Product Review: ALMAY intense i-color powder shadow and smoky-i kit

by Inna Grinblat of Glamorized Skin

ALMAY For You?

Today, I would like to bring to your attention the eye complementing eyeshadows from ALMAY. Not that long ago ALMAY has revamped their whole make up line by changing their marketing strategy, product quality and presentation. A decade or so ago this line mainly targeted women in their late 20s+. It was not considered “cool” by the younger generation. However, now ALMAY seems to appeal to most women, from teenagers to mature ladies. The TV commercials and magazine ads about ALMAY's eyeshadows that complement different eye colors made me go to my neighborhood drugstore to check them out.

The Offer:

There are two types of eyeshadow palettes they are offering: ALMAY intense i-color powder shadow and ALMAY intense i-color smoky-i kit eyeshadow. Both promise to brighten your eyes and intensify your eye color. Additionally, the smoky kit promises to give you those smokey eyes Kate Hudson is showing off in all of the pictures and TV ads for ALMAY. In my opinion, some of the company's choices for several eye colors are a bit strange. In our Eyes That Sparkle article, we note that the best way to intensify your eye color is to apply a shade that is opposite your eye color on the Color Wheel. However, ALMAY offers you a blue colored eyeshadow (smoky eye kit) for blue eyes. The picture above is a good example of what would happen when blue eyeshadow is used on blue eyes. Although the eyeshadows look very nice and creative on the model, the overall look does not intensify the eye color. Instead the eye color is overshadowed by the eyeshadow shades. Therefore, I would still recommend following our advice about which shade would complement your eye color best. If you wanted to try ALMAY'S palettes and you have blue eyes, try the colors suggested for brown eyes (warm, sparkly brown, dark violet and light tan) or hazel eyes (deep silver, warm purple and light tan).

What About Quality?

In terms of quality, these eyeshadows live up to their claims. These are powdery, smooth, and blend easily. They go on soft and stay on for quiet some time without fading or flaking (assuming you have prepped your eyelids in advance). Smoky eye kits do not have a more intense color than powder shadow palettes. Colors from both types of palettes can be worn every day to work or school. If you want to achieve a smoky, deep color look, you would have to apply several coats and an eyeliner.

Glamorized Skin Approved!

Overall, I would recommend these trios for everyone who wants to spend less time choosing different colors in the morning. Each palette contains all you need to achieve a completed look – there is a medium color for application on the lid, a darker color that is applied in the crease and a light color that is used for highlighting and blending everything nicely. If you are going for a smoky eye effect, you should apply the darker color above your lash line up to the crease, the medium color at the crease and the light color right below your brows and to blend everything.

If you want to hear more about application techniques for these eyeshadows or which colors would truly complement your eye color, ask your questions and I will be happy to help.