Hello!
I received a gifted bag full of makeup products from Almay a little over a week ago for reviewing purposes. I took pictures that same night before I jumped into trying the new products on Good Friday without looking at any reviews.
Almay is one of those brands that I’ve never truly tried before. I can with 100% certainty say that I’ve never purchased anything from them before, but I’m pretty sure my mother had a few products from them when I was a child that I may have played with over decade ago when they were probably expired for a little while (my mom uses the same mascara for 3+ years if that tells you anything). Why have I never tried them? I’ve honestly never heard people raving about any of their products. If anything, most mentions of the makeup were negative.
I went in with a small bias that the products wouldn’t perform well and to be fully honest, some didn’t. However, of the products i received, I really enjoyed most of them! The only product I haven’t yet tried is the mascara because I already have two different ones open and I’m the type of girl who doesn’t wear makeup very often and doesn’t want any of it to go to waste. I also have to change my mascara’s every 2-3 months because my eyes are super sensitive.
Let’s jump into the actual review and swatches!
Make Them Jelly Hi-Lite
When I first opened the box, this is immediately what my eyes went to. I know Jelly products have been a thing for years, but I’ve never tried any before so I was really excited to give these a go. I swatched them both and they perform equally as well, but it mainly comes down to preference of colour for me. I’m a gold-toned kind of girl when it comes to highlighter and eyeshadow (Pretty in Bronze… duh) so I know I’ll be using that one the most, but I’m keeping both for sure since pink is another favourite of mine and can make for some really cool looks (especially if using it on the body).
The texture is exactly what it looks like. Though once you warm it up with your fingers it is very easy to apply. These apply more like a thin glitter, but they don’t look chunky on the face at all. This also doesn’t disrupt my foundation when I go to apply it (even on my nose!), but that might also depend on the foundation. I’ve been using the Lancome Teint Idole, which is pretty long-wearing in itself. These look so beautiful on their own and amplify powder highlighter that you add on top.
Powder Highlighters
Like the jelly highlighters, I received one in gold and one in pink. When I first swatched these I was worried that they were going to look powdery or have no shine on the face, but thankfully that’s not the case. I always mix the four colours together in the pan onto my fan brush before applying like normal. These go on very smooth an give more of a glow than a shimmery look (which I prefer), but when you layer them on top of the jelly they’re so amazing since the shimmers from the jelly shine through and give such a cool look. Not to mention that using both together makes your highlighter last all day long without needing any touch ups at all.
Eyeshadow Palettes
I had a feeling when I saw these that they wouldn’t be great. I feel like a lot of the negative reviews of Almay products in the past had to do with their eyeshadows, and after swatching and wearing these I understood why. These are powdery, not very pigmented and they blend away too easily and have a tendency to become muddy looking. I’ve tried both palettes and the quality is the same between both, but I do prefer the darker one since they aren’t very pigmented. I wouldn’t recommend these since there are so many affordable eyeshadow palettes that are on par with high end eyeshadows for under $10 CAD at the drugstore so you aren’t missing out on these ones.
Velvet Foiled Cream Shadow
Thankfully not all eyeshadow products from Almay are the same. These Cream Shadows are actually pretty good and I enjoyed them quite a bit. I wish I got a deeper neutral colour, but I made both work with my eye look over the weekend. These make a nice base and work well on their own too. I do find that you have to wait for it to dry a bit before applying a bit more to make it opaque enough, but at least it layers to give you good pigmentation. While I liked them, I don’t see myself reaching for them very often for use on their own, but I definitely like layering powder eyeshadows on top to make my eye look last all day long!
I'm an idiot and forgot to take swatch pictures of this one :(
Goddess Gloss
I was really excited when I saw these glosses because I can never get enough! I enjoy a few liquid lipsticks (sometimes), but I’m the kind of girl that likes my lips to look moisturized and shiny. I decided to not open the white/iridescent gloss since I own a very similar looking colour and would rather make someone happy with it, but I went straight for the (fuschia) the second I opened the bag and put it on before taking pictures of anything.
I really like the texture and colour payoff from this lipgloss. It looks super shiny and glittery in the tube, but when you put it on it gives the perfect amount of both without looking like a metallic or foiled lip. The application is nice an the texture is as well. It’s a little bit sticky so I refuse to wear this if I’m outside in the wind or if my hair is down and in my face, but if I’m taking pictures or wearing this indoors I love it! After all, if a gloss is a bit sticky, it tends to last a lot longer than one that feels super slippery.
Clear Complexion Blemish Armor / Salicylic Acid
This was the strangest product to see in the gift bag I received. I feel like a lot of brands are releasing Salicylic acids, but the ingredient is always the same. I don’t know how it works, but even though it’s always 2%, the texture of the acid is always different. This one is creamy looking and not completely clear. I’m not a fan of using an applicator to touch directly to my breakouts (even if the acid is supposed to make the wand clean) and honestly, this doesn’t work as well as my other go to salicylic acid 2% products. I’m not sure how that makes sense, but I can’t be bothered looking it up. I also find this hard to take off in the morning without using a cleansing water after washing my face. My other ones wash right off and I’m ready to go. This is another disappointing product, but it’s also not makeup so I don't mind.
Overall, I really enjoyed most of the products I received from Almay! I don’t know if it’s because they’re all new and the brand has stepped up their game, or if I just have different preferences to most people, but I’m no longer afraid to actually look at the products from this brand when I’m walking down the makeup aisle in the drugstore. I can say with confidence that a lot of it is good and they just aren’t spoken about a lot. Hopefully this will inspire you to give some of their products a try, or to give brands a try that you may have heard negative reviews about in the past. Other than the regular eyeshadow palettes and salicylic acid, I recommend trying out all of the other products. Please look up reviews of their mascaras since I didn’t get a chance to try it for this post (I will eventually share my thoughts once I use it), but everything else was great!
I hope you enjoyed this review. Thank you Almay for giving me these products for free to try out and provide my honest thoughts!
See you soon!
