into my crease and outer corners. To add some sparkle, I patted Flower Power, a yellow-gold marble, all over my lid. I darkened my lower lash line with Arouse to match the top and added more glitter in my inner corner with Tantric, a golden metallic.
This palette is absolutely stunning, and it should be on everyone's vanity, but the story behind it makes it even more special. That being said, did I break my New Years' resolution? Yes. Was it extremely worth it? Hell yes.
The Huda Beauty Naughty Nude Eyeshadow Palette, $67, will be available starting November 1 on sephora.com.
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