Picture day makeup

I just got my driver's license picture taken, so I thought I'd share some tips for makeup that looks good in pictures!

In general, try not to do anything too crazy or trendy with your makeup; you might think you look fabulous now, but you'll have things like driver's licenses and passport pictures for up to ten years, and your opinion will definitely change.

Base makeup
Use a primer to make sure your foundation goes on evenly, then use a foundation without sunscreen--products with SPF can give you a white cast if there's flash! Try not to use color-corrective products, like green concealer; it's very obvious if you don't blend it well enough--use full coverage concealers instead. Finish with a mattifying powder--the camera will pick up any oil and makeup it even more obvious.

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Light, Revlon Colorstay Whipped Foundation,
MAC Studio Fix Powder, MAC Pro Longwear Concealer

Face color
Use a matte bronzer under your cheekbones, along your forehead, and under your jaw to make your face more chiseled. A pink blush will prevent you from looking washed out and is subtle enough to not look like redness or skin sensitivity.

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer,
Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed 

Eye makeup
Never forget your eyebrows! Even if you have thick eyebrow, they can look different depending on the lighting. Stick with matte eyeshadows; any glitter, frost, or shimmer can reflect flash and look really unflattering (I learned this the hard way--don't let this happen to you). Then use eyeliner and mascara to give your eyes definition.

Urban Decay Naked Basics palette, Almay Get Up and Grow Mascara,
Essence Gel Eyeliner, Anastasia Brow Powder

Lips
Use a sheer lipstick--anything that is very pigmented can look even more intense on camera (more pink, more nude, etc.). Also, stick with mauve or rose colors; in a few years, you will regret anything that is too pink, red, orange, or nude.

Nars Lipstick in Dolce Vita

Urban Decay Naked 3 palette - swatches and comparisons!

The new Naked 3 palette is out! It was released two weeks ago, and since then it has sold out twice. I saw the release announcement when I was on the subway... and I actually hopped off the train to order it so I wouldn't lose wifi.

Click on each picture to enlarge it!

Urban Decay describes this palette as a collection of rose-tones, which seems to be pretty accurate. I feel like they're really just trying to bank on how popular rose gold is; however, instead of a lot of coppery rose golds, there are pinks, gold, and cool browns and grays, which I find a lot more wearable, and I think would go with a lot more lip and cheek colors.

Swatches from the Naked 3 palette

These eyeshadows are really soft and blendable, but really, I don't feel like I've ever been disappointed with the quality of Urban Decay eyeshadows. I don't own a lot of Urban Decay palettes, but I have swatched a lot, and they're consistently pigmented and just really nice overall.

Now, I'm going to compare the Naked 3 with the previous Naked palettes, as well as with some popular neutral palettes.

Naked 3 vs. Naked and Naked 2

Urban Decay describes all three Naked palettes very differently. The original Naked palette is gold- and bronze-based, and has a lot of dark colors to allow you to get a lot of smokey eye looks. Naked 2 has a lot of taupey gray colors, and are mostly light- to medium-tones. Like Naked 2, the Naked 3 has a lot of light and medium colors, but the rosy colors look very feminine and romantic, which I feel is very work-appropriate and less dramatic. If you like your smokey eye, though, I think you're still going to like the original Naked best, because Naked 3 doesn't have a great variety of dark colors--some of the colors on the right of the palette, like Factory, Darkside, and Blackheart, appear pretty dark in the pan and in a swatch, but when you blend it on your eye they turn out to be much lighter, even over a primer.

See the original Naked palette here and the Naked 2 palette here.

Naked 3 vs. Lorac Unzipped palette

Swatches from the Lorac Unzipped palette

I've heard a lot of people compare the Lorac Unzipped palette to Naked 3, because they're both marketed as "rose gold" palettes. However, I feel like the Lorac palette is more true to the rose gold theme; it has some warm, intensely coppery colors, and it has some very shiny, very metallic finishes (as well as some satin and matte). Naked 3, on the other hand, has pinks as opposed to metallic copper. Overall, I think the Lorac Unzipped palette is going to give you a more dramatic look, while Naked 3 is more daytime/wearable.

See the Lorac Unzipped palette here.

Naked 3 vs. Too Faced Natural Eye palette

I really feel like, in terms of the range and types of colors, the Too Faced Natural Eye palette comes closest to Naked 3. What's most notable about each of these palettes are the pink, gold, and dark gray/brown--but the colors from Naked 3 seem to be a little more cool-toned.

See the Too Faced Natural Eye palette here.

Bottom line: Overall, I really enjoy using the Naked 3 palette; the colors look so pretty and feminine, and I think I'm going to get more use out of it than either of the previous Naked palettes. However, opinions on palettes really vary with personal preference; I think you would like this one if you prefer lighter eyeshadow looks--you can definitely get a wider variety of office-appropriate looks from this than either of the previous Naked palettes. If you like smokey eyes, you'll still get the most use out of the original Naked palette.

The Naked 3 palette is currently sold on urbandecay.com; it will be sold on beauty.com, macys.com, sephora.com, and ulta.com starting December 6th, and will be in stores on December 12th! Let me know if you'll be getting this Naked palette, and which one you like best!