What I Would Buy | Urban Decay

Once upon a time – in my pre-banking days – I worked for about six months in financial advisory. Which I’ll loosely translate as my six-month sabbatical; and where I met Amy and Ringi. Besides teaching me about wearing more skirts to work, this is where my love for blogs really evolved and was introduced to Make-Up Alley. I would spend hours reading reviews on products – even the stuff not available here – and so beginning my love of cult make-up products.

Amy went to New York during this period giving me the chance to buy one of these mystical products I had read about; I settled on an Urban Decay Naked 2 eye palette, whipped out a crisp 50 dollar note (perhaps the most unbelievable part is that I had this lying around) and a few weeks later was the proud owner of said palette.

Fast-forward four years and it seems the local beauty blogging world has lost its mind over the launch of Urban Decay cosmetics in South Africa – while the rest of the female population is happily swiping away for these premium-priced cosmetics. A couple of people have asked me what I would buy now that Urban Decay is available, so I compiled a list of what I am looking at adding to my stash in the coming months:

Naked Basics Palette

I have mentioned it before but I’m generally very lazy when it comes to eye make-up application during the week. And on the occasional weekend where I do wear it, I prefer an understated “soft wash” type of look. The plus-size Naked eye palettes are exceptionally beautiful – 12 shades of vibrant matte, shimmer and sparkle colours – but if I was re-purchasing a palette I would look to make the Naked Basics my starter pack.

Costing approximately half the price of its famed cousin, these palettes feature six shades of the basic matte colours that are completely perfect for the understated, neutral finish I am after. Also: take a look at my palette – you will notice (besides the missing black compartment from a rather unfortunate fall) the most used shade for me has been Tease, followed by Foxy. I see Naked Basics 2 (a cooler toned version of the Naked Basics) is already sold out on the pop-up online store!

But if you are into your make-up application then definitely rather splurge on the big boy and enjoy all the fabulousity it offers. For a quick and easy application trick, check out one of my favourite bloggers (Leigh from Lipgloss is my Life) using the original bronze-toned Naked palette.

Eyeshadow Primer Potion

While the Urban Decay eye shadow is one of the nicest (Buttery! Soft! Blendable!) I have ever had the pleasure of using, I do find its lasting power somewhat shy of my expectations. The problem is that I am not adding a primer to the eyelid beforehand. Besides making me question where people find the time to do this (on the weekend, let alone a week day!) it also reminds me that the texture of the eyelid (feel it!) was not really built to ‘hold’ onto make-up the entire day.

So obviously, the Primer Potion would be next item on my list. While I’m sure all top-end primers are fairly similar what would make me buy this one (over Benefit, as an example) is that it is built to work in conjunction with the UD products. Moreover, this product has achieved a “cult beauty status” over the past few years so I would be really interested to see if it can make a difference to holding onto my ‘shadow’ for more than a couple of hours.

 All Nighter Setting Spray

The common theme of this post could clearly be “making my make-up last longer” as this is honestly the first thing I will be buying from Urban Decay! I’m really not the type of person to spend hours touching up my make-up during the day, or at an event. I’m not sure why but it kind of grosses me out (hand germs, make-up brush germs, bathroom germs) so end up looking like a washed out ghost by the end of the day/night. Urban Decay claims this microfine mist can help make-up last for up to 16 hours without “melting, cracking, fading or settling into fine lines” (ahem).

I don’t need any further convincing – I am completely sold – and although I would expect the price tag to be in the region of R500-R600 (I haven’t checked the price as yet) it is a product investment I am willing to make! I’ll be sure to post a mini-review of it on the blog as soon as I manage to get to the new Sandton store (baby planning is currently keeping my weekends very full) and let you know if it lives up to my (very high) hopes!

I am absolutely dying to see the store – although I have heard it is tiny – and see what else from the brand looks “list-worthy”. Remember, that there is the limited edition pop-up store online where you can buy the eyeshadow palettes (Naked 1/2/3/Smoky and the Basics 1 /2) if you aren’t based in Jo’burg.

I would love to know if any of you have tried out any of the products I have mentioned here or visited the store as yet? Happy shopping fellow beauty junkies 🙂