Almay Smart Shade CC Concealer

I am becoming a concealer junkie. For awhile now, I've been on the hunt for my new Holy Grail Concealer. So when, a couple of weeks ago while wandering through Wal-Mart, I saw the new one by Almay, I figured I should give it a try. At first I bought the Medium/Light shade and figured it would be too dark, so I had to return it and grab the lighter shade since, you know, I'm practically a vampire in the winter and all. But after trying the Light Pale 100 shade, I'm thinking I should have stuck to the medium one after all.

So before I go any further, here's what the packaging looks like:

It's a simple, plastic container with a clear lid that you can see the product through. It's nothing fancy, but it is compact and quite sturdy. I think it could certainly withstand some bump and bruises, so to speak.  I like that you can see the shades through the lid, because if you're like me, you have different shades of the same product for different times of year. And it's just nice to know what you're reaching for when you go into your stash to find something.

As you can see, you get 3.5g of product, and this runs around the $15 CAD mark. So it's not super pricy, but it's definitely not cheap. (Compare to the Maybelline Fit for around $7CAD)

So after using this fairly consistently for a couple of weeks, here's what I think:

If you're able to match your shade, it might be ok. I don't buy the smart shade'ness about this at all. The one side is quite yellow and the other side is super pale. Now, it is supposed to be a concealer and brightener, but unless you're super warm-toned, I don't think the concealer half would work for many people. I found it left me looking quite sallow under the eyes when I used just the left side (or the concealer as it's supposed to be). To counteract this, I found myself mixing both together so I didn't look like a cancer patient. The problem I found with that is the colour then becomes too light for underneath the eyes. So the brightener side certainly works. And I actually like it for a matte cream highlight above the eyebrow and on top the cheek bone. It's also great for the inner corner of the eye area where I tend to get quite dark.

The other thing that I find quite annoying about most creamy concealers, not just this one, is that they tend to settle in fine lines and wrinkles. And while I'm not super old - 29 plus tax ;) - I am starting to notice some under eye creasing. This one isn't as bad as some, but it's still not as good as I'm wanting. There HAS to be a creamy concealer that doesn't settle, dammit! And I'm going to find it!

All in all, this isn't a horrible product, and I can imagine that someone else will be totally in love with it. I'm just not. I don't regret the purchase, because I can still use the highlighter side of this, but I will not be repurchasing this item in the future.  

Until next time,

Llora

What do you think? Have you tried any of the Almay Smart Shade products? What's your Holy Grail Concealer?