Drug Store Foundation Challenge: Almay Clear Complexion Foundation

If you'd like to read all about this challenge {click here}...

Shown inTan

Description of Almay Clear Complexion Foundation from Almay Offical Website: blemisheal technology contains salicylic acid to heal and conceal blemishes for an even complexion. mineral complex absorbs oil. aloe and chamomile soothe skin to help reduce redness.

Double Warning: One of the pictures below shows me with out ANY make up on. Another shows my face once the foundation is on... the flash made it look a lot lighter than it truly appeared. Oh, and my hair is wet! I seriously thought about not uploading these pics haha

A. No Make Up (Flash) B. Almay Clear Complexion in Sand (flash) C.  Same Foundation without  flash

I picked out my color according the what I felt was my closest shade -and I failed miserably. I purchased the color Sand when I should've purchased Tan... It just looked too pinky in the bottle. That is one of the major set backs when purchasing foundation at a drug store.  There is no way to test it out and then purchase.  However, a lot of retailers do let you return used make up... so not all hope is lost. I kinda made it work by applying some bronzer but I can't say that it looked good.

Anyway, I tried out this foundation for 5 days and these are my final thoughts:

Pros:

• Redness is minimized
• Inexpensive $10.80 (about 4 times less then I normally pay)
• Easily accessible- Almay is available at most major retailers (Target, CVS, Walgreens, etc.)
• Long lasting -- without primer it lasted about 5 hours

Cons:

• Formula is very dry -yes its for combo to oily skin but, it is very hard to work with. Dries with an "ashy" finish
• Cakey on blemishes. It almost spot lights blemishes :(
• Must use a lot of product to cover entire face
• Though it reduces redness... the coverage is not great.

All in all, I would only recommend this product if your skin is EXTREMELY oily. If you have combination skin...it'll do more bad than good. If you have the right correctors underneath... this foundation would be simply passable. The biggest issue I have is that its hard to work with. It does not blend well and looks cakey in undesirable spots.

I give this product a 2 out 5