Urban Decay Naked Vault for Holiday 2014 (Limited Edition, Online only)

Urban Decay just announced on its blog that the Urban Decay Naked Vault will launch on their website on October 30th, 2014 for a limited time (presumably until stock runs out) for the US release. This set will be released in the UK at Selfridges on November 1st. The Urban Decay Naked Vault will retail for $280

But you're probably wondering what all of the goodies in the Vault are, it includes 12 products from the Urban Decay Naked line-up.

• UD Naked 1 Palette
• UD Naked 2 Palette
• UD Naked 3 Palette
• 3 matching 24/7 Glide-On Double Ended Eye Pencils (including colors: Zero/Whiskey, Perversion/Pistol, Black Heart/Darkside)
• UD Naked Flushed Cheek Palette
• UD Native Naked Flushed Cheek Palette
• UD Streak Naked Flushed Cheek Palette
• 3 UD Nourishin Lipgloses (including colors: Nooner, Rule34, and Streak)

I'm not really sure why Urban Decay decided to include the Naked Flushed Palettes over the Naked Basics palettes, but I have heard many complaints on forums from UD fans not being pleased about this since the Naked Flushed Palettes are meant to be for different skin-tones. It doesn't make sense that one person, who isn't a makeup artist, would want all 3, does it? 

I haven't heard any rave reviews about the Urban Decay Naked Lipglosses, so I think this is one of their least popular items - the inclusion of the Revolution Lipsticks would have made this set far more valuable, in my opinion. This set doesn't seem as lust-worthy as the Urban Decay Pencil Vault from last year or the Mother Lode Eyeshadow Vault which included every shade in their permanent range (oh my god that one was glorious)!

Will you be purchasing this set and do you think it's worth $280?

Urban Decay Holiday 2014 Sets (Vice 3, Vice LTD, 24/7 Eye-Liner Pencils, Revolution Lipsticks and more!)

Urban Decay - Vice 3 Palette - Holiday 2014 (Limited Edition)

Urban Decay - Vice LTD Palette - Holiday 2014 Sephora Exclusive (Very Limited Edition)

VICE 3 versus VICE LTD

Can we just start off this post with the massive controversy about the two *separate* versions of the Vice palette which were released for Holiday 2014? One was the regular Vice 3 and the other was a Sephora VIB Rouge-only special called the Vice LTD - now this latter one must have sold out in 30 minutes and bloggers/forums have been up-in-arms about it ever since.

Now you can see from the above photos that there are similar colors in these palettes, but all of them are supposedly brand new shades from Urban Decay. While I don't think you would need *both* of these palettes, if you're a collector you might want to try to get your hands on both (good luck!). Personally, the purples and pinks in the Vice LTD appeal to me, so I would rather have that one, so I hope that it gets re-released in a larger quantity closer to the holidays. Both palettes seem to have satin mattes and shimmer shades, but they are predominantly shimmer palettes. Both palettes retail for $60 at Sephora. You also receive a free matching bag with this purchase.

Urban Decay Full Frontal Lipstick Stash Set (Limited Edition)

Full Frontal Lipstick Stash Set

This is a cute mini lipstick set with 6 shades of Revolution Lipstick and it includes a full-sized 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Ozone (Clear), this set retails for $39. I love the idea of this set because you can experiment with various shades of lipstick rather than having to commit to one. The amount in each mini lipstick is 1g compared to the 2.8g of each full-sized Revolution lipstick, so you're getting about 36% or roughly one-third of a full lipstick with each sample. I'm also really impressed that they included a 24/7 lip liner which is full sized, regular retail price is $20, and in a clear shade. You may be wondering why they included a clear shade, but the reasoning is very intelligent and practical: you can use this under any color of lipstick and since you are receiving a variety of nudes, pinks and reds, you can use it underneath to prevent feathering since they are very intensely pigmented and can tend to bleed since they are very smooth.

I have to admit that this set is probably my favorite unique concept Urban Decay has come out with in a while.

Urban Decay - TEN 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Set - Holiday 2014 (Limited Edition)

TEN 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Set

This set boasts a variety of 10 different-colored 24-7 Glide-On Eye Pencils (for which Urban Decay is famous for since they have beautiful pigmentation and glide on smoothly without tugging at your eyes) for $52 and a Grindhouse dual-pencil sharpener. This set is a steal since each eye-liner from Urban Decay retails for $20!

