It’s a once a year occurrence that has us almost as excited as Santa’s arrival, and the annual unveiling of Huda Beauty’s new limited edition palette is fast becoming a beauty tradition.
The beauty boss sure knows how to tempt us with her makeup offerings, from filter-like foundations and lash-perfecting mascara, to her skillful colour selection when it comes to palettes. And this year’s Naughty Nude Eyeshadow Palette, £58, Huda Beauty (available from 2nd Nov) looks set to continue this trend.
An update on the infamous New Nude palette, it boasts an array of warm terracotta, and pink and golden tones in a full suite of textures – eight velvety mattes, five high shine metallics, three multi-reflective marbled shimmer creams. Plus one sheer gloss with bronze and berry pearls for a opalescent sheen. All designed to take you from ‘daytime dew to after dark drama’ in a sweep of shadow.
Huda says of her inspiration, “While nudes are nothing new, I wanted to update the classic colorway to empower beauty fans in a bold, modern way. To help you strip bare to your fiercest and naughtiest self!”
And her best how-to-work-it hacks? “Start off by building up your base with the matte cream marble and matte powder shadows. Use a densely-packed brush or your finger to pick up the metallics and cream shimmer shades and blend onto the lids in small circular motions for an illuminating finish. You can build an extra, more intense layer by pressing on metallics for a glam high-shine foil effect.
The Reviews
Chelsea Hughes, Picture Editor
Shades used: I used the shade Arouse as my base and transitional colour, adding Naughty in the crease and Untamed as a highlight in the corner of my upper and lower lash line.
My verdict: My soul lives for palettes like these. I’m a huge backer of warmer tones on the eyes, so this palette is just heaven for me. There’s lots of matte nude, brown, orange and burgundy – all shades that are so fitting for this time of year. The glitter shades are different variations of pink and gold, they’re so smooth and buttery to apply. They stay all night long, you have my word. The multi-dimensional marble shades blend seamlessly into the other colours. There was only a small amount of fall-out when applying the palette colours, mostly with the glitter shades which is expected as they’re SO pigmented. I think the addition of the shade Slippery is such a nice touch, it’s a gloss that can be dabbed on top if you’re thinking of branching out from the all-matte look.
Bandi Manzini, Partnerships Director
Shades applied: I was immediately drawn to Untamed, a deeply pigmented aubergine shade matte which I applied above the lid and across the whole brow, without restraint. I then layered the multi reflective shimmer cream Provocative onto my brow lid, as I LOVE a shimmery lid. I daubed Desire on the inner corner of my eye, then and as I was in my element, I finished off with a dash of Spicy, another one of the pigmented mattes, which I blended into the outer wing for a subtle, smoky finish.
My verdict: Bright colours are the usual go-to’s in my eyeshadow repetoire. Think cobalt blue, hot pink, shimmery green, all of which really ‘pop’ against my dark skin tone. Let’s just say I enjoy a bold eye look. So a nude palette wouldn’t be something that would necessarily catch my eye. Yet this oh-so-pretty palette, with its mix of mattes, metallics and creamy shimmers scores top marks for me.
I loved the finish look, and the versatility of all of the different textures felt very luxurious on my skin. I definitely love its warm tones for the Autumn, but would probably only use the metallic tones for the Summer. Overall, this palette feels and looks more sophisticated than a lot of others out there. What I would say is, if you’re not a MUA, it probably requires a bit of play before nailing how best to maximise it for you.
Sophie Cockett, Commerce Writer
Shades used: I went in with Shameless first of all, applying Untamed in my crease for definition and a touch of Tantric (which is slightly less pigmented but incredibly sparkly) as a bit of a finisher.
My verdict: I’m a warm-toned eyeshadow obsessive, choosing pinky-hued shades on pretty much every day of the year. Whatever the season. As such, I’ve long loved Huda’s Obsessions palette, so was so excited to try her new Naughty offering. It has a plethora of shimmery and matte shades – including a jelly eyeshadow and some marble-effect options – all of which are super creamy and pigmented on application. My look stayed on all day, didn’t crease and made my eyes pop on Zoom, even if I do say so myself.
Adele Lindsay, Audience Growth Manager
Shades used:I used Tantric as a glittery highlighting base across my eyelids and brow bone, then added Desire to the main body of my eyelids before creating some depth with Spicy towards the lower outer corner.
My verdict: Definitely one for glitter lovers, since many of the shades are glitter loaded, also making this palette great to wear or gift this festive season. There are also a few muted tones to create more subtle berry/brown shaded and smokey eyes, as well as some nudes colours perfect to use as base tones and then build on. I usually steer away from palettes since most are filled with shades that would not work on my skin tone, so this was a pleasure to use as it combines neutral and vibrant shades that work on my complexion.
Elle Turner, Deputy Beauty Editor
Shades applied: One combination I enjoyed applying [pictured here] was a layer of Arouse, a matte spicy nutmeg on my lids and along my waterline, then a pop of shimmering raspberry shade Desire and Please Me, a metallic bronze, to the centre of my lids.
My verdict: This palette is beautiful with a mix of romantic shades and a few autumnal numbers in there, too. All of the shades work together really cohesively to give a wardrobe of eye options, but there are some gorgeous standalone options as well. The spectrum of finishes means you can mix mattes, shimmers and and metallics making it very versatile. I love that HUDA often throws in a curve ball to keep things fresh. In this case, it’s Slippery, which is a clear jelly base dotted with balls of different coloured pigments (deep purple, bronze, pink). Mixed together with your finger and swept across lids, it creates a sheer wash of wet-look copper.