The Urban Decay Honey palette is hard to find now, and this is what I reach for in its place. It is a run of warm Urban Decay shades, a primer, and three warm palettes from makeup artists who build their own.
Missing the Urban Decay Honey Palette, and What to Wear Instead
Urban Decay's own page for the Naked Honey eyeshadow palette now reads discontinued. It arrived in September 2019, and I still hear people ask for the Urban Decay Honey palette by name, which is why I keep a short list of what to wear in its place. Urban Decay itself is a good reason to care. Wende Zomnir and Sandy Lerner, the Cisco Systems co-founder, started the brand in 1996 as a grunge-era answer to a makeup counter that only offered safe pinks and beiges. The original 12-shade Naked palette followed in 2010 and grew out of an office game: what four shades would you take to a desert island. L'Oréal acquired the brand in 2012. None of those shades are in this edit, and I am not pretending otherwise. What is here is the warm side of Urban Decay as it is sold now, in a mix of formats. Naked Shaped is the warm-toned one, made to work on the eyes and the face. The Mini Naked palettes are small and travel well. Toasty is a copper bronze cream stick that does most of the honey job in one swipe. One honest note on Naked2 Basics: it is a matte palette of cool taupes, so it is the neutral counterweight, not the gold. I went deeper on a related idea in Urban Decay.
Gold, bronze and brown on the lid
Zomnir has said the Moon Dust shadows and the 24/7 pencils were things she cooked up herself, and the second grid is where that shows. Half Baked is a golden shimmer and Space Cowboy in Moondust is a light champagne gold with silver sparkle, both singles. Space Cowboy Intense is a light champagne gold shimmer in the Glaze-On liquid, with a built-in brush, and Whiskey is a rich brown liner with a matte finish. Together they make a honey eye with no palette at all. The tip I use: draw the Whiskey line close to the lashes, press Half Baked over the lid with a fingertip, then tap Space Cowboy on the center. Liquids dry quickly, so work in small sections. Nothing here needs a big brush or a mirror in perfect light, and that is the point of singles.
A primer and three artists
Start with the primer. Urban Decay's Primer Potion in Original is a sheer nude eyeshadow primer that the brand says keeps shadow vivid and crease-free, and it is the first step I would never drop. Then three warm palettes from people who began as makeup artists or salon owners. Natasha Denona was born in Croatia, raised in Germany, inherited a love of art and science from a chemist mother and formulates her own shadows, and her Warm palette has 15 shades of nudes and champagnes. Anastasia Beverly Hills was founded by Anastasia Soare in 1997 in Beverly Hills, and Soft Glam has 14 shades across mattes, duo chromes and metallics. Makeup by Mario's Ethereal Eyes has 12 shades in glossy shimmer, sueded matte and natural metallic. What I would skip is using the same flat brush for every shade, because it muddies warm colors fast. Keep one brush for mattes and another for shimmer. If you want to keep going, Urban Decay Setting Spray: The Spritz That Outlasts the Party is the one I would read next.
A warm eye in four minutes
Here is the four minute version. Primer first, then a matte in the crease, then a shimmer in the center of the lid and brown liner at the lash line. Finish with mascara, and leave the rest of your face quiet. A warm eye does its work when it is the only thing asking for attention, and the honey part comes from the gold in the middle.
