Close to perfection. (Almay Skin Stays Clean Foundation)

Member Name: Vaula

Product:	Almay Skin Stays Clean Foundation
Date:	28/06/09 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great shade for my skin, applies well, smooth finish, lasts well, doesn't irritate skin.

Disadvantages: Not as healthy for your skin as the new mineral formulas.

I used this Always foundation for a couple of years, stocked up on it when it was discontinued and so far haven't been able to find another foundation as good.

The foundation comes in a simple see-through glass 'jar' with a screw-on lid. The mouth of the jar is wide, so you can easily pour out as much of the product as needed. The back of the jar reads: "Clear Pore Compex helps keep pores clean".

The foundation is in liquid form and is hypo-allergenic and oil-free. It smells a bit different than most, not bad, but it has a distinctive non-girly smell, that seems to have a hint of liquorice or peppermint or something with a bit of kick to it in it. I first bought it due to the fact that the shade 'Buff 02' matches the colour of my skin exactly. It is a nice pale shade that tends a bit more towards yellow than pink.

The product is easy to apply with a smooth makeup sponge, and leaves what I would call a fairly light coverage, not very light, but far from heavy. When you apply the foundation, you can feel a faint cool and tingling sensation, which feels nice and refreshing.

The finish is smooth and matte, and stays matte pretty well throughout the day on my combination skin, with a few touches of powder needed every now and then. It also stays put really well, as some foundations seem to almost disappear from your face in the course of the day. It's very easy to remove with any makeup remover I used.

Difficult to think of anything negative to say about the product, it's obviously not as good for your skin as the new mineral foundations, but that said, my sensitive skin didn't react badly to it at all, maybe due to it being hypo-allergenic, light and oil-free.

I would recommend this to anyone, but as said, it's been discontinued. I did find a very similar-looking product and shade in a Revlon Color Stay range, but this turned out to be of a much more crude consistency, and didn't leave the same smooth finish.

Summary: Great product overall, shame that it's not available anymore.