My Urban Story and Some Naked History

So I have a whole list of things to blog about, but of course the Urban Decay Naked 3 event came around and that list flew out the window.

And for good reason!

I was one of the lucky people to be invited to the launch of the Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette on Tuesday and was over the moon. All those who know me (friends, family, followers, my cat) all know I'm an Urban Decay Junkie. So I thought I'd give a little background history on the brand that is closest to my heart.

My Urban Story

It started when I worked in retail a good couple years ago and I had discovered Urban Decay at the department store I worked in and began buying a ton of their palettes and products (which included the first ever book of shadows amongst many other smaller pretty palettes).

Whilst studying at university, my playtime came when I got to check out the new Urban products and releases, I'd already been amazed at the sheer amazing colour payoff back then and convinced all my uni mates to own at least one palette.
 
The obsession grew and after I graduated I decided I wanted to be a makeup artist and I knew the only brand I wanted to work for was of course Urban Decay. You can find earlier "diary" type entries of my Urban Decay purchases here and an early Naked 1 makeup look here (excuse my face, but look at how practice helps makeup become better!)

Getting the job on the counter was like a dream come true. I was trained on the products and what they did, then I worked day in and day out beautifying people of all ages, skintones and types with some of the most amazing products on the marke.
Helping people get comfortable with colour cosmetics and even glitter was a great achievement for me and contributes to why I love teaching makeup to clients, followers and any makeup enthusiast.
The quality of the UD products spoke for themselves and I had customers returning for more just as I had been hooked when I discovered them.

most of my palettes collection and some extras.. a lot has been blogged about already! Do you see any palettes/products you own here?

Fast forward a few years more and though I've become a freelance makeup artist and use various brands in my kit, I'm still enthralled by the constant improvement of quality from Urban Decay and have pretty much converted everyone I know (including my mum!) to something or other of Urban Decay's.
Once you go Urban, you never go back. The rest is history. 

Naked Background

Despite Urban Decay being known as the colourful, glitzy brand, after the success of the original Naked palette (Naked 1) they knew they had hit a goldmine. 

The first batch of Naked palette came with a double ended 24/7 pencil (Zero/Whiskey) which I bought and loved. It started as limited edition but due to the demand and popularity of the palette, UD brought it back, this time with a brush.
I remember working for UD at this point and Naked 1 flying off the shelves in batches, particularly when UD wasn't available in countries like China and UAE, so people would come and bulk buy the coveted Naked palette.

No other brand had made a palette with these gorgeous wearable neutral shades and I was proud to be selling this amazing product that actually suited everyone. One of my makeup looks (Naked Arab look) with the Naked 1 palette to date is still the most popular blog post and I even went on to make it my first masterclass makeup look tutorial (blog post here).

When Naked 2 was announced, I had been blogging and was excited that another gorgeous neutral palette was being made available! (Review with swatches here)
I created a smokey look with the matte black from the palette which I'm still a huge fan of as matte black shadows are like an eyeshadow staple.

Then a range of Naked products including the Naked Skin foundation (review here), face powders and a few lip products all were released as the neutral and barely there theme was clearly a big hit.

Now with Naked 3 being released, the saga continues and is still very much a huge deal.
Read on in my next post for more info on the new and eagerly anticipated Naked 3.

Please feel free to browse other Urban Decay posts including reviews and makeup looks I've created with the products by clicking on the "Urban Decay" label (here).

What's your Urban Story? Do you have a brand you feel this passionate about too?