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Good news for eyeshadow lovers who long ago hit pan on their Naked palettes since the iconic Urban Decay product was discontinued in 2018—it’s coming back.
The 12-shade neutral eyeshadow palette debuted in 2010 and ascended to beauty lover fame for its versatility in creating nude or smoky eyes, selling 30 million units (one every six seconds) and amassing more than $1 billion in sales. When Urban Decay announced plans to stop producing it (the brand even held a funeral), founding partner Wende Zomnir released a statement stating it was “essential to always evolve.”
Six years later, the product will return for a limited run at Ulta starting August 4. While its shades and brown velvet packaging are nearly identical to the “OG,” as Arnaud Kerviche, VP of marketing at Urban Decay, calls it, the palette has been slightly updated, with a cruelty free brush and a vegan formulation that the brand says is more blendable and longer wearing. It’ll sell for $59, $5 above its original price. As the Naked palette rose to popularity during the beauty guru YouTuber era, the brand is working with “OG creators” like NikkieTutorials, MannyMUA, and Makeupshayla, who will post content introducing Gen Z to the product.
Kerviche told Retail Brew the brand decided to pull the product due to limited retail space and its desire to expand with new eyeshadows and product innovations, allowing it to offer more trend-based products. But fans have been clamoring for the Naked palette’s return, and consumers’ 2000s nostalgia mixed with the product’s cross-generational appeal inspired the brand to resurrect it. It’s a “gift to our community,” Kerviche said, acknowledging the tendency for brands to go “full speed” into attracting new consumers without taking time to “nurture” its current ones.
“The market is very different from what it was 10 years ago, with a lot of competition,” he said. “And we need to be seen and be loved again, as we were 10 years ago. Naked OG was definitely one of the anchors of the portfolio when we were top of the hill.”
How long the product will stay on shelves depends on how fast it sells, and it could even stick around for the holiday season, Kerviche said. The Urban Decay office is placing wagers on its final date, with a bottle of champagne as the prize. His bet? October 7.