The NYX Runway Palette In Bohemian Rhapsody : Does it compare to the Urban Decay Naked palette?

I picked up the NYX Runway Palette in Bohemian Rhapsody for 2 reasons:-

1. It made me hum “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen – “Mamma mia let me go…”; and
2. It reminded me so much of the Urban Decay Naked palette I had to see if it was a dupe

It still makes me hum Bohemian Rhapsody everytime I use it, but as for the latter reason, you’re going to have to make your own mind up when you see the swatches and comparisons below :)

I like (or liked) NYX eyeshadows. The past tense is because I’m now so bummed about using eyeshadow singles, preferring to use palettes, that I’ve disposed of most my NYX shadow singles. The quality of the shadows are good for the small price that you pay and that in itself should make you happy. I used to have the NYX Eyeshadow trios too, which I’d tell you to avoid, because to me, they are NOT representative of the quality of NYX shadows. Its been a while since I returned to NYX and truth to tell, I rather like the NYX Runway Palette. I got 2 – Bohemian Rhapsody and Haute Model, but I’ll tell you about the other one later.

What you get in this palette is 10 eyeshadows of varying neutral tones in a mix of matte and shimmer textures. You also get a double ended sponge tip applicator which I promptly tossed :P I prefer to just use my regular brushes.

The texture of the shadows are a bit of a mix. Some swatch smooth, some don’t. In terms of colour pigment, some are more pigmented than others. The swatches below should give you an idea of the Bohemian Rhapsody palette.

The top row of swatches are the bottom row of colours in the palette. They are matte shadows and I do not quite like the peach and white, which do not show up very well or at all. Pigment is certainly lacking in those. The other 3 colours, a taupe, dark grey and black fare much better.

The bottom row of swatches are the top row of colours in the palette. They are shimmer shadows and all swatch quite true to colour. The light blue is a bit of a surprise and the pale shimmer beige makes a lovely highlighter. The colours are a lovely mix of warm and cool tones, but mostly cool, which suits me perfectly fine.

Here’s a look I did with this palette.

Its a pretty much neutral palette but you can smoke it out if you prefer that. I can’t now remember which are the colours I used but they look predominantly brown. I did also have a touch of blue in there but as you can see, it blends right into the browns so you don’t have a harsh pop of pastel blue out of the … erm… blue :)

So yeah, playing around with this palette, I grew to like it. The texture as I’ve noted is a little hit and miss in the matte colours. In the shimmer colours, only the blue is a bit misplaced, but it blends into the browns to take on a purplish hue which is quite pretty. They are a little sheer, which I’m happy with but they are also buildable to a degree, and much better once mixed with the black.

Above everything, its such an inexpensive palette! I picked mine up for US$8 from NonPareil Boutique (You can read about my shopping experience there) and although 3 similar palettes cost me $12+ to ship, I still felt it worth my while and money since we can’t easily find NYX products locally.

NYX Bohemian Rhapsody : Dupe for Urban Decay Naked Palette?

The big question you would have is, is this palette an inexpensive alternative for the Urban Decay Naked Palette? I’m not sure what others are saying, but my answer is no.

Putting the 2 palettes side by side, I think you’ll be able to see that there isn’t really a similarity between the 2 palettes at all. The NYX Bohemian Rhapsody palette is markedly cooler in tone, while the Naked palette is clearly warm toned. Texture wise, the Urban Decay Naked palette is by far better in texture, despite the odd glittery shadow in there.

For the most part, the Naked palette colours swatch satiny smooth and very strongly pigmented. By contrast the NYX palette is harder and less smooth when applied. I did pick up 2 colours I thought were closest in shade in both palettes.

The 2 colours I thought might be duped were Toasted and Sidecar from Naked. But when swatched side by side, you can see that the colours are quite different from the possible dupes in the Bohemian Rhapsody palette, and that Toasted and Sidecar are much stronger in colour and smoother in texture. You can read my complete review on the Urban Decay Naked palette here.

So my advice is this: If you want the Urban Decay Naked palette, save up for it. Don’t go looking for dupes because you’re going to end up spending more money in the end, and you’d likely purchase the palette anyway. But if what you want is a cool toned neutral palette, then give the NYX Bohemian Rhapsody palette a try.

I’m happy with it because I found some colours in Naked a little too warm for me. Plus, size wise, the NYX palette is easier to tote around and you won’t cry a river if it shatters :P For me, its the Naked palette… but better :)

Might you have tried any of the NYX Runway eyeshadow palettes? Or how about NYX eyeshadows in general? Have you tried them? They really are worth trying, if you haven’t and I think they are coming up with more and more new palettes which is really nice… if they’d stop repeating the colours :P

Paris B

The NYX Bohemian Rhapsody Runway eyeshadow palette was purchased online from NonPareil Boutique for US$8.