Urban Decay Afterdark Palette Review
Hey guys! I’ve got the new Urban Decay Afterdark palette review to share with you. I’ve live swatched the Afterdark palette on video so that you can see how it performs on me. Afterdark has 7 brand new shades and 3 cult favorites. The 3 cult favorites are Backfire, Lounge, and Fringe. I’m a huge fan of Fringe and think it’s absolutely stunning.
Urban Decay Afterdark Palette Review
PR sample.
Be warned, this is a very picture heavy post.
Price
$49
The Urban Decay Afterdark palette will be available at Sephora.com online on December 20th. It should be available in store on January 27th. Afterdark is a Sephora Exclusive palette. Edit: It’s available at Sephora now!
Urban Decay Aftedark Palette Ingredients
Urban Decay Afterdark Palette
Isn’t the Afterdark packaging amazing?
Urban Decay Afterdark Palette Swatches
All eyeshadows are swatched on Urban Decay Primer Potion with either the UD Iconic Eyeshadow brush or the Sigma E25.
Alter
metallic white-gold with gold shift
Metallic iridescent white with gold shift.
Scene
light metallic pinky-peach with gold shift
Metallic pinky peach with gold shift.
Supersonic
intense metallic red-copper
Metallic copper red.
Sinful
metallic golden amber
Metallic rich gold.
Off Duty
deep metallic bronze
Metallic deep bronze brown.
Druggie
metallic purple with violet shift
Metallic medium purple with pinky-violet shift.
Backfire
burgundy satin with purple shift
Burgundy wine with slight purple shift, satin.
Lounge
brick red satin with green shift
Warm red-toned brown satin with green shift.
Fringe
bright metallic teal
Metallic bright teal blue.
Paralyzed
navy with tonal metallic shift
Deep navy blue with purple undertone shimmer.
L to R – Off Duty – Sinful – Supersonic – Scene – Alter 
L to R – Paralyzed – Fringe – Lounge – Backfire – Druggie
L to R – Paralyzed – Fringe – Lounge – Backfire – Druggie – Off Duty – Sinful – Supersonic – Scene – Alter
Similar Shades
- Alter – Makeup Geek Voltage, Urban Decay Vanilla
- Scene – Urban Decay X, Sugarpill Kitten Parade
- Supersonic – Makeup Geek Curtain Call
- Sinful – Makeup Geek Casino, Makeup Geek Untamed
- Off Duty – Makeup Geek Steampunk, Bada Bing
- Druggie – Urban Decay Flash, Makeup Geek Hype
- Backfire – Makeup Geek Sensuous
- Lounge – Makeup Geek Insomnia (so many dupes for this)
- Fringe – Urban Decay Deep End, Meow Office Party
- Paralyzed – Urban Decay Evidence, Makeup Geek Center Stage
I swatched similar shades for you so that you can see how the Afterdark palette may fit into your current collection. I tried to use mostly Makeup Geek for the dupes, but they don’t have close shades for a few of them. I was really surprised that they didn’t have a dupe for Fringe or Scene. All the dupes are mentioned in the video below.
Afterdark Palette Look
To create my eye look, I used Walk of Shame as a base shade. I applied Laced as my transition color. Then I layered Backfire on top of Laced and in the crease. I put Off Duty on the lid and then layered Lounge on top of it. I used a bit of Paralyzed at the upper and lower lash line. I used a tiny bit of Aura (blue side) at the inner lid. I tried to highlight with Alter but it’s too dark for my skintone. I highlighted at the inner corner with Makeup Geek Glitz.
FASHION
Bunny Paige Necklace
EYES
Urban Decay Primer Potion in Anti-Aging
UD Afterdark Palette
UD Aura, Walk of Shame, Laced
Makeup Geek Glitz
Chella Ebony Brow Cream
FACE
Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer
Kat Von D Lock-It Concealer in L1 and L3
Anastasia Beverly Hills Foundation Stick in Warm Alabaster
Physicians Formula Murumuru Butter Bronzer in Light
My Pretty Zombie Niacin – blush
Makeup Geek Glitz
LIPS
Urban Decay Hex & Frenemy lip pencils
Urban Decay Afterdark lipstick
Value
The Urban Decay Afterdark Palette is an amazing value for $49 since you get 10 full size eyeshadows that are .05 oz each. It lets you scoop up 10 shades for only $4.90 each (valued at $190, 10 x $19).
