MUA SMOKIN PALETTE (URBAN DECAY SMOKED PALETTE DUPE)

MUA Smokin palette is hailed as a dupe for Urban Decay's Smoked palette. Unfortunately I don't own Urban Decay's Smoked Palette so I can't directly compare MUA's Smokin palette to the UD original. However since this is a dupe, the concept of the palette is the same, which is to be able to create an alternative smoky eye, one with added pop of colour.

Top Row: L-R: Glory, Boudoir, Ghost, Fantasy, Mythical and  Broken

Bottom Row L-R: Icon, Unleash, Chaos and Wicked.

The shadows are soft and very pigmented although I did experience fall out when swatching the shades. The top row are neutral shades consisting of four matte shades  Glory (beige-cream) and  Boudoir (Peach)  Fantasy (dark brown) and Mythical (dark brown/black.)  Glory and Boudoir can be used as transition shades. The odd one out on the top row is Ghost which is a shimery grey. Unfortunately Gloryis a little chalkyand doesn't show up well as it's too close to my skin colour and lacking pigment. Fantasy is great for the crease when blending out bright colours for a smoky effect.
The bottom row contain jewelled toned shimmers Icon (Purple) Unleash (blue) Chaos (Green) and Wicked (a dark silver.)

 

I wore Chaos, Fantasy and Mythical together with primer on one lid and one without .After 5 hours shadows still looked immaculate and there was no difference in wear between the two lids.
I wore Unleash and Fantasy for 10 hours one eye with primer the other without. Apart from wearing off a little in the crease the one without primer looked the same as the one with primer, eye shadow still intact and vibrant.

The eye liner is literally glued into the palette so requires a good push to get it out at first but it sits back in fine and the case closes perfectly. What's annoying is that there is no lid for the eye liner.
The pencil is soft and creamy and the colour extremely pigmented. It stayed on 10 hours later and is stubborn to remove when you take your make up off.







Unlike Urban Decay's version this does not come with an eye primer.
Also there isn't a leaflet featuring different tutorials for different eye looks but these can be found through searching YouTube.

Packaging: This is one of MUA's bigger palettes (excluding MUA Luxe) with 17g for 10 shadows. MUA seems to have moved away from the 12 circle pans to 10 bigger rectangle pans. Compared to UD, this packaging is very basic.

Price: At £6 it is slightly more expensive than the other palettes apart from the Luxe palette.
Available from MUA Store Online and currently on sale for £5 in Superdrug

Verdict:
There is a good combination of neutrals and brights making this palette very versatile- I can easily picture packing this for a week away and having all the eye shadows I need.  There is good mixture of  matte and satin colours.
I loved playing around with this palette,it's definitely a big hit and excellent value for money- I urge you to go and get one!

You may like this if...

• You are on a budget
• You want a dupe for Urban Decay's Smoked palette.

You may not like this if...

• You prefer prettier packaging
• You like glitter
• You cannot deal with fall out shadows

MUA UNDRESS ME TOO PALETTE REVIEW AND SWATCHES (Naked 2 palette dupe)

 I have Urban Decay's Naked palette, but I decided not to buy Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette because the colours looked cooler (I prefer warm toned palettes) and I don't really gravitate towards taupe colours. This is an inexpensive Naked 2 palette dupe to experiment with. As don't have Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette I can't compare the two palettes side by side.

I can compare Urban Decay's Tease from the Naked 2 palette to MUA Lavish, both are cool brown-taupe- perfect for a cheek contour powder as the colour mimics a shadow. They look exactly the same in the pan but UD Tease does look a bit browner and warmer. UD Tease has more pigment which produces a stronger swatch and ultimately lasts longer on the skin. For this reason I use UD Tease for my face contour.

SWATCHES

Top row (l-r) Naked, Devotion,Shy, Fiery, Lavish, Dreamy

 Bottom row; (l-r) Tranquil, Exposed, Reveal,Wink, Obsessed, Corrupt

Unfortunately the first shadow Naked does not show up on my olive skin, you can see a faint barely there swatch.There are three matte shades Naked (Cream colour), Lavish (Taupe) and Corrupt (Black.) Naked and Lavish apply a little chalky. Corrupt is very pigmented black.The colours Shy (satin white) Dreamy (mid toned copper like a dark 2p coin)  Obsessed (chocolate) appear matte here but they're actually satin finishes. The satin shades apply more smoothly. My favourite is the silver taupe Exposed since I don't have this colour in my collection.Compared to Urban decay shadows these don't last as long but this is easily solved through using eye primer. Some many want more matte shades or more greys but as this is a dupe of UD's Naked 2 palette that factor determined the shade finishes and colours in the palette. All in all a good neutral colour selection for both smokey and natural looks.

Longevity: Not as long lasting, may need eye primer.

Packaging:  Basic looking. This one is white so shows any fallout/mess more easily than MUA's previous black packaged palettes. Contains a mini tutorial for one look on the reverse side.

Price: 12 shadows (9.6g)  for £4 available at superdrug (currently on 3 for 2 offer online) and MUA

Verdict- At this price this is a steal: high quality shadows for a bargain £4. A wonderful neutral palette that is versatile for creating smokey and natural looks. I love neutral eye shadows and feel that even if you generally use warm toned palettes these aren't so cool that they won't suit or work with warmer skin tones.

You might like this if...

• You love cool toned neutrals
• You are on a budget
• If you want a travel friendly naked 2 palette

You might not like this if..

• You only like warm toned colours
• You are expecting more greys
• If you are used to luxury brands and have very high expectations of matte eye shadows
• You want to use an eye shadow shade (i.e. Lavish) as a face contour colour 
• You are olive skinned or darker.