Almay Smart Shade Perfect and Correct Primer

Hi everyone!

In today's blog I am bringing to you the Almay Smart Shade Perfect and Correct Primer that has green and lavender primer combined into one container and comes out kind of separately, but out of the same pump. The packaging looks and functions pretty cool and I don't know how they did it, but I'd like to. Almay claims in their description of the product that you can wear this primer alone or under foundation. I would just like it to be known that I suffer from redness to my skin which I work super hard to try to eliminate and I personally would not wear this primer alone without foundation and concealer and finishing powder and everything else. I took pictures of my normal bare skin. Then I put this product on my face and retook the picture. I honestly did not see an ounce of difference. You could still see my redness and my face did not look or feel hydrated. I will admit that I'm not entirely sure how to wear this product because if I blend it into my skin then I can still see the redness. If I leave the green goop on my skin by lightly blending it in, then it does work on covering majority of the redness, but then you have green all over your face. I also would not recommend putting this primer on with any other primer because then it balls up into rubber balls and that is not fun. I would definitely not recommend wearing this without some kind of foundation over it. It does a decent job if you do cover it with foundation.

I bought this about a year or so ago and according to the official Almay website they still sell this product line and this specific primer with the green and lavender, they call them "ribbons", in the bottle that come out of the same pump together, but separate.

Rating:

Price: 9/10
Packaging: 10/10
Amount of product: 10/10
Longevity: 8/10
Application: 10/10
Smell: 7/10
Covers redness: 6/10
Covers large pores: 10/10
Website description: 6/10
Different skin types: 7/10
Overall rating: 7/10
Would I repurchase: 6/10
Total rating: 96/120=80%=B

My personal rating: 7/10=70%=C

Comments:
I don't remember exactly how much I paid for this product, but I do remember I bought it from Walmart and I remember being surprised that this product was $10.00 plus so I am going to say I paid somewhere between $9.99 and $11.99 for this product. I think that for an Almay brand at Walmart that is a bit expensive. But they are not as bad as the MAC ones that are $20.00 plus, but MAC is a brand where you would expect that, where as with Almay you really don't. As I mentioned above that I love the packaging because it is super cool looking and the way the green and the lavender come out of the same pump at the same time, but don't mix together is awesome. I have not had any problems with this product packaging leaking which makes me happy. I think that this product lasts as long as most primers. I think the longevity of this primer depends on the quality of the foundation product you are wearing over it. I think if you have dry skin this might last a bit longer and with oily skin it might break down or be too slick so it might slide off easier. The actual application of the product is smooth and fairly even. I just would not recommend putting any kind of primer over it and it should be good. This product kind of smells like an old rubber shoe, but it's a light smell and not overpowering so it's kind of tolerable. Once applied to the face I can't smell it at all. This primer tries really hard to cover redness, but either I'm not doing it right or it doesn't work like it's supposed to. When I rub it into the skin then you can still see the redness through it. If you lightly rub it into the skin then you have green all over your face, but it does 'cover' redness. I would say it does, but not the way I would necessarily prefer it to. I do think that this primer does a very good job of filling in/covering large pores and small fine lines. I think it's because this primer is so liquid-like that the skin absorbs it into the pores and small lines. I really appreciate that this product does that. With the official Almay website description I do agree that this product smooths the skin and I half agree when it says that imperfections are diffused because it does a wonderful job on filling in/diffusing my large pores and small lines. I don't necessarily agree that this product does what it claims as it pertains to green 'ribbons' neutralizing redness or the lavender 'ribbons' creating hydration and brightening of my skin tone, I do not personally feel this primer hydrates my skin by 265%, and I would definitely not recommend wearing this without medium to full coverage foundation. You might be able to get away with a light coverage foundation. I think this primer is good for dry to normal skin, but I would be careful with it being too slippery for oily skin, especially super oily skin. Overall, this primer is good for filling in large pores and small fine lines and creating a smooth even surface for makeup. I would not recommend wearing this product alone, I feel that at first this product hydrates, but then kind of dries out, and it does not do what it's supposed to which is neutralize redness or give brightness to the face. I might repurchase this, but for $10.00-$12.00 I would definitely look else where first before returning to purchase this product.

Sincerely,
Marina