Urban Decay UD | Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette

In late November, Urban Decay released an eyeshadow palette that was created in collaboration with singer-songwriter and fashion designer, Gwen Stefani. This is the first make-up collaboration that Gwen Stefani has done, which is both surprising and exciting because Stefani has been a beauty and fashion icon for well over two decades. Urban Decay partnered with Gwen "to create her ultimate eyeshadow collection. From her 15 can't-live-without shades to the super-luxe case, Gwen designed and developed her perfect palette. [They] spent hours at Gwen's house, talking make-up and working closely with her on every detail. [They] crafted the shadows with Gwen filling a void by creating the exact shades she always wished she had in her collection... With an insane range of neutrals and a few jewel tones to mix things up, this is Gwen's go-to kit to achieve her most iconic looks." 

Gwen collaborated with Urban Decay "on every detail of this palette... right down to the case, which was inspired by her love of black-and-white graphic prints and antique gold accents. She also handpicked most of the shade names, which are based on her songs. There's even a nod to the No Doubt song "Magic's in the Makeup" on the palette's huge mirror." As with all of Urban Decay's eyeshadows, each shade in this palette features their "Pigment Infusion System, the proprietary blend of ingredients that gives every shade its velvety texture, rich colour, serious staying power, and blendability." Of the 15 shades included in this palette, 12 shades are new and three are from Urban Decay's existing shadow collection. Each UD | Gwen Stefani eyeshadow palette is packaged in an antique gold mirrored rectangular case featuring a black-and-white graphic design and a "UD | Gwen Stefani" brushed metal tag on the lid. It is available at all Sephora locations, as well as on both Sephora and Urban Decay websites. Each palette contains a total of 21 grams of product, and retails for $70 CAD.
Blonde, Bathwater, Skimp, Steady, and Punk

Blonde is a pale warm beige with pink iridescence in a frost finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is brighter and warmer than Urban Decay Virgin, lighter and more pinked than MAC Shroom, darker and less frosted than MAC Dazzlelight, lighter than Make Up For Ever I514 Pink Ivory, and more shimmery than NARS Andromeda.
Bathwater is a light warm champagne gold with gold shimmer-sheen in a frost finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is more gold than Urban Decay Vanilla, lighter than MAC Ricepaper, darker and more muted than MAC Nylon, lighter than Make Up For Ever ME512 Golden Beige, and slightly more shimmery than Anastasia Beverly Hills Legend.
Skimp is a light warm peachy beige with a soft shimmer-sheen in a satin finish. This is a permanent shade in the Naked2 Basics palette. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker and less shimmery than Urban Decay Virgin, more peach than Urban Decay Foxy, more peach than MAC Brule, more shimmery than MAC Orb, and more peach and more shimmery than Makeup Geek Vanilla Bean.
Steady is a medium muted warm rosy copper in a metallic finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is warmer and more copper than Urban Decay Scratch, more pink than MAC All That Glitters, much lighter and more muted than MAC Mythology, and lighter and more pink than Makeup Geek Cosmopolitan. 

Punk is a dark reddened brown in a matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is similar to MAC Embark, darker than MAC Handwritten, darker than Anastasia Beverly Hills Deep Plum, darker and more reddened than Makeup Geek Vintage, and less reddened than Makeup Geek Cherry Cola.

Baby, Anaheim, Stark, Zone, and Serious

Baby is a light-medium cool rosy beige in a metallic finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is warmer and pinker than Urban Decay Midnight Cowboy, darker and more pink than Urban Decay Sin, darker and more pink than MAC Naked Lunch, darker and cooler than Makeup Geek Starry Eyed, and cooler and less brown than Anastasia Beverly Hills Pink Champagne.
Anaheim is a medium muted cool taupe-brown in a matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is more brown than Urban Decay Tease, darker and cooler than MAC Kid, darker and warmer than MAC Omega, darker than Makeup Geek Barcelona Beach, cooler than Makeup Geek Hipster, and darker and warmer than Make Up For Ever M540 Gray Beige.
Stark is a light-medium warm peachy beige in a matte finish. This is a permanent shade in the Naked2 Basics palette. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker and more matte than Urban Decay Virgin, darker and more peach than Urban Decay Foxy, darker than MAC Orb, more peach than MAC Kid, and more brown than Makeup Geek Beaches & Cream.
Zone is a medium-dark warm yellow-toned brown in a matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is more yellow-toned than Urban Decay Secret Service, darker than Urban Decay Primal, similar to MAC Espresso, less orange than MAC Saddle, and more yellow-toned than Makeup Geek Latte.

Serious is a dark warm charcoal grey-taupe in a matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is slightly warmer than Urban Decay Undone, warmer than MAC Print, darker and warmer than Makeup Geek Concrete Jungle, warmer than Make Up For Ever M106 Slate, and more grey than Make Up For Ever M620 Gray Brown.

Pop, Harajuku, Danger, 1987, and Blackout

Pop is a light warm peachy beige with sparkle in a metallic finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is more sparkly than MAC Jest, brighter and more sparkly than MAC Naked Lunch, slightly less pink than Makeup Geek In the Spotlight, more peach than Ardency Inn Sunday, and lighter and more metallic than Make Up For Ever I524 Pinky Beige.
Harajuku is a medium cool cotton candy pink with sparkle in a metallic finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is cooler than MAC Swish, brighter and cooler than MAC Da Bling, brighter than MAC Pinkluxe #1, slightly more muted and more sparkly than Make Up For Ever I864 Baby Pink, and slightly cooler than Make Up For Ever ME866 Frosted Pink.
Danger is a medium-dark royal blue in a frosted finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker than MAC Freshwater, brighter than MAC Deep Truth, more metallic than Makeup Geek Boo Berry, less purple-toned than Anastasia Beverly Hills Star Cobalt, and lighter and brighter than Make Up For Ever I220 Sapphire.
1987 is a light-medium warm yellow gold in a metallic finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter and cooler than MAC Goldmine, similar to MAC Gorgeous Gold, much more metallic than Makeup Geek Yellow Brick Road, lighter and cooler than Makeup Geek Gold Digger, and darker than NARS Goldfinger.

Blackout is a deep dark carbon black in a matte finish. This is a permanent shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker than MAC Carbon, more matte than Make Up For Ever S102 Onyx, slightly cooler than Anastasia Beverly Hills Noir, slightly cooler than Sugarpill Bulletproof, and more matte than Makeup Geek Corrupt.

The UD | Gwen Stefani palette is definitely geared more towards fair to medium-dark skintones — it'll be harder to tell the nuances between some of the shades on darker complexions — but it is very reflective of Gwen's style. Keep in mind that this palette was curated by Gwen to "create her ultimate eyeshadow collection" and to "achieve her most iconic looks," so it's not going to be for everybody, and it wasn't designed to be. If you look at Gwen Stefani's makeup looks over the years, she definitely favours a neutral eye with a bright red lip, so I think the jewel tones are meant to be more reflective of the various hairstyles she's had during her career (she rocks platinum blonde hair for the most part, but she had pink hair during No Doubt's Return of Saturn era and blue hair at the end of the Tragic Kingdom era, both of which became iconic). The brighter tones might look out of place here, but they're fun and easy to incorporate into the neutral shades, and give the palette a little more interest overall. That having been said, these are shades we've seen many times before — especially from Urban Decay, who popularized the neutral palettes — and I think if you have the majority of UD's Naked or Naked Basics palettes, you don't really need this one. But if you like the shades and are looking for a great neutral palette (or you just love Gwen Stefani!), this is definitely one to look at — the quality is there, and the value is fantastic.