From the Almay Website:
Almay smart shade® makeup – Makeup that transforms into your ideal shade.
With smart shade® makeup, there’s no more guessing or stressing over what shade of makeup is right for you. This revolutionary colorless foundation contains microscopic color beads that are activated when you smooth it on-transforming into a shade that complements your skin tone. You’ll get sheer coverage with a natural finish, so your skin looks smooth and even. Nourishing antioxidants like grapeseed, ginseng and gingko biloba help give skin a healthy glow. Each of the 3 shades cover a wide range of color. All you have to do is choose the one closest to your skin tone-it’s that easy!
Choose one and let smart shade® makeup do the rest!
Choose Light, Light/Medium or Medium, then smooth on to active the color beads and get your ideal shade for beautiful natural looking skin.
MY OPINION
I first saw Almay Smart Shade makeup advertised in a magazine, and I love Almay products, so I went to their website to do some more investigating. After reading what they have to say, I’m thinking, yeah right … there’s no way this is going to work – and it especially won’t work for everyone because they only have 3 shades and are trying to match everyone’s skin tone! The 3 shades are Light, Light/Medium, or Medium. I was very skeptical but decided to give it a try because of my past satisfaction with Almay.
I paid $13.50 for a 1 fl oz. bottle. Kind of pricey for me, so the makeup would have to be really impressive for me to buy it again.
The package reminded me of a suntan lotion bottle because you have to squeeze it out of a flat tube. But I sort of liked that because it might cut down on contamination because I don’t have to dip my fingers in it, or rub a sponge over it. I did squeeze out a bit too much though and would have liked to put it back in the tube somehow instead of wasting it. So the packaging gets mixed reviews from me.
I really liked the fact that it’s oil-free so it didn’t make my face look shiny, but I have dry skin so maybe that’s why. I’m not sure how it would hold up to someone with oily skin.
It also comes with a SPF-15 built in, which is a nice bonus. I was also pleased that there wasn’t a strong odor to the product. Some foundations have a chemical smell and since you wear it right under your nose, you tend to smell it all day.
Out of the 3 color choices, I went with the Light shade because I am very pale. The product itself comes out white in color, which was kind of scary. I’m pale but not *that* pale! But as I smoothed it in, it brought out a rosy color that looked quite natural. I did notice that as the day wore on, the rosy color started to get a little orange.
Something to note is the consistency of the cream. When I was squeezing it out of the tube it was a bit on the thin and drippy side. I didn’t have too much of a problem with it but thought it was worth mentioning. You might want to squeeze it into your palm instead of on your fingertips to be on the safe side.
The foundation felt really light and silky on my face, but I wasn’t impressed with the coverage. I could see using this as a base coat, but not as a final foundation if you have problem skins or flaws you want to hide.
I also wasn’t impressed with the longevity of the color. It seemed to look fine until after lunch, and then it started to wither a bit. But I have dry skin and didn’t use any moisturizer underneath because, after all, I was putting the product through a test, right? So I would say that if your skin is dry you might want to use extra moisturizer.
The makeup came off quite easily at the end of the day using a face cloth.
I do not think I will buy this product and probably will not recommend it to anyone.
