Braving the Saturday afternoon traffic to head into the city centre is not my thing. I try to avoid going into the city after 12pm especially on Saturdays and this close to Chinese New Year when everyone is doing their shopping in preparation for the festivities in a week, well it’s just madness to brave the traffic but I inched my way to Sephora Starhill along Jalan Bukit Bintang yesterday afternoon for the launch of Urban Decay’s Naked2 Palette by none other than UD’s very charismatic and charming Eric Jimenez, Global Retail Sales Director and Make-up Artist Extraordinaire.

I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to watch Eric in action after reading so much about him on the Internet. If I didn’t know he was a make-up artist, I’d have thought he was one of the contestants on American Idol. He’s like a rock star and I have never met a more magnetic make-up artist, he can draw the crowds like no other.

There were only 200 Naked2 palettes at Sephora which sold like hot cakes. After this batch has been sold out, the next batch will only be instore on March 7th. No wonder there was a quite long queue outside the store when I arrived shortly before 3pm. As UD themselves put it, it’s “the most anticipated sequel since Empire Strikes Back”. I couldn’t agree more.

Naked2 palette contains cooler shades than the Naked palette. But then come on, where can you find a palette containing 12 fab neutral shades of THAT quality for just RM179? It’s a steal when you consider the price of other brands’ palettes these days.

From the time Eric announced the launch to his demonstrating the looks that are possible with the Naked2 palette, the man was in his element. There is no one quite like him. Eric said that a smoky look is always in, true, true!

Watching Eric apply make-up on the customers was better than watching any make-up tutorial online. I’m sure those of you who have seen him in action will agree that he’s awesome. He does it with such flair and his personality is amazing. I wasn’t one of those lucky enough to be on the chair but it was enough just to watch him for a while.

One useful tip Eric dispensed is that one should choose eye make-up brushes to suit the shape of one’s eyes. Also, when using eyeliner on the bottom eyelids, smudge it a bit. He introduced the makeup setting sprays which are for different skin types.

He also explained the functions of the Primer Potions:-

Make-up demo in progress:-

Set your make-up with a few spritzes of the sprays:-

The Naked2 palette has fantastic neutral shades but when Eric applied the shadows, they don’t even look that neutral. By layering and expert blending, I wouldn’t have guessed all the colours came from one neutral palette. May there be many more visits to Malaysia from Eric.