Top 5 | Best Products from Urban Decay (2021)

Urban Decay was one of my first makeup loves. Our relationship was solid for almost 10 years, but the last few have been rocky. I felt betrayed by the discontinuation of the Naked palette, my favourite thing about Urban Decay, and the new additions to the permanent line were no longer characteristic of the brand I fell in love with.

That said, I feel like there is some urgency in talking about their good products because everything that’s good is being discontinued and the new launches have been terrible. So before they get rid of everything good (like they did with the loose powder, the highlighters, the blushes), here are the top 5 products currently available that are true winners:

Born to Run Eyeshadow Palette

Best Products from Urban Decay

The best palette Urban Decay currently has to offer, period. This makes sense for the brand that created the (original) Naked palette I loved so much. The shades are pigmented, soft, blendable and long-lasting – everything you could want. The colour story is also versatile, interesting and complete. You can make a sh*it ton of looks using only this.

And the packaging is sleek but also has a giant, practical mirror.

Beached Bronzer in shade Sun-Kissed

I suspect this one won’t last long. I’m surprised is still available, since they got rid of the individual powder blushes and highlighters. But I hope it stays, because it’s such a good product. So easy to blend, makes the skin look poreless and perfected, and lasts all day as well. It has a reddish undertone – I have a strong yellow undertone and if I’m not careful it can clash a bit with my complexion, and that’s why I end up using it less often than I would like. But I still love it.

Again, the packaging is very slim, and the mirror is pretty big for a powder compact.

Naked Honey Eyeshadow Palette

I didn’t want to include two palettes in this post but it wouldn’t be right not to include something from the Naked line. It’s iconic. And this one makes the big sister proud. First of all, the colour story is stun-ning. It screams yellow yet none of the shades are truly yellow. They’re orangey/mustardy/ochre/greenish, complex and interesting and unique. And they perform really well. The mattes are creamy, the metallics are intense. This is one that makes you happy to say you got Naked.

The packaging is bulkier, though. It’s made of hard plastic, big mirror as well, but like I find with a lot of other naked palettes, some pans are not properly glued to the case, so I find I have to be careful and make sure they don’t fall out of it.

Eyeshadow Primer Potion

How long has this been around? I tried to find out and managed to find reviews for this from 17 years ago. God Damn. And it’s still going strong. There have been a lot of eye primer releases since this came out, good primers, I know that because I’ve tried them as well, and yet I always have a UDPP (ahh, those famous initials that I saw so much on makeup forums 10 years ago) on my collection. It’s reliable, it always works. They offer a few shades, and right now I own the original, but I actually prefer the shade Eden (an opaque, yellow toned beige shade).

All Nighter Setting Spray

I’ve talked about this product too many times. If you’re a long time reader (you’re probably not, I’m not that important) than I’m sorry I’m being so repetitive. Even I am sick of talking about it: it’s great, it works, it looks fantastic, best setting spray I’ve ever tried. I’m on my 4th bottle. There.

Honourable Mentions

Laced Eyeshadow: Urban Decay is going to relaunch their single eyeshadow line and from what I’ve seen, the new line does not include a lot of previously permanent shades (shocker), one of them being Laced. This colour is like a brownish mauve shade that’s perfect for cool toned looks, and very unique, because it’s very hard to find a transition shade with so much pink in it. But they’re likely discontinue it, so run, don’t walk.

24/7 Glide-On Pencils: This is another of those products that’s been around for a long, long time. Maybe even longer than the Primer Potion. The range of colours is amazing, they’re creamy, smooth and pigmented, and opaque in one pass. They also last all day on the eyelids. Their only fault is that they’re not super long lasting on the waterline. Still, if there is a colour that interests you, go for it, you’re likely not be disappointed.

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11 Comments

  1. Definitely a brand I have been keeping an eye on! I love a lot their older stuff but I’m sad they’re not doing so great these days. The honey palette looks especially pretty!

    1. It is sad, and I’m a bit scared specially after the news that Becca’s closing this year. I hope UD stays around for long and goes back to its origins, it’s such a nostalgic brand for me. Thanks for commenting!

        1. I agree with that, I’ve always gotten them on sale too 🙂 I have quite a few of the Naked palettes and I like all the ones I have (2, 3, Cherry and Honey), it’s just that I find Honey to be the most unique.

  2. Urban Decay is one of those brands I always wanted to try but never got round to do it. I would definitely go for one of the wonderful eye palettes they have.

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