DUPE alert! Urban Decay’s Naked vs E.L.F. Spring/Summer Beauty Book

Oh I love my daughter’s school’s SLR camera much better than my digital camera. I redid all of the pics I’ve taken the last couple of weeks but haven’t uploaded because of how crappy (blurry) my pictures are. Time for a new camera I think. lol We took these outside so you could see what the colors looked like under natural light. Photos have not been color corrected or adjusted other than in dimension size. Click the pic for a full size version (warning VERY large images).

Urban Decay’s NAKED palette retails for $48 and comes with a brush. The problem is the fact that it’s VERY difficult to find as Sephora, Ulta and Urban Decay quickly sell out. There is a less expensive option with Eyes, Lips, Face’s Spring/Summer Neutral Beauty Book (click here for Target).

Urban Decay on top, ELF on bottom.
Left to right: Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sdecar, Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal

Urban Decay on top, ELF on bottom.
Left to right: Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sdecar, Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal

The colors are very similar however all the lighter colors you have to build up the color. The light five ELF colors I had to swipe several times to get it to be dark enough to come close to the UD’s Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar and Buck. The colors are very similar but again there are differences such as in Half Baked being more yellow toned than the ELF color which is more orange toned.

Smog is more rich than the ELF color and it has a better payoff than the ELF color.

Darkhorse’s ELF dupe was chalky and if I took a closer pic of it you may see that it left a bit of unwanted residue from being a bit chalky.

Toasted’s dupe isn’t as shimmery as Toasted in one swipe but it’s pretty darn close.

The last three colors – Hustle, Creep and Gunmetal – and their dupes are also pretty darn close but I think the dupe for Creep is a bit lighter while Gunmetal is a wee bit darker.

For $5 it’s a fantastic dupe but be prepared to fight with the lighter colors since the color pay off in the first five are not up to par with NAKED.

FTC Disclaimer: Not affiliated with nor compensated by Urban Decay, ELF, Target, Sephora or Ulta. Items seen in the pictures were purchased by me with my own money for my own personal use.

Travel foundation tube

I came up with this idea for a travel foundation tube years ago when I would go on weekend trips with my husband and kids. I hated packing so much makeup – especially my train case – for a weekend getaway because of how much room it would take up in the back of my SUV or even on a plane.

The idea came to me one day as I was about to toss out an empty lip gloss tube as I was preparing my train case to take on our vacation. I realized that all I really tend to wear on vacation was foundation, a bit of powder, lip gloss and mascara since I tend to hit up makeup stores when on vacation and would get either samples in sample packets or those tiny plastic sample cases. I simply didn’t want to carry so much stuff, just a small makeup bag that I could easily carry in my purse.

If you plan on traveling like on a weekend getaway but don’t want to pack your bottle of foundation, especially on a plane, try this. You will need the following items:

• An empty lip gloss tube*
• A microwave safe bowl
• Water
• Dish detergent

* You can buy a new empty lip gloss tube at some craft stores.

(Image shown is not my own, obtained from DIY Cosmetics.)

If you’re using an old tube you will need to empty out the remaining gloss by melting it out of the tube. This is where the microwavable bowl and water come in. Boil the water in the microwave and set aside until it is no longer boiling. Fill the tube with the hot water by squeezing the tube so the water gets into the tube. Shake and quickly (before the water becomes too cold in the tube) squeeze the water out. Do this over until the tube is clean. Wish with the dish soap you want to wash the exterior part of the tube from any left over gloss.

It might be possible to use Parian Spirit to clean any left over lip product as Parian Spirit is non-toxic as well as made with food grade safe ingredients. I have no tried cleaning an old lip tube with Parian Spirit yet so I don’t know for sure.

To add liquid foundation to the tube you can do one of three things.

1. Squeeze foundation into the tube like you did the water.
2. Use an eyedropper to fill the tube.
3. Remove the tip if possible and carefully pour in your liquid foundation.

If you have the other type of tube – the wand type – you can remove the rubber stopper and clean it out just like above then fill it more easily then replace the rubber stopper and put the wand back in. Just remember to clean the wand before you put it back.

The foundation tube is small enough to carry in a small makeup bag, you can carry more than one if you like to mix foundation colors and if you’re flying you know you’ll meet the 3 oz rule in the US. 😀

Remember, you can always buy new empty lip containers from TKB Trading or any other cosmetic site that sells DIY kits.