This is my holy grail foundation. It is medium to full coverage, matte but not flat finish and very long-lasting. It is also about 80% transfer-free. My skin is acne-prone and a lot of other foundations either clog my pores or break me out, or won`t give enough coverage, but this beats them all and happens to help calm my current breakouts during the day. After taking off my makeup, my skin looks better than when I put it on, which tells me that salicylic acid is working. The one thing that you don`t want to skip with this foundation is your moisturizer, because it may settle in wrinkles and fine lines. Also it may look heavy and cakey if more than one layer is applied. I find this looks more natural when applied with your fingers, but I prefer a synthetic slanted kabuki brush for full coverage. My skin is oily, but this foundation keeps oils at bay for the whole day and I never feel greasy or have the need to blot or use powder. Setting it with powder, however, helps to keep it in place perfectly. The one con is this product causes flashback in photos. It may not be the case with medium skin tones, but with fair and light shades it is. I wouldn`t use this product if going out at night where photos will be taken. Also because of the staying power I prefer to clean my skin by taking the foundation off with makeup wipes first and then washing my face with cleanser and a washcloth. This is not the kind of foundation you can wash off with water and soap easily. I`ve tried more than a dozen of different foundations (from drugstore to high-end), but this works best for me. Read more
Been using this foundation for years. The shade matches my skin tone perfectly, and I never have to worry about breakouts, unlike with many other products. My only “complaint” is that as I’ve gotten older, I now need to apply moisturizer before using it—something I didn’t have to do when I was younger. That’s on me, not the product! Read more
Perfect texture. Goes on light and creamy. After trying several others, I always go back to this brand. Read more
I used to use this for a bout a year but I recently stopped and started to go into high end brands. I actually found one of my old Almay bottle’s and started using it again and realize this was better than most high-end brand I was using Almay had better coverage and light weight feeling. I was using bareMinerals, Mac foundations they were both in the matte foundation medium to full coverage and they didn’t last very long they tend to cake up. Almay covers really well gives a nice natural Matt. It’s best used with a Flat top kabuki brush in my opinion for better coverage, if you are looking for light coverage use a sponge. I recently purchased one about a week ago it seems they change their formula, upping dosage on salicylic acid, Which I’m not a big fan of, being that most of my face cleansers already have salicylic acid in it because I have acne, oily prone skin even at age 29, I ordered the color beige, I’m cool toned with pink undertones. And I’m disappointed to say the color was off and looked darker than it was before. So I don’t know if I could use this in the winter but most likely maybe in the summer. I do not recommend using this under your eyes not because it leave creases but because it’s not good for under eyes it has the salicylic acid which isn’t good for under the eyes and the dosage is way too high. All in all it’s a good foundation but being that they change the formula I don’t know if I could keep using it. I’m going to try to purchase a lighter shade and see if I’m able to use it. Read more
A little background on myself... I'm 26 years old and I have never ever used make up. All I ever used was eye liner, my whole life. Then recently about a year ago I break out horribly. It's been really hard on me since I've never had my face look this bad. I've never turn to make up... Ever. I didn't even know where to start what to look for. I took my 19 year old sister with me to Walgreen's one day I bought about 6 diffrent make up bottles, garnier, cover girl, bare minerals to name a few. I was going for oil free, acne fighting etc. I spend over 100 dollars! I know, pathetic. Very.... But I was desperate, my job requires me to go into customers houses about 10x diffrent houses a day. It takes a tow on me, I feel that all they see is my nasty acne. And of course I've taken many steps into fighting this acne. It's getting better. Anyway back to my review, I got home and went to work. Long story short almay is amazing! It went in smoothly and made such a big difference in my face, and self esteem. Like I mention before I know NOTHING about make up, I bought some sponges to apply it... Probably using them wrong. I just ended up applying with my hand, just like lotion. A little goes a long way. It has not caused further break outs which I'm so grateful for. And it has 0.5% of salicylic acid. As far as my morning routine I use a proactive toner, then a retinol moisturizer, then elta 46 spf sunscreen, and finally almay makeup. I know my pictures are so ugly and look like I'm at my worst break out, but believe it or not it's a 100x better since I started this new routine. I haven't had any new break outs. I'm eternally grateful for this little bottle. I know it doesn't make my skin look flawless but it does cover a lot of my blemishes. Which alone make me feel better about myself. I'm embarrassed to use this pictures out here having many people look at them. But if it'll help someone like me make a decision, that's all that matters :) I'm just trying to say that I highly recommend. Also keep this in mind, this almay bottle costs 15-16 at Walgreen's, ulta, and Walmart so here in amazon with this particular seller you are getting a bargain! Do your research you will not find it for 5.97 anywhere else! But honestly I would be more than happy to pay that 15 because it's worth it As far as my picture goes, I used a small amount and made a thin layer. I've been using almay for 2 weeks and a half Read more
