My Own Little Link Roundup!

Do you like Almay makeup? Because I sure do! Here's my own little mini roundup!

Almay Knows Their Blues! (Original Post Date: March 5, 2015)

Today I Learned... (Original Post Date: February 18, 2015)

Aww, I'm Such A Softie (Original Post Date: February 16, 2015)

Alright, Long Time No Chat! (Original Post Date: November 10, 2014)

I'm Really Conflicted This Week! (Original Post Date: October 6, 2014)

Almay Intense I-Color Liquid Shadow Reviews... (Original Post Date: August 4, 2014)

I clearly like Almay very much, and I hope you'll enjoy reading about their fine products!

See you later, lovelies!

You may have arrived here through a Link Party, hosted here! If you did, welcome!

Almay Knows Their Blues!

A few product beauty shots for your Thursday, since we've been out of touch for so long! :) It's not been that long, but it feels long. I love you guys!

Last week, I talked a little about Almay Shadow Softies. I counted it up, and realized I had eight of them. I don't have four posts worth of unique things to say about them, but I did want to show them all off. Especially these, because I think the colors are really unique. Almay does some great work with blue eye shadows in particular (someone on their color development team must be a fan!), they're always really unique.

These shadows are soft and gentle. If you want a nice, soft wash of color, you will get along nicely with these. They're an interesting texture - they're not as hard as a typical powder shadow, but they're not as soft as a cream? See what I mean? It's interesting. Don't let it scare you away though. Think of these as the special snowflakes in your makeup bag. ;)

Midnight Sky, a royal blue with a slight shimmer running through it, and Seafoam, a powder blue with a little shimmer of its own. Don't let the depth of that blue intimidate you, it's not nearly as pigmented as it looks like it would be - in fact, of all the colors I've tried in the line, it's one of my personal favorites!

Just for the sake of curiosity, I swatched both with primer and without, to see if it'd make any real difference. This is Midnight sky, the bottom streak is no primer, the top streak is with primer. Fergie for Wet N Wild's "Take On The Day" primer, which if you've been reading a while, you know I'm a big fan of. In this case, it made a little bit of difference, not a lot. This is in natural light, standing by the big window in my living room. I got a little excited yesterday - Michigan got its first sunshine in a while, and I thought I could go outside bare armed. I pretty quickly learned the error of my ways! 

This is Seafoam, and this is also where the benefit of primer becomes a little more obvious. Bottom is primer free, top is with primer. You kind of have to look a little to even tell that there's a bottom swatch, right? And while the top is still awfully delicate, it's much more easily defined.

With fair skin, blonde hair, and blue/green eyes, I'm probably the poster child for "Ooh, child, you should NOT be wearing blue eyeshadow!", but I can totally pull these off, and I love them a lot. You should give them a try!

See you later, beautiful!

Today I learned...

...that not all Shadow Softies are created equal.

On Monday, I tried out some Almay Shadow Softies, and it seemed to go pretty stellar. So I was kind of excited today to continue digging in to my collection. Today's shadows are "Honeydew" (which is green with a slight gold shimmer, exactly the color of a piece of honeydew melon), and "Hot Fudge", a matte brown, which also greatly resembles it's namesake. "Honeydew" doesn't get done the justice it's due in my pictures, it's quite pretty.

The beauty shots, as they were;

Got experimental with my camera angles, trying to do "Honeydew" some justice. Like I said, it's quite pretty, it doesn't get a fair shake in pictures.

So, this is a nice, kicky, "maybe if I wear bright colors, Mother Nature will get the hint and make it Spring!?" combination for today, right?

Notice the biggest difference from Monday? I didn't change a thing - same brand of shadows, same brushes, same primer, same everything I did Monday...significantly reduced color payoff. Mamma no like-y! There's some payoff from the Hot Fudge color for sure, but if I didn't tell you I was wearing Honeydew, would you know I was wearing Honeydew? No you would not...

My eyes are open, and you still wouldn't know the Honeydew was there. Fun to look at, maybe not as much to wear.

