Fab or flub: Will Maybelline’s new eyeshadow palette be a hit or miss?

For this week’s Fab or Flub? product, the goal, once again, was to replicate success — this time, Urban Decay’s Naked3 Palette‘s.

After the prestige cosmetic brand released its original Naked Eyeshadow Palette in 2010, the palette (along with its predecessors) quickly reached cultlike status in the beauty community. At $54, however, it’s a much-coveted eyeshadow product that many of us simply learn to do without.

Not surprisingly, other brands periodically release their own versions at much cheaper prices. On the list of those is Maybelline with its Blushed Nudes Palette ($9.99 at Ulta).

Released this past spring, it has inspired comparisons to the Urban Decay Naked3 Palette and won fans with its easier-on-the-bank-account pricing. After hearing about this new Naked3 knock-off, I was eager to check it out — although the task proved harder than expected.

It was sold out at my local Target, Wal-Mart and Walgreens, and I began to wonder if I’d ever get my hands on this product.

Finally, fate smiled at me and I snagged the very last one left in a display at a local Ulta.

First impression

I’m a sucker for pretty packaging, and the color of Maybelline’s The Blushed Nudes Palette did not disappoint. Unlike Maybelline’s other palettes which are packaged in basic black, the hard case of the palette comes is a beautiful blush champagne color and looks much more expensive than its drugstore counterparts.

Inside, the palette’s 12 blush-toned eye shadows are either a satin or shimmer, with the exception of one that appears to be matte.

The eye shadows are meant to be used together, and there’s a helpful chart on the back that suggests possible combinations. To get an idea of the quality, I put a swatch of each color on the back of my hand.

Overall, they seemed to have good pigmentation and were very buildable.

Fab or flub?

Fab! Priced $44 less than Urban Decay’s Naked3 Palette, Maybelline’s The Blushed Nudes Palette is a steal. Filled with an assortment of beautiful blush-toned colors, it is great for creating new looks for day and night.

Because I usually favor matte eye shadows rather than the satins or shimmers, I had some initial reservations. However, all of these shadows are very subtle and don’t scream “I’m wearing shimmery eye shadow.”

Stacked side by side with the Naked3 Palette, Maybelline’s The Blushed Nudes Palette holds its own. While I wouldn’t say the eye shadows in the Maybelline palette are exact duplicates of Urban Decay’s, they come extremely close.

The primary difference I noticed was in the pigmentation — Maybelline’s color payoff doesn’t match Urban Decay’s. However, this problem was easily solved with an eyeshadow primer.

Overall, the Maybelline product offers a budget-friendly alternative to a more expensive product, and I consider it a worthy purchase.

This story was originally published July 24, 2015 at 2:58 PM with the headline "Fab or flub: Will Maybelline’s new eyeshadow palette be a hit or miss?."