Urban Decay recently released their Summer 2016 Collection and of course everything from the packaging to the products are all beautiful. The collection has three shades of highlighters, two bronzers, two eye pencils and a new base, part of their Naked line.
I’ve been testing out the whole collection for around two weeks now and I’m happy to report that I mostly love everything that’s in it.
The Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Highlighter is a finely-milled powder highlighter that’s very lightweight on the skin and it’s meant to give a radiant strobe effect that lasts all day. The line has three available shades in Aura (iridescent light pink), Fireball (peach with pink shift) and Sin (champagne). The shades are described as suited for every skin tone.
The packaging of the Afterglow Highlighters is the same size as their Afterglow Blushes and it’s the same design. The formula of the highlighters feels almost like a mix between a cream and a powder, it feels very soft to the touch and almost creamy. The good about the formula is that it applies beautifully no matter how much you build it up and it doesn’t emphasize pores or texture on the skin. You can choose to apply a tiny bit for a more natural look or build it up for a full on glam effect.
My favorite shade is of course Sin since I prefer my champagne highlighters and I also think they suit my skin tone the best. Aura is also very pretty and I can actually use it as a blush topper. It has a unique iridescent effect that almost appears as a multi color. The same goes to Fireball, the shade is too dark for my skin to be used as a highlighter but it makes a beautiful blush or a blush topper. The shade has peach undertones but I can also notice some iridescent pink which is pretty unique from everything else I have in my collection.
Swatches of the Urban Decay Afterglow Highlighters L to R: Sin, Aura, Fireball
The Urban Decay Beached Bronzer has two available shades in the line in Sun-Kissed and Bronzed, Sun-Kissed being the lighter shade and Bronzed being the darker shade. Both bronzers lean on the warmer side which is expected from a summer collection. The powders are described as a luminous matte shades which I can definitely see, you can’t notice any shimmer in the pan but the shades don’t appear totally flat and matte on the face. Both bronzers are meant to give a sun kissed bronzed look the the skin so they’re both perfect for bronzing, I wouldn’t contour with these since they’re on the warmer side.
Both bronzers perform really well and blend nicely on to the skin. The formula of both shades is silky smooth and pigmented but not powdery. I can actually use both shades on my light to medium skin tone with Sun-Kissed being more subtle on my skin.
Oh and I forgot to mention the packaging! How pretty is that packaging? It screams summer to me and it’s very different for every bronzer that I have in my collection.
Swatches of the Urban Decay Beached Bronzer L to R: Sun-Kissed, Bronzed
The Urban Decay Summer 2016 Collection also has two eye pencils, one is the 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil in Heartless, a light frosted pink which is not my usual choice for an eye pencil shade but it does look very pretty when you combine it with a bronze look. The other eye pencil is the 24/7 Waterline Eye Pencil in Walk of Shame which is your perfect nude eye pencil for the waterline. Nude pencils are great for adding brightness to your eyes and a great substitute for white eye pencils because they look more natural and not as harsh. I love The Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencils, they pretty much last all day and these new shades are no exception.
Swatches L to R: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil in Heartless, Urban Decay 24/7 Waterline Eye Pencil in Walk of Shame
And last but not least the new base that they released that’s part of their Naked line, the Naked Skin One & Done Hybrid Complexion Perfector, an oil free hybrid complexion cream that blurs imperfections, evens out skin tone and provides light coverage while looking natural on the skin.
First the packaging is awesome! It comes in a tube with a pump at the end which makes it the perfect base for travel. The coverage is light but it does manage to even out my skin tone and cover any redness that I have on my skin. The finish is natural and not extremely glowy but not matte too and that’s what makes this base suited for all skin tones. Since it’s oil free it will not make you oilier through the day but it’s also hydrating enough that it will work for dry skin and not emphasize any dry patches.
The base has skin benefits and SPF20 and sourced from the wu zhu yu plant, Gatuline Radiance improves the look of radiance, tone and texture of the skin.
The Urban Decay Naked Skin One & Done Hybrid Complexion Perfector provides more coverage than your average BB and CC cream but also blurs out imperfection and evens out skin tone so it’s like a primer and a base in one.
The line has six available shades for now and hopefully they’ll expand the shade range because I think that they’re missing some shades for fair skin tones and some in between shades that come from light to medium.
Swatches of the Urban Decay Naked Skin One & Done Hybrid Complexion Perfector L to R: Light, Medium Light, Medium, Medium Dark, Dark, Deep
As you can see by the swatches the undertone of pretty much every shade is yellow and the lightest shade will probably not be light enough for fair skin tones. The shade in Medium Light matches my light to medium skin tone perfectly and I’m guessing I will go up a shade in summer when I get a little tan.
This base is amazing so hopefully they’ll expand the shade range since I’m guessing not all people will find their perfect match. I can basically wear this every single day and not use a primer since it has blurring properties too. If you can find your perfect shade and you like a light coverage base you have to try this.
If I have to pick my favorite products from the collection and pieces that I think are a must I would go with the Afterglow Highlighter in Sin, Beached Bronzer in Bronzed and the Naked Skin One & Done Hybrid Complexion Perfector.
Did you pick up anything from the Urban Decay Summer 2016 Collection? Let me know in the comments below.
*Many thanks to the Urban Decay team for sending me a preview of their Summer 2016 Collection. As always all opinion is my own.
