[Review & Swatch] Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation (Shade 1.0)

I'm a bit of a foundation junkie, due in part to my difficult to match skin tone (pale, yellow-leaning olive*), as well as my general fussiness when it comes to foundation. It needs to be lightweight and skin-like, but still provide enough coverage to cover up redness and minor blemishes. It also needs to be long-lasting, and ideally sweat-proof since I live in a warm climate. Urban Decay Naked Skin Liquid Makeup ticks nearly all of those boxes, so it's no wonder this has become one of my favorite foundations.

*If you suspect you may have an olive undertone, read this and this.

Price: $40 for 1 oz/30 ml of product. Available at Sephora, Urban Decay, Ulta, Macy's and Nordstrom

Claims: Weightless, buildable coverage. Luminous, dewy-matte, flawless, ultra-definition finish. Natural radiance without shine. Packed with nourishing ingredients.

Additional Information: It comes in 24 shades, ranging from fair to deep. I personally think the range would benefit from the addition of a few more deep shades and a few more fair shades to try to match more people, but there are a good variety of shades and undertones to suit most people. It's also oil-free, paraben free, and fragrance-free.

Shades ending in .5 are cool-toned, shades ending in .0 are warm-toned. Urban Decay has a tool on their website to help you find your shade by either selecting a model with a similar skin tone to yours, or by entering in another foundation that has matched you. Selecting a model produced an accurate color result for me, but choosing a foundation from the list didn't, largely because the selection was so slim. I'd advise you to use multiple tools such as Findation and the Temptalia Foundation Matrix to find your correct color if you're buying online.

Ingredients:

Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Butylene Glycol, Silica, Cyclohexasiloxane, Dimethicone, PEG/PPG-18/18 Dimethicone, Sodium Chloride, Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract, Litchi Chinensis Pericarp Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Tribehenin, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Sodium Hyaluronate, Glycerin, Dimethicone/PEG-10/15 Crosspolymer, Dimethicone/Polyglycerin-3 Crosspolymer, Isopropyl Titanium Triisostearate, Polysorbate 20, Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Propylene Glycol, Carbomer, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Hexyl Laurate, Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate, Caprylyl Glycol, Phenoxyethanol. All shades may contain: Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides

Packaging:

I really like the packaging of this product. It's a clear, plastic bottle with a pump that makes it easy to keep things hygienic. The bottle is lightweight, but durable, which makes it easy to travel with. I've traveled with this and dropped it before, and it's been fine in both circumstances. The bottle doesn't get dirty or collect fingerprints very easily, but it's easy to wipe down if you need to. You may have to wipe off the pump every once in a while, but other than that, it's not messy. The only concern I have about the packaging is how easily the lid comes off. I've had it pop off in my makeup bag before, but luckily, there wasn't enough pressure of the pump to make anything come out. I thought it was worth mentioning for anyone who travels frequently or may need to take the foundation with them on the go.

Urban Decay Naked Skin 1.0 swatch

My Experience:

This is easily one of my favorite foundations I've ever used. The thin, liquid texture glides over skin and blends in easily. It's also very easy to control the coverage, which is medium, but can easily be applied in a thinner layer for light coverage or a thicker layer for medium-full coverage. It's not as full coverage as Revlon ColorStay, Estee Lauder Double Wear, or Kat Von D Lock It, but it can be built up to cover redness, uneven skin tone, and mild to moderate acne. If you're looking to cover up severe acne or pigmentation issues, I don't think you'll like this.

My skin is combination, with my nose and forehead being oily, and my cheeks and chin being dry to normal. You can see in the photos below that the foundation does cling somewhat to the area where I have a healing breakout, so that's something to be aware of if you have acne or dry patches. Other than that, it doesn't emphasize any of the dryness in my skin. It covers up the majority of my discoloration with just one layer. It does settle a little bit into the crease of my nostrils, and a tiny bit into my laugh lines, but after I powder that's no longer a problem. I think this foundation would work for most skin types except for anyone who's extremely oily or extremely dry. I also think this would be suitable for skin with fine lines because it's such a lightweight foundation that it doesn't sink into lines the way that a heavier foundation would. It dries to a satin, skin-like finish which makes it easy to make it look like you aren't wearing makeup, and it doesn't have a powdery finish, which can make dry skin look even drier.

The wear time of this foundation is excellent. It easily lasts 8 hours or more on my skin, and it does so without ever feeling heavy or getting cakey. With most foundations, by the time I get home, I'm wanting to claw the foundation off of my face because it starts to feel gross throughout the day. With this foundation, I forget I'm wearing it, and am surprised when I realize I still have foundation to take off before I go to bed. The one problem I have with this foundation is that it doesn't hold up to sweat, which is a problem when you live in a hot climate like I do. Surprisingly, it holds up to dry heat quite well and doesn't get cakey or slide around, but if a drop of sweat slides down your face, you'll probably have a streak in your foundation.

This is also one of the few foundations I can wear without powdering. With most foundations, I have to set my whole face to keep things from sliding around, but with UD Naked Skin, I usually just set my concealer and anywhere where I want to take away shine, like my forehead. This foundation has never caused me to breakout. It's also completely scent-free. It doesn't even smell like paint the way that some foundations and concealers do.

This applies best with fingers or a brush. A BeautyBlender soaks up a lot of this foundation since it's so thin, but if you're going for light coverage, that may work for you. My preferred method for this foundation is to apply it with either a brush or my fingers, then go over it with a BeautyBlender to smooth out any brush strokes and to help it sink into the skin.

Left side: bare skin, Right side: Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation without primer or powder

Left side: bare skin, Right side: one layer of UD Naked Skin without powder or primer

Does it live up to the claims? Let's take a look:

• Weightless, buildable coverage. Yes, absolutely. 
• Luminous, dewy-matte, flawless, ultra-definition finish. Flawless? Well, it's not Photoshop in a bottle, there's only so much a foundation can do for your skin, but I definitely agree that it gives a luminous, dewy-matte, skin-like finish, and that it does help to cover up flaws.
• Natural radiance without shine. Yes, definitely. It's not a very shiny or matte foundation, it just looks like healthy skin.
• Packed with nourishing ingredients. Surprisingly, yes. The "nourishing ingredients" they're referring to would be glycerin (humectant, pulls moisture to the top layer of the skin, and protects/heals the moisture barrier), Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract (green tea, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory), sodium hyaluronate (aka hyaluronic acid, retains moisture), Litchi Chinensis Pericarp Extract (aka lychee, an antioxidant, has also been shown to be effective for treating skin rashes), and Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate (a stable form of Vitamin C, antioxidant). Without knowing the exact percentages, we can't verify that these ingredients are in the right concentrations to be beneficial to the skin, but they are there, which makes the claim true.

I absolutely love this foundation. It gives me the skin-like appearance and lightweight feel that I want, and the coverage and longevity that I need. What's your favorite foundation? Let me know in the comments below!

-Cristine