Rediscovering Almay

by - Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Almay has been a drug store staple for years, recently they launched a few new items that I was lucky enough to receive samples to review.

I am super excited to try these new items out, it has been a long time since I have tried anything from Almay but I have always had such good experiences with the brand that new items have me excited.

Smoky Eye Trios in Coppery Blaze and Smouldering Embers
These trios try to make shadow application easy for those who may not be the best at figuring it all out. With three shades clearly intended for different spots on the eye.

Coppery Blaze has green as its lid colour with charcoal as its crease and off white-green shade for highlight. Smouldering Embers is a Taupe for its lid, dusty purple for the crease and a light champagne-pink for the creases.
Copper Blaze
Smouldering Embers
Both these trios have lovely shades in them, but the payoff is mixed. Smouldering Embers has a softer texture and applies well because of it, while Coppery Blaze is stiffer and it takes a lot of work to get any pay off from it.

Goddess Gloss in Dreamy and Flame
I am not a huge lip gloss fan, but these glosses have won me over. They are prismatic glosses that are just pigmented enough that they work great on their own or even better as a topper. They are not sticky or goopy on the lips, which is a big part of why I love them.
Flame is a berry shade with flecks of shimmer in it. Dreamy is my favourite and it is a light pink-purple with a prismatic duo chrome reflection to it that works really well when I use a purple highlighter on my face.

Make Them Jelly Hi-Lite / Illuminator in 24k Dreams and Unicorn Light
These are shimmer jellies, and when I say shimmer I mean SHIMMER. The gel feels thick and not like a skin product but more a body product and the shimmer itself if very large and chunky.
24k Dreams has golden shimmer, while Unicorn Light has pink.
I realize that we are hitting the end of the '90s, beginning of the '00s in the make trend cycle and this actually seems quite in line with what I remember of the whole Y2K era. While not for me and most likely not for most faces it might make for a great body product.

Velvet Foil in Cupid Glaze and Golden Vibes
These foils come in little tubes that instantly remind me of Mac Paints (sadly discontinued). Packaged in a plastic tube that let you have good control over how much you can squeeze out.

I teenie-tiny amount of the cream shadow is all you need to get a ton of pigment that will create a foil effect. They take a few minutes to dry, so you have time to get them looking right on your lids. I like buffing them with a brush to avoid strong lines.
The brand boasts that they will last up to 24 hours and will not crease, smudge or fade. I had good results wearing them, I did make the mistake on wearing them on a particularly sweaty day at work so I did get some shimmer fall-out as the day went on, but overall they are quite spectacular and look amazing.

Cupid Glaze is a Rosey shade while Golden Vibes is an old gold shade. Both have lots of shimmer in them.
Shadow Squad in Unicorn and Less is More
These are single pan shadows that have one shade in four finishes. A matte, satin, metallic and glitter all in a monochromatic pan.

Unicorn is white and all the shades come off chalky, I really couldn't capture the shades that well in photos. Less is More is a light nude shade that is a lot more pretty and photographic.
Less is More
I created a look using the Smokey Eye Trio in Smouldering Embers, Velvet Foil in Golden Vibes as an eyeliner and finally Goddess Gloss in Dreamy on the lips.
Overall I think it was great to try out a bunch of new products from a brand that I was already familiar with.

I love the Goddess Gloss and would recommend it to just about anyone, I particularly like Dreamy. I think the Velvet Foils are fantastic and I will most likely be picking up some next time I see them on sale at my drug store.

The Smoky Eye Trios are pretty good for a drug store trio. They make creating a look easy and are not overly pigmented which actually makes them nice for a day or office look.

The Shadow Squad shadows are ok, I found them a bit chalky and pay off a bit iffy. but I generally like the idea. I think the quality depends on the shade so I would say they are a pass. The Make Them Jelly highlighters are just not my thing, they are too chunky and the gel doesn't play well with foundation. 

*Products were sent for review, all views and opinions are my own.

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