Almay Shadow Softies

I rarely review multiple shades or colours of the same product.  Instead, I just review the lone shade/colour that I’m set, or, more likely, that I bought. I used to think that this approach was adequate but after my experience with Almay’s new Shadow Softies eyeshadows, I’m thinking that only reviewing one shade/colour might only be giving part of a product’s story.

I received two free, full-sized Softies from the Almay gifting suite that the company had set up at the Spark Sessions blogging conference. At the suite, we were allowed to pick two colours. I was immediately drawn to Moss, a shiny, gold-y-olive colour. I also grabbed Vintage Grape, since I don’t own a dark, non-shimmery purple.

Almay just released this line of eye colour in November and it hasn’t yet created a product page for them. But at the suite, we were told that Softies were Almay’s attempt at showing its more fun and colourful side. We also told that the Softies were designed to be highly wearable and layer-able while still maintaining Almay’s long tradition of offering products designed for those with sensitive skin.

Softies are available in over a dozen colours that yes, do bring a bit of life and fun to Almay’s makeup offerings. But while these colours do look great in their little cases, how they look on an eyelid is two completely different stories.

You can only see the purple because I
put a ton of it on

Let’s start with Moss. It looks shiny and intense in its case and it goes on shiny and slightly less intense, which is normal for drugstore eyeshadow. Getting it on though is a bit of a pain-in-the-ass. I’ve tried out a lot of powdered eyeshadows and none have required as much pressure as this product to get it out of the container and onto to my eyelid.

Once it was on, it was fairly blendable. It also didn’t migrate too much to my eyelid crease, especially if I used it over a primer. But it did fade away. If I put it on first thing in the morning, it was almost gone by dinnertime.

But at least for a few hours in the morning, it was visible and it was pretty looking. That cannot be said for the Vintage Grape shade.

I swear, I’ve already used a third of this product because you require a lot of it to even notice the colour. Yes, this product is called “Shadow Softies” so a softer colour is to be expected but the results of Vintage Grape are beyond soft. And those results aren’t even that interesting look, or, at least on me, flattering. This shadow is also completely gone by mid-day.

If I were given Moss and Vintage Grape without any containers or labels, I wouldn’t have thought that they were from the same line; they’re that different. I really hope that Softies are the exception when it comes to makeup colours, and not something that I’ve just never noticed until I tried them out.

Would I buy this product: No. While I like the Moss shade, I’m not wowed by it and my experience with the Vintage Grape has basically scared me off from this product.

Should you buy this product: Don’t buy the Vintage Grape. As for the other colours… well, I saw these at Shoppers Drug Mart for under $7 so they are cheap. If you see a colour you love, pick it up but be prepared to have to use a lot of product to get the results you want.