A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a new eye shadow at CVS from a new Almay display. I haven’t purchased anything from Almay in a long time. Also, there was a tester attached to the display (and it was unused!), so I tried it out and I liked the feel of the shadow.
The Softies eye shadows seem to be a cream/powder hybrid. Almay calls it “whipped powder”. I like cream shadows, so that “soft” aspect really appealed to me. Its consistency is similar to Maybelline Dream Bounce, in that it’s soft and bouncy.
I bought Smoke, shade 150, a matte grey/purple/brown, a color I didn’t have in my growing shadow collection.
Applying the shadow requires a bit of building, as the color is quite sheer. Although it’s part of Almay’s intense-i-color, I’m not sure I’d describe it as intense or highly pigmented at all. They are pretty colors but, as I mentioned before, they are sheer. The swatch below required 3 layers of color, and it’s still very light. So warning: if you like highly pigmented shadows, this is not for you.
The shadow does not crease at all, and for me with my dry eyelids, it has been long-lasting. Today, I applied it over Urban Decay Anti-aging Primer, and it lasted till I removed it, about 10 hours. later. When I swatched the shade on my arm, it required makeup remover to get it off, so that bodes well for long-wear, unless you have oily eyelids.
Almay Shadow Softies come in 12 shades with a good range of lights and darks, half are shimmers and half mattes. The shades are: honeydew, lilac, seafoam, moss, crème brulee, hot fudge, peach fuzz, vintage grape, petal, smoke, cashmere, and midnight sky. At CVS near where I live, there were only about 5 shades to choose from. The display was rather picked over which means it has appeal. And when I went back recently, the display was gone. But at a CVS in another town, there was a full display today with two different testers. The photo below will give you a good sense of the color range.
I think the packaging is quite sophisticated and attractive for a drugstore brand.
The price at CVS was $5.29, target.com is selling it for $4.49, and I’ve heard that Bed Bath & Beyond has them for $3.99! (I’ve been told that BBB is a great source for inexpensive makeup. Who knew?) Good thing I had CVS Bucks when I bought it. And you can also buy them here.
Have you tried any of the Almay Softies yet? What did you think?
I’ve seen these at CVS, but by-passed as I was wondering if they were like the Revlon color stay shadow links (which I’ve seen on many youtube channels that Revlon shadow links are not good). I like sheer eye shadows at times – less blending, easy look quick look.
Monica.
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I agree with you, Monica. I like sheer for an everyday look, and the one I bought feels really good on 🙂
i like almay for its anti allergy aspect. so i will look for it. thanks for the tip,
That’s a good point, Melanie! Almay used to be my client (market research) a number of years ago, and for some reason, they stopped promoting the anti-allergy benefit, not sure why. I believe that I read on the shadow pack that it’s good for contact lens wearers, like me, and has been ophthalmologist-tested.
For some reason I always skip Almay but I’m often attracted by their offerings, maybe because their packaging is more appealing to me that that of other mainstreem brands. I’m not too fond of sheer eye shadows these days but might still pick one or two of these up just for the fun of trying. Lovely review! 🙂
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Me, too, Helene. I don’t really get what they stand for anymore. But the packaging on these babies really appealed to me. So I can live with the sheerness of the product and build it to a decent level. For me, it’s a good everyday neutral shadow, and I still like the feel of it 😉