After months, I'm still on a quest for the perfect foundation. Given how well my primer works, I decided to try a brand with lighter coverage, a finish that would be much more sheer and a friend suggested I give Almay Smart Shade foundation a try. I'd looked at it before and thought it looked interesting, given the way the makeup starts off white and is supposed to blend into your skin tone. Considering my love for Almay's Clear Complexion foundation, I figured it would likely be good makeup.

The problem I have encountered time and again is in the shade of foundation. I find that many are too orange for my extremely fair skin, no matter how light I go. I was hoping that this would be different and picked up a bottle of the 'light' version of this foundation.

It was a disaster. It starts off white and as soon as I begin to blend it into my skin, it turns a horrible shade of orange. I tried various methods of blending, including patting it lightly onto my skin and using smaller and smaller amounts. The only reason I use foundation now is to even out my VERY uneven skin tone around my nose and mouth, and I find that wherever I put this foundation, I just end up with orange splotches, instead of red.

I'm very disappointed in the performance of this makeup.

I was seriously disappointed with this product. I bought it to try it out because it was deeply discounted (not because of expiry but because the colour was discontinued), and after one usage it went into my garbage can. The consistency was uneven, the coverage was poor, and it just looked awful on my skin. It truly looked like I had aged a few years with the stuff on. Perhaps it does not work for those of us with combination complexions. I think there are better products out there that are available at the drug store counter for a fraction of the (regular) price.

This did not provide the coverage I need. It seems too thin and more like a tint that a foundation. The color did come pretty close to the shade I need but it lacked in staying power. I had to reapply a couple times throughout the day. I would recommend this to someone looking for light coverage but be prepared to reapply.

I would not recommend this product to anyone! When they talk about gimicky products this is absolutely without a doubt in my mind one of those. Then why in the hell did I buy this? Exactly for that reason. A foundation that can match your skin tone instantly?!?! "Take the guesswork out of finding your matching shade". Plus it's pretty cheap....Well, I gotta say I am really dissapointed in this product.

At first when I started to use it, it wasn't too bad...I would use it if I needed some sheer/light coverage and I didn't have the time to do my normal makeup routine. For a while I thought, "not bad.." I still didn't like it and it definately does not come close to my MAC foundation, but anyways...I had run out of my MAC foundation and totally had forgotten about it. BAD MEMORY! Because I had a party to attend that night. I was already running late so I used the Almay smart shade which I had bought in light/medium. Like 3 minutes after it has set in (and to my horror) it started to turn "fake bake" orange!!! WTH?! I go downstairs to ask my roomates if it was just me and they all said I looked orange. That really pissed me off because I was already running late and I had run out of my MAC.

Thankfully there was predrinks at one of my girlfriends house who had the same MAC foundation and shade I use, so thank goodness for that. What I have learned from this experience is to always have a backup bottle of my old trusty MAC..and to never buy something because I think "oh cool, that looks neat" lol!

Beauty does not come cheap...or easy!!!!

I bought this to replace my current tinted moisturizer. I always dilute my tinted moisturizer with a mixture of sun screen and pure aloe vera gel because I find the amount of colour to be overwhelming and I want to boost the SPF.

I hated this product. For $11 it made me upset that it was so thick and remained white on my face for as long as it did. I tried it without my abovesaid concoction and the results were drab - not enough colour, you have to put on a lot before you notice the shade.

The coverage is poor. I plan to stick with my previous product in the future.

I bought this foundation because I find it hard to find a makeup that is light enough for me and is hypoallergenic. I have even tried going to speciality stores, but I haven't had any luck. This foundation was light, but seemed to clog up my pores. The colour was alright, but I wouldn't be buying it again. I liked the idea of it being smart and knowing my shade, but it fell short.

I thought this product would be a great way to end the "which shade to buy" debate...but it really didnt. I found it thick and heavy and felt it was clogging up my skin. I found it didnt really do much to cover up mild blemishes...and you dont blend well it leaves you looking a little blochy. It's just not for me.

I got this at Wal-Mart about a month ago because I had run out of my MAC MoistureBlend foundation and I needed something to take it's place before I could go out and buy a new one. They had a sale on where I could get the foundation AND concealer for $17 CAD (after tax) and usually the foundation itself is $16 so I figured I'd try it. Now I am -extremely- pale, and I have iron deficiency anemia so finding a drugstore foundation is really hard for me because usually they don't come in very many shades, especially ones that are as pale as I am and the best & closest to my skin tone that I have found is the CoverGirl TruBlend Shade #1 foundation/concealer. But I decided to try it out anyway and I wasn't too impressed.

I got the foundation/concealer in "Light" but it's not light at all. It is too yellow & dark for my skin and it's very hard to blend into my neck to make it look even remotely natural. So that is very frustrating. The coverage is light unless you build up on it then it could be a light/medium coverage and that's all I really need so that's a good point I suppose. It can tend to get a bit streaky if you don't blend it out well with your foundation brush or set it with a powder. I also found the smell this foundation to be really disgusting. I did like the fact that it had SPF 15 in it though.

I don't get the "colour matching" part of this foundation because in my opinion it starts off white, and then when you blend it out it goes to the colour it wants/is supposed to go to ("light"), not necessarily your "skin tone" because there is no way that a foundation could properly match everyone's pigmentation in their face perfectly with just one foundation. So I find that very misleading and I'm sure a lot of people have bought this foundation without knowing that and have been disappointed. Now I have read/watched reviews where people love this product because it matches their skin tone, but unfortunately this is just not the foundation for me. :(

I really wanted to start buying cheaper foundations but I guess that's just not an option. But I did like the concealer for my under-eye circles so I guess something good came out of this. But I would much rather have had a MAC concealer than the Almay one. I will not be re-purchasing this foundation ever again. :(

Positives:

SPF 15
Light/Medium coverage depending on how much you build up
Concealer conceals dark circles well

Negatives:

Not enough colour selection
Can get streaky if not blended out well or set with powder
Smells disgusting
Not worth the money [imo]

I have always hard a hard time with finding the perfect foundation for my completion. Most foundations I have tried in the past leave me feeling like I look more red.
I loved this foundation when I found it. It goes on smooth and light and blends to match your color. You dont have the makeup line around your face that some other foundations leave. You have a light even cover that looks completely natural.
I highly recommend this foundation.

I recently went to a REVLON warehouse sale, where I picked up Almay Smart Shade foundation. I decided to try it since I could get it at a fraction of the price.

I always have difficulty finding the right shade of foundation, but was skeptical that this would match my skin tone. Boy was I wrong! Its a perfect match, and doesn't feel like I'm wearing makeup!

I would definitely recommend this product! - and won't hesitate to pay full price for it when my warehouse sale find is empty!