December 13, 2013

Almay Smart Shade CC Concealer and Brightener Review & Swatches

Almay Smart Shade CC Concealer and Brightener2

Almay Smart Shade CC Concealer and Brightener is a new Spring 2014 launch from Almay hitting drugstores now that includes a creamy concealer and a brightener in one compact which is available in three shades.

Take a look!

Almay Smart Shade CC Concealer and Brightener is one of the products that gets me giddy because I like nothing more than a good concealer. This dual sided product has a creamy concealer on one side and a brightener on the other. The concept seemed great as you can concealer and correct with one side and pat a bit of brighten under eyes as well give you a well rested appearance.

In theory it’s a great idea! And hell it might even work out for some folks that need very little under eye concealing.

Unfortunately for me it runs way too shear. I settled and purchased Medium for myself because it looked like the perfect shade. The shades do seem to run fairly light so the Medium shade selection seems more like medium fair in my humblest. The concealer is a medium beige where as the brightener is a lighter beige with cooler pink undertones. The texture is dense here so don’t expect an emollient, creamy concealer like you’d see from Bobbi Brown. The density of the product doesn’t make it overly dry though and I find it felt a touch silicone-like when I applied it so it filled minor lines quite nicely during application and didn’t just fall into those lines and crease. It blends quite nicely under my drier eyes and didn’t crease through the wear but faded at around hour four unfortunately even after setting with powder. It does run fairly sheer so it’ll give a nice, natural finish but won’t conceal major dark circles, puffiness, and finer lines.

Almay Smart Shade CC Concealer and Brightener

Almay Smart Shade CC Concealer and Brightener swatches

Personally, this is more of “I’m just starting to use concealer” type of product versus an “I only had six hours of sleep, I need to be at work at 8 AM for an important meeting and look my best” concealer. If your eyes are younger chances are you just need a little touch of concealer to look incredible and this might just work for you. However, those used to using concentrated, pigmented concealer will be disappointed.

I felt the brightener was a tad useless as it didn’t really brighten much of anything and just felt like I was applying concealer on top of concealer. It doesn’t have shimmer, a luminous glow, or any of the typical fanfare that “brightening” style concealers like to include in their finishes as of late. The good news is you can use it as a mixing product of sorts to lighten up the concealer shade.

In the end, Almay Smart Shade CC Concealer and Brightener is a great concept but the formula doesn’t quite live up the the brilliant idea. A bit more creaminess to the formula and a tons more pigment would make it an excellent drugstore concealer but unfortunately you get neither here.

If you just need a touch of coverage it’s your girl! If you need something more powerful, well, needless to say you’ll likely be disappointed.

Available now at drugstores.

I purchased this item.

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Divya

    I was looking for this during the clearance sale but ended up picking up a palette from Cosatal scents 🙂 Great review… gonna skip this 🙂

  • Tina

    Aw, I was hoping that this would work because it’s pretty hard to find a salmon or pink tone concealer in the drugstore. I have both the Bobbi Brown creamy concealer and Skinfood salmon one, but they don’t really cover my dark circles. The Bobbi Brown tends to crease and the Skinfood salmon concealer has a weird texture…don’t know how to describe but it isn’t creamy, more like light and waxy. Do you have any other recommendations because salmon concealers work a lot better on dark circles.

  • Ashley

    The packaging reminds me a lot of the new concealer by Estee Lauder. Estee’s has a high SPF for a concealer and is easy to blend and apply and the price isn’t that high and to top that off they have a shade called: very light which is perfect for us fair skinned gals. Estee Lauder always delivers great products.

  • Kristina

    Well poo!!! I was really hoping this would be that “two in one” option that was cheap and would work. I have such dark circles you’d think I was a prize fighter or something *sigh* can never seem to cover them. Suggestions from a fellow perfect concealer huntress? Hehe

  • melissa

    darn..i was hoping that would be like a bisque/salmon color that corrected, i have horrid dark circles

  • Lisa

    funny, I was looking at these in CVS yesterday and thinking how the shade ran really dark…at least, the lightest shade looked really dark to me, 2 to 3 shades darker than what I would normally wear under my eyes (i’m NC20). I saw 3 shades (light, light/medium, and medium), and they all looked rather similar.
    I only need a little concealing, so I wish I could try it, cuz the texture sounds great.

    • Samantha

      The shades LOOK dark only. they appear a lot lighter on skin. I’m nc15, nc20 is I push and usually I debate if the lightest shade will be too dark but its actually almost too light.
      Color wise 100 light pale is the same tone as nc20 studio finish but lighter. (Nc15 in studio fix changes tone along w/shade compared to nc20.) the next darker shade = nc25 in studio finish (which they don’t make.)

      It is silicone based not emollient like studio finish so its a lot less coverage and totally not a dupe!

  • Mary

    I always wonder how to apply brighteners. Is it on top of the concealer?