Afterdark Palette Review
This year, Urban Decayhas really put out some amazing packaging. However, the Afterdark palette takes the cake for me. It’s a purple base with rainbow iridescence to it. Afterdark makes me think of when you blow bubbles and see the rainbow on them. I love it so much!
It’s about the size of the Electric palette, but a bit slimmer. It feels pretty lightweight, all things considered. It’s definitely the most beautiful purple packaging that I’ve ever seen. It’s sturdy and should be perfect for travel.
Now, let me be clear, this is what I call a companion palette. That means that I personally have to pair it with other palettes to make a complete look because I have hooded eyes. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with companion palettes, as long as you’re aware of that up front. It should work beautifully with the Gwen Palette or the Naked Ultimate Basics.
What I didn’t like about the Afterdark palette was that there are so many shades that are very similar to permanent colors in the line up or are available as permanent colors, such as Lounge and Backfire. Alter is very similar to Vanilla, Scene is a dead-on dupe for X, Druggie is very similar to Flash, and Paralyzed is similar to Evidence. Fringe is similar to Deep End, too.
What I loved about the Afterdark palette, aside from the bad ass packaging, is that the colors apply, blend and layer easily. They are great to work with. They didn’t fade on me, either. Of course, I use primer because I have hooded eyes and if I skip primer my eyeshadow is gone in 20 minutes. It’s also a fabulous value for the price. You can’t beat the value of the palette with dupes.
If you’re a fan of these colors and the Urban Decay formula, you’ll love the Aftedark palette.
What do you think of the Afterdark palette? How do you feel about the dupes comparison? Let me know!
More to See
I have all of the urban decay pallets,what im wondering is if this one is too much like the others? Will i be happy with tbis one, or are all the colors like all if the previous ones?
Absolutely love this look on you. Wish I had you nearby to show me how to do my eyes!! Let me know when you are coming back to Michigan or down to Indy…my daughter lives in the suburb of Fishers ?
Supersonic and Fringe! My, my, those would be my dream team 🙂
Great color choices!
The shades and packaging are gorgeous, but I kind of expected… more. Like you mentioned, the shades aren’t all that unique for UD.
Not unique but definitely great quality.
Supersonic and Sinful are such beautiful shades.
Agreed!
That is such a pretty palette! Those dupes swatches are very helpful, thank you for including them. I absolutely love the look that you created!
You’re welcome!
I am going to sound so ridiculous and old and unhip, but something turns me off about the name of the shadow being “Druggie.” I don’t know. Maybe because I work in an area having a heavy heroin epidemic it rubs me the wrong way.
I actually talk about the name in my video. It just seemed uninspired. And yeah, I know that there’s a problem with heroine in Indiana (where I’m originally from).
I didn’t get a chance to watch the video, maybe if I had, I wouldn’t have felt the need to repeat! LOL
I’m a pharmacy tech, and sometimes I hate my job because I see people literally dying from addiction. People turning from nice, kind people to mean abusive jerks. I just feel like it was kind of a “too soon”/tacky thing to do.
Oh no worries! And yeah, it’s awful, because people who are addicted are usually stigmatized and often unable to get help. There have been a lot of studies released this year talking about how addiction changes the brain and how people NEED help to manage it.
But other than that, I feel like this is too much like other palettes/a bummer there isn’t more
exclusive shades.
Electric is all super brights / neons. to me this is more jewel toned / romantic.
This is pretty, and I love that all the shades (even the brights) are wearable.
To me it feels like a romantic bright / jewel palette 🙂
I had to do a double take and look at the colors b/c it’s setup like the Electric palette.
It is! Exact size 🙂
The colors are really beautiful. They look so rich. Do you find glitter fallout with it?
I had glitter fallout when I live swatched but didn’t have an issue when I did a few looks on my eyes.
That’s a fantastic palette.
It’s so pretty!
Gorgeous shades in this palette, but I wouldn’t use all of them. Since there are a few that I think I could definitely wear, thank you for giving us the dupes!!
You’re welcome!