You receive one full-sized Perversion Eye Pencil (this is an intense black matte which is great for the waterline) and 9 travel sized pencils in various shades ranging from pink, teal, neutrals, gold and purple. The travel sized pencils are exactly two-thirds the size of a full-sized product so they will last you a long time. This is my favorite eyeliner set Urban Decay has released in the past few years for the Holidays.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Double-Ended Eye Pencil Set - Holiday 2014 (Limited Edition)

BLACK MAGIC 24/7 Glide-On Double-Ended Eye Pencil Set

Now you may be asking yourself "Wait, Didn't I just see an eye pencil set from Urban Decay for the holidays???" and the answer is: Yes, they decided to release 2 options. I think this is because the first set featured was a more adventurous color selection and the Black Magic Set is a lower-priced, darker and more conventional set. So naturally, I'm not so much of a fan of this one because I can easily dupe these colors in my collection.

It's worth noting that this set does NOT come with a Grindhouse Dual-Ended Pencil Sharpener, and there are no full (1.2g)or travel-sized liners (0.8g), but they are less than half of a full size (0.5g) or 42% of the size exactly. You receive 8 colors in this set and the black featured is the 24/7 Black Velvet pencil (this is a smoky black that definitely smudges off the waterline and is best used as a base for a smoky eye since it has to be "set" with a powder to stay put). The greatest range of color you will receive is a darker charcoal, a glittery teal and a metallic purple with more blacks and browns sprinkled in. I'm really not jazzed about the value of this set or the variety you're receiving.

Naked Illuminated in Aura

NAKED ILLUMINATED in Aura Shimmering Powder For Face and Body

This is a finely milled, baked powder highlighter in a soft peachy pink shade which was just released but is not listed as being Limited Edition, so this is probably part of their permanent collection. This retails for $29 but can be used for your face or body and could add a nice touch of shimmer for the holiday season.

All Nigter Makeup Setting Spray Duo

ALL NIGHTER Makeup Setting Spray Duo

Urban Decay also released a $39 duo bundle of their Makeup Setting Spray, which is a fantastic deal if you love their setting spray because a single All Nighter will set you back $30, so for another $9, you receive 2! This doesn't seem like a holiday-specific deal as I can't find "Limited Edition" on it anywhere on the Urban Decay website.

Product Review: Anastasia Beverly Hills Lavish Palette

Woohoo, I'm so excited that I finally got this palette after eyeing it for half a year! It went on sale, as I mentioned in a previous post about offers from cosmetic companies. I was so happy to be able to pick this up for just $24 (shipping was free). I've seen bloggers and vloggers rave about this palette so I needed to see what all the hype was about.

Here's a closer look at the shadows (picture taken in natural light):

I'm happy with the range of colors, this is definitely a gem-toned palette.... I love the inclusion of pink, green, various light shades and even a black (albeit sparkly), plus there's definitely a good range of transition shades.

Here are my swatches:

Cream: Light peach beige, matte finish (very close to my skintone so you can barely see it) but it had great color payoff

Antique: Grayish taupe, frosted finish, great pigmentation and color payoff

Rum Cake: Copper brown with orange undertone, frost finish, best color payoff in the palette

Moss: Olive green with golden flecks, frosted finish, decent color payoff

Truffle: Reddish brown, pearl finish, so-so color payoff but good pigmentation

Ballet:  Peachy pink with silver sparkles (on the larger side), sheerest of the palette with fairly poor color payoff because it is the second most powdery

Orange Soda: Light orange, matte finish, most powdery shade with the poorest color payoff even though it has good pigmentation - it tends to blend away 

Sienna: Coppery reddish brown, matte finish, decent color payoff

Pink Sapphire: Pinkish coppery  brown, frosted metallic finish, good pigmentation (disappointing, however, because it is a lot less pink than I had hoped)

Black Diamond: Medium to dark brown with copper and gold microglitter, texture is a little dry and it tends to skip so it's more difficult to blend out, but it has good color payoff

I'll have to do a look to let you guys know how I feel about the shadows overall, but from the looks of it you can get very nice brown, copper, or orange-based looks with this palette.... I definitely think it's a great little beginner palette since the colors are very smooth and buttery and none of the pigmentation is too intense (a la Urban Decay Electric Palette) so you won't mess up your look by accidentally applying too much.

I think the value was very good, it came to about $2.40 per eyeshadow (0.031 oz each) compared to a MAC eyeshadow which costs $10 per pan (at 0.05 oz each) - so you're getting shadows for about 2.6X cheaper per quantity. I do have to say that I was hoping the shade Pink Sapphire was going to be more of a saturated pink rather than copper leaning, but it's still very wearable and one of my favorite colors in the palette.