I have the full version of the Naked 2 palette, but sometimes it's just too much of a hassel taking the whole thing with me and I found myself using the cooler shades much more than others. When I saw that the basics 2 palette was based on cool toned browns, I instantly knew I wanted it.
The palette is quite small, (about the size of iphone 5) and doesn't have a space for a brush. It does however have a mirror, which earns it extra brownie points. It has a sturdy lid that clicks shut, so I don't have to worry about it accidentally opening in my bag or something. This is convenient to carry around if you're travelling or for touch ups during the day.
The eyeshadow is super smooth and buttery, and picks up so easily. I usually just touch my brush to the pan instead of swiping to prevent picking up too much product. It applies like a dream and blends delightfully, giving a satiny, soft finish. Five shadows are matte and the lightest is slightly pearly, which makes them perfect for my everyday no makeup look. I love 'cover' and primal', the two medium brown shades. One makes for a slightly warmer eye contour, one for a cooler one. You can even use them as face contour, which I absolutely love. The darkest shade 'undone' is perfect for a subtle smokey eye and the two lighter shades work well for the browbone or inner corners. I rarely find a palette where I use every single shade, so I feel I'm really making the most out of this.
The only thing I don't like would probably be the price. I paid around 40 something for this, and you gotta say that's hella expensive for about 8 grams of colored powder. But to this day I haven't found another small palette that has the perfect combination of cool browns that match the consistency of this one. So I'll let my wallet take the blow.
I find myself reaching for this palette a lot, it's so easy to just have a selection of colors that go together well, without having the fuss of trying to decide from a bigger palette. This is also perfect for traveling with as it is so versatile with the highlight shade and it's so small it can fit in a handbag or a makeup bag so easily. The shadows themselves are so lovely, they're pigmented and easy to blend and all go together really well no matter what sort of look you are going for.