Almay was kind enough to send along some of their new spring products for me to review. Designed with festival vibes in mind, the range is naturally quite bold and glittery. While I’ve personally never attended a big music festival such as Coachella or Osheaga, I love following people who are there. Festivals are the best for scoping out fun fashion and beauty trends that are anything but ordinary. Bearing in mind that festival makeup is definitely not every day makeup, let’s take a look at the new products.
Almay Make Them Jelly Hi-Lite in “24K Dreams” and “Unicorn Light”
Naturally, these caught my eye immediately. With the halographic packages, enthralling names, and the premise of a jelly highlighter, I dug right in. Upon opening the package, they weren’t exactly what I was expecting. The consistency is definitely jelly-like, but more like actual Jell-O than I had anticipated. I expected it to be a thick, but somewhat fluid consistency. These look and smell like slime that I had as a kid. That being said, they aren’t all bad! They are extremely glittery. “24K Dreams” has a gold shift while “Unicorn Light” has a pink shift. These are not subtle, every day highlighters as they definitely leave a fine glitter on your face. However, they are perfect for a festival, music concert, or party.
Left: 24K Dreams | Right: Unicorn Light
Almay Velvet Foil Cream Shadow in “Infinite Sky”, “Out of the Woods” and “Violet Eyelet”
Of all the products, these cream shadows are the standout for me. I received three colors – a rich chocolate brown, a metallic blue and a metallic purple. First of all, these are both incredibly pigmented and creamy. They swatch beautifully and the lasting power is crazy! I have to literally scrub my skin to remove them (which is a little painful around the eyes).
I tried creating an eye look using just one color and that was much easier than trying to use multiple colors. As much as I love the consistency, they are a little hard to work with in terms of blending and combining various colors. Therefore, I’d recommend using these for an all-over lid color. They move around on the eyelid quite easily at first but once dried, they are unmovable. I definitely want to pick up a couple more of these in more subtle, every day colors.
Left – right: Out of the Woods, Infinite Sky, Violet Eyelet
Almay Goddess Glosses in “Magic”, “Enchanted”, and “Cosmic”
I was pleasantly surprised by these lipglosses. While the colors aren’t necessarily what I would have chosen myself, they are actually super wearable. And despite being filled with glitter, they are extremely comfortable to wear. They aren’t sticky or gritty on the lips at all, and the color is quite pigmented. “Magic” is a bronzey-orange, “Enchanted” is a berry purple and “Cosmic” is a light gold with multi-color reflect.
Almay Goddess Gloss Cosmic
Almay Goddess Gloss Magic
Almay Goddess Gloss Enchanted
Almay Eyeshadow Quads in “Less is More” and “Never Settle”
Initially, I thought these were little highlight cubes, until I noticed that they each contain a matte shade. Along with a matte, each quad contains two shimmers and one glitter. The swatches of these were okay, nothing remarkable, especially the mattes. The shimmers and the glitters are the best of the quad, but overall I would pass on these.
Almay also sent along a “Smoky Eye Trio”, however, it was smashed on arrival and therefore I was unable to test it.
Almay Liquid Lash Extenders Mascara in “Black”
I was hopeful that this would be a great drugstore mascara option, but sadly I was disappointed. It has a fibre and tube formula that supposedly wraps around your eyelashes. However, my eyelashes neither appeared overly longer, thicker or more voluminous with use. It is, however, a great everyday mascara. I didn’t notice any clumping or flaking, which is always a plus! But personally, I just prefer a mascara that offers a more dramatic look.
PR samples provided for review.