Duck face for comedic effect. :D

So, what I'm saying is this - I'm a fan of the Shadow Softies as a general rule. I obviously don't think that they're for those that want a particularly bold look. But if soft, neutral and natural is what you're after, you'll get along with these shadows well.

But, today taught me that all shadow softies are not created equal, and Honeydew might be the lone outcast from the collection. Sorry, honeydew.

See you tomorrow, lovelies!

Aww, I'm Such a Softie...

...for Almay Shadow Softies.

I was perusing the beauty section at my local Target, as any good drugstore diva is known to do on the weekly, and noticed that the Shadow Softies by Almay are on clearance. I had some of that "Oh my gosh, gotta buy 'em all!" panic, came home, tweeted Almay to find out if they were going to stop making them all together (they aren't...), and started trying to figure out how many I had needed. Almay's website lists that they make 12. I currently own 8. I think I got a lockdown on the Shadow Softies, no?

So let's see how they work!

These appear like a powder when you look at them, but have a softer than powder consistency. I'd always just used my fingers to apply, but found a good, stiff eyeshadow brush today, and seemed to have some luck there.

These colors are all wearable and soft in appearance, and blend really well together. No odd scents, nothing overly sparkly or anything like that. Even the most intense appearing colors will go on really soft. And I did apply these over primer, but even with the primer, they match what I know to be true about these shadows otherwise, as far as performance goes, so I don't even know that the primer made much difference.

My only objection, I guess, would be to their longevity. I applied these around 2 this afternoon, and I got probably a solid 5, maybe 6 if I'm being optimistic, hours worth of wear. By the end of 8 hours, they'd virtually disappeared from my eyelids. Which, if you're like me, and you're a part timer, isn't bad, cause it'll get you through a full day. If you're someone who needs your eyeshadow to hang with you for 8, 10, 12 hours...this isn't going to get the job done for you.

Let's go to the pictures! This particular pairing is "Lilac" and "Vintage Grape", with purple Kat Von D liner. My son picked out this color pairing, I had to bargain him down from the Lilac with a royal blue shade, that you'll see later this week! :O He's normally got a very good eye for color, but his eye was feeling a little wild today!

Eyes open... (Sidebar: that lipcolor is City Color in Flirtini, which came in my most recent Ipsy bag, and looked shockingly bright initially, but has quickly become one of my favorites...I think I've worn it every day since I got it.)

Eyes closed. Soft, delicate, pretty, and they blend together really nicely. Like I said, if I had to complain at all, it'd be with their longevity. 

During the warm months, I like to actually go outside and let the sun be the natural sunlight. Today, it was record breaking cold, so I didn't go outside, but the sun light seemed to be pretty strong, so I decided to take a picture in natural light, and see what I got there. So this gives you a little bit more of an idea of what these would look like in natural lighting.

Trying to get a little arty with the product shot, haha. That's Lilac closer to the camera, and Vintage Grape farther away. Small containers that fit well in to your hand, and would no doubt go well in to a Z Palette if that's your thing.

I think that the best market for these shadows is probably someone who has a little bit of color bravery about them, but for the most part, wants to be able to rock a soft, clean, natural look. If that's you, then you will enjoy these shadows. In fact, not only will you enjoy them, they'll probably become your new favorites. If you are someone who thinks nothing of wearing lime glitter to your eyebrow, and needs your shadows to rock long in to the night, you should probably keep looking, you haven't found your new favorites here.

Me personally, I'm somewhere in the middle. I like these a lot. :)

Later, my loves!

Alright, long time no chat!

Thanks to a case of the writers block, and then a case of the forgetfulness (hey, it happens), it's been a while since we all talked, but I'm back, baby!

I own weird quantities of Almay eyeshadow. Almay doesn't put out coupons a lot, but when they do, they don't play around. And as a result, I own a lot of Almay eyeshadow. I've spoken about some of them, here. And here. And I'm back for another round!

This time, we're on pressed powder shadows. The Almay I-Color kits come in three speeds - Bold Nude, Shimmer, and Smokey. As it happens, I don't own any of the Bold Nude sets, but I do have some of the other two to show off. Because I believe, as I've pointed out before, the Almay theory of matching eyeshadow to your eye color is just a neat advertising gimmick and not much more, I actually own a wide variety of color choices.

