Urban Decay's Naked Heat Palette Proves You Can Wear Orange Eyeshadow

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When Urban Decay dropped the first Naked palette in 2010, no one knew that it would become a complete phenomenon — not even the brand’s co-founder, Wende Zomnir. The collection of 12 neutral eyeshadows has been the star of hundreds of YouTube Christmas unboxing videos since, and inspired an entire Naked product range, which includes everything from lipsticks to glosses, foundations, and nine more palettes.

Today, Urban Decay is launching yet another Naked palette, but there’s something different about the latest iteration, dubbed Naked Heat ($54): It’s not quite as “naked” as the rest of them. Instead of the base shades and neutrals found throughout the rest of the series, Naked Heat is a bold take on warm, sunset-like colors, with the 12 shades ranging from a light peach to a deep burgundy.

I got the chance to try the palette out myself and speak with Zomnir at the press event for the launch (full disclosure: the company paid for my travel and lodging). According to Zomnir, the palette was a result of customer requests for an orange-y palette, similar to colors the brand has offered before in other palettes and as single eyeshadows, like Riff. “It almost was like Urban Decay fans and I at the same time were all craving these shades,” Zomnir says. “I feel like its a crowdsourced palette in many ways; it came about very organically. Everyone asking for those shades made me think maybe these are more of what people are viewing as neutrals.”

And she’s right — peachy shades are as of-the-moment as it gets in the beauty world. From the runways to your Instagram feed, burnt oranges and sultry red-based shadows are topping lids everywhere right now, which isn't surprising when you consider that they look pretty great universally across all skin tones.

Those bolder shades are undoubtedly the star of the palette, but Naked Heat does include some classic neutrals: Ounce (a warmer white color you can use to highlight the brow bone and inner corners of the eye) and Chaser (a tan that’s great as an all-over lid color); Sauced (a light caramel) and Low Blow (a darker, butterscotch color) are both great base shades. Then you get into the copper, amber, and rose gold tones as you move further to the right.

“What I love about this palette is that you’ve got so many different tones in here that you can either mix together to make a monochromatic heat look, or you can mix them with other things,” says Zomnir. “It’s a modern version of Naked. I think that’s what’s cool about makeup — it’s color, it’s trend, it’s always evolving.”

Still, trending or not, bright orange eyeshadow can be intimidating. Zomnir suggests taking full advantage of Instagram to find inspiration for everyday looks from the beauty gurus who are already doing it and doing it well. If you’re still unsure, she says relying on the tamer side of the palette and starting slow is the way to go.

“You can definitely start on the left side if you’re not as into the spicier shades, and then work your way over,” she recommends. “Work with these first left five shades, and then maybe try popping He Devil or Cayenne into your crease and see what happens. If you’re not sure, do it right before bed because you’re going to wipe your makeup off anyway. You need to practice!” As someone who doesn’t wear a ton of eyeshadow, it does take a lot of practice — and there’s definitely a learning curve with this palette, compared to some of the earlier editions.

On top of the eyeshadow palette, the Naked Heat drop includes three new shades of Vice Lipstick ($17) including Heat (a rust color), Fuel (a soft nude), and Scorched (a metallic copper), along with two new 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils ($20) in burgundy and bunt cayenne.

The exclusive pre-sale for the Naked Heat palette sold out in a smooth 13 hours (!) earlier this month, but today you’ll be able to get the entire Naked Heat collection at Urban Decay stores and online at urbandecay.com. On July 10th, Naked Heat will also be available at Sephora, Ulta, and Macy’s both in store and online.