The colors in question:

Top Left is the Shimmer-I kit, for blue eyes. Silver, a very highly pigmented navy, and light pink. This navy is by far the most pigmented of the three, and is no small trick to blend in! Almay, as you'll notice, lays out the color in a possible suggested wear pattern, if you're not terribly adept at smokey eyes.

Top Right is the Smokey-I kit for brown eyes. A bronze, a purple and gold color. This trio would probably be the one I'd be the most likely to buy in the group, just based on the colors. If I were shopping on impulse. Which I do from time to time. :D
Bottom Left is the Shimmer-I kit for hazel eyes. I like this kit a lot, because I've never seen anything like that green. Green, black and a gold toned white, and this one is VI. VID. Don't wear this if you don't want to stand out!

Bottom Right is the Smokey-I for green eyes. I like this one quite a bit too. Plum, a taupe color, and a lighter pink. This is probably the one of the group that gets me the most compliments when I wear it out.

Speaking of which, I also took pictures of me, in these eyeshadows. Each is applied over the Fergie for Wet N Wild's "Take On The Day" Primer.

Blue eyed kt. Silver across the lid, navy in the V, pink across the brow bone.

Brown eyed kit. I used the purple across the lid, bronze in the crease, and white on the browbone. See what I mean here - if I were to just go grab some Almay eyeshadows, ignoring their blue eyed/green eyed/whatevers, this is the group I'd be the most likely to purchase.

Green eyed kit. I wore this Friday night. I used green across the lid, and black in the crease. Man, I was having a great makeup day, probably the best smokey eye I'd done in some time. Then it dawned on me that a forrest green and black smokey eye was probably a smidge intense for a hockey game (we had seats in my husband's company box seats for the hockey game that night...), and I should probably dial it down. So in a stroke of genius, I took my "smudge brush", loaded it up with the golden white that comes included in the kit, and patted it over the top of much of the green. Dialed down the intensity, and made me look like a blending genius at the same time. :D Probably still far to intense for a hockey game, but whatever. Own it, girl! LOL!

This is the hazel eye kit, and this is the one I get the most compliments on. The taupe across the lid, plum in the crease, and little bit of the pink patted over the top, and along the brow bone. As a sidebar, I'm wearing ELF liquid eyeliner pencil in this one, and I think I love it. The line isn't quite as thick as I'd like, but that's probably my issue. If you can use a sharpie, you can use it. I recommend it - especially for only $1!

So with my other mass Almay reviews, I could kind of narrow it down to my "Keepers", but here...I got nothin'. These are high quality shadows, especially for the price point. Nice color payoff, richly pigmented (in the case of the navy in the blue eyed kit, almost annoyingly so...), long lasting. Great value for the price - which is between $4 and $8 USD depending on where you shop, and whether or not you find on sale.

I recommend all of them - buy according to your eye color if you like. Buy according to whatever colors strike your fancy (I kind of did...), but buy early, and buy often. :D

In a couple of these, it looks like I might have some filter action going on, but to the best of my knowledge, I do not.

See you soon, lovelies!

Like Almay? Me too! I talk about it all the time!

I'm really conflicted this week!

This week, I took on the Almay Intense i-Color Shadow Stick. Actually, if we're being fair, I took on THREE Almay Intense i-Color Shadow Sticks. The blue eyed, hazel eyed and green eyed version. I'm really conflicted on what I think of them.

First, let's get to what we know;

These colors, like almost every other eye color in the Almay stable, is "matched" to you based on your eye color. You pick your product range according to your eye color, you're ready to go. This entry, the "shadow stick" is sort of like the Almay answer to the 5 minute face. Two shadows, paired easily in to one pencil form. Nice creamy formula, easy to use - if you learned to color in kindergarten, you can use this - no muss, no fuss.

Which is great, but the problem? If you're a person who wants some color BANG for the buck, these aren't your guy. These are nice, and soft, and go on smoothly and easily, but don't offer anything by way of exceptional color payoff. In fact, I had to swatch these on the inside of my arm, because I felt like you didn't even get much of a look at it, otherwise.

Let's go to the pictures!

The product shot. From near to far, you see the blue eyed version (a light bronze, with a darker brown. This was the highest pigmented one of the three). Then in the middle you see the hazel eyed version, a light pink, and a brown with a pink undertone. I found this one most lacking in terms of longevity. By the end of the night, it was virtually gone. And the farthest away one is the green eyed version, a silver with a cool toned purple. I found this one the most interesting, because that's not a combination you go to a lot.

More pictures!

The blue eyed stick, swatched on the inside of my arm. Pic taken in as much natural light as the overcast skies would allow me. :)

Blue eyed stick, in action. Not for nothin', but the red lip is courtesy of Jordana. Pretty magical, for the price, right? :)

Green eyes, swatched.

Green eyed stick, in action. I've been battling the elementary school plague, and I think you can really tell it in this picture. Also, there wasn't nearly as much sun as the blue eyed stick got. But, still. ;)

Hazel eyes, swatched.

I don't know about you guys, but I think my makeup game was on point on this day! ;)

So, my conflict is that these are all not like the others. The blue eyed stick is the best pigmented, and longest lasting. But the green eyed stick is the most interesting combination. And the hazel eyed version is...there? I think of the three, I'd recommend the green eyed version for interest (and it did the most to play up my own eyes) or the blue for the pigment and lasting, and I'd tell you to just all together skip the hazel version. That one's not worth it.

See you soon, my lovelies!

Almay Intense I-Color Liquid Shadow Reviews...

...can we all just agree on something?

Almay markets their colors as being specially formulated and selected for your eye color. Can we just all agree that that's as much a smart marketing tactic as it is anything else? Because if that was the way to do it, that'd be the way everybody was doing it, right?

And can we agree on something else? That these don't take great pictures. They really don't. In fact, I wore the shadow for green eyes one day, and the shadow for blue eyes the next, and my seven year old asked me if I'd even changed my eyeshadow at all. Awesome.

Thanks to some savvy couponing, I actually had three of these to try - the color for blue eyes (a silvery blue), green eyes (a gold), and the color for hazel eyes (a darker gold shade. Like...gold, but almost an olive tone?)

There's little variation from one to the other, formula wise.

The product comes in a tube applicator, with a doe foot at the end of the wand - the packaging is actually really similar to the average lip gloss. Color goes on silky, soft and light. It doesn't layer particularly well - by the time you apply, and then blend out, you've lost pretty much all the color. You'll see the swatches on my arm that are applied to a small area, and completely unblended.

Almay markets that this color can be used as a primer as well, and it's actually not bad there - if you like their Shadow Softies, but wished for a bit more color payoff there as well, you'll find good luck using these underneath.

As just a shadow - not as a primer - the wear time is pretty good. I've had mine on about 12 hours now, minimal fading, no creasing!

A few beauty shots!

Swatched on the inside of my wrist (in bathroom lighting). Hazel eyes, blue eyes and green eyes, from left to right. The green eyed version is probably the most universal of the group - everybody can rock a nice delicate gold, regardless of your actual eye color - and the hazel eyed is the most pigmented of the three. The blue eyed one looks nice on - it's a nice, delicate wash of color - but would be the most challenging to use as a primer, I think. I've even tried it, and only did it with blue eyeshadows - it would really cool down the look of any shadows you use.

Hazel eyes, blue eyes and green eyes, from top to bottom. These aren't super stellar pictures - but then, they don't take super stellar pictures. They look very similar in photographs. A nice, delicate wash of color. I reach for these not as a shadow primer, but in one of those moments where you've overslept, and need to get out of the house looking reasonably pulled together, in about 10 minutes. Or, when you don't want to wear a lot of makeup, but you want a little polish.

Will these change the world? Of course they aren't. They aren't high octane enough for that. But they do give a nice wash of long lasting color that will keep you looking nice - or your eyeshadow looking primed - all day long, which is all anybody wants from their eyeshadow! So...I guess, I don't know if I recommend it exactly, but I don't think you'll hate owning it either? That's not a super glowing review, is it? Haha...