ALMAY smart shade cc cream review + a giveaway!

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When it comes to makeup – especially any type of face makeup or foundation – I’ve always been a big believer that less is more. Even when I’m going for a bolder night time look, I’ve always upped the ante with my eyes and/or lips and tried to use as little foundation as possible.

I guess you could say my “fear” or dislike of facial makeup and foundation is for two reasons – 1) I just can’t stand the look of cake-y face makeup and 2) I’ve gotten the impression that it’s bad for your skin. And, the truth is, a lot of foundations can be. Lately, though, I’ve been hearing a lot about CC creams and how they’re actually good for your skin. So when Almay offered to send me some of their ALMAY® smart shade CC cream™ to try, I figured it was worth a shot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I received the cream in shades of light, light/medium, and medium. I went with the light/medium, and I first applied it in the sunlight to get the best idea of how it looked on my skin. Right away, I loved how smoothly and lightly it applied. It didn’t feel at all thick or too cake-y.

Then I noticed that the cream blended into my skin much better than other creams or foundations. It instantly covered imperfections and corrected discoloration in my skin, which made for a more flawless overall makeup look.

But what’s great about ALMAY smart shade CC cream is that it’s not just about the instant results – it has long term effects to make my skin look and feel healthier. Over time, ALMAY smart shade CC cream brightens and evens natural skin tone while also helping prevent future damage with SPF 35.

Wearing face makeup really does make such a huge difference when it comes to the perfect “girls’ night out” look, but it’s even better to know that ALMAY smart shade CC cream is actually helping improve my skin!

I can honestly say that thanks to ALMAY smart shade CC cream I no longer fear face makeup like I used to. Instead, I’ve now embraced that there’s a product that is actually good for my skin that I can apply on a daily basis. ALMAY smart shade CC cream really is the perfect marriage of lightweight foundation + clarity enhancing care for beautiful coverage now and beautiful skin later!

How do you get your perfect Girls’ Night Out look? Leave your answer in the comments section for the chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!

Sweepstakes Rules:

No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods: Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this postTweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winner will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here. This sweepstakes runs from 10/23/13-11/19/13.

Be sure to visit the Almay Brand Page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts and find more chances to win!

ask G, part 2.

by 2 Comments

1. Makeup tutorial.. You look flawless day or night… So maybe some tips on what you do or recommend with your routine for either? – Dana

Wow, thanks Dana! Honestly, I’m not super talented or experimental in the makeup department, and my routine has been the same for as long as I can remember. If you check out my beauty category you’ll find a handful of posts I’ve done in the past about makeup reviews, my routine, etc. But to sum it all up, here are my top makeup tips!

  • in general, but especially for daytime, less is more.
  • I know this isn’t for everyone, but I try not to use foundation. My face feels better and my skin happier when I stick to some concealer under my eyes and on my nose, plus some blush or bronzer.
  • use eye shadows that compliment your eye color. For my blue eyes, that means I stick primarily to shades of brown (for liner, mascara, and shadow).
  • my go-to look for nighttime is smokey eyes. To do that I get a thin eye shadow brush and apply a dark drown shadow to my eyes as if it were an eyeliner.
  • if I want to have some fun or be a little more experimental with my look, I do so by changing my lip color rather than my eyes. Would rather not mess with a good thing, and a good shade of lipstick goes a long way!

And some of my favorite makeup products that I always use are:

  • mascara: Rimmel Lash Accelerator
  • bronzer: Benefit Hoola
  • concealer: Pur Disappearing Act
  • face: Almay Smart Shade Mousse
  • eye shadow: Urban Decay Naked and Almay Intense i-Color (bold nudes)
  • eye liner: I try new ones all the time, but always stick to browns
  • lip balm: Maybelline Baby Lips
  • lipstick: NARS Schiap (bright pink), Sephora Rouge (red), and Loreal Colour Riche Mering Mauve (light pink)

(FYI, most of those products can be found on GML’s Amazon store!)

2. How do you change your life when you realize it’s not working anymore? I’m 27, very unhappy, in a job I don’t like but more importantly I don’t like the relationship I have with myself. – Anonymous

I’m so sorry to hear that :( I’m definitely not an expert and can only speak from times that I’ve felt I wanted to change something about my own life. For me, the most important thing was having someone to talk to about it. Simply letting our what I was feeling was the first step in making a change. I confided in people close to me so I knew that I could trust them, and they knew me well enough to give sound advice.

As far as your job goes, have you tried looking into other options? It can’t hurt to just see what opportunities are out there and maybe sending your resume out. Changing jobs can be a really scary and difficult thing to do, so it’s okay to take your time and really think it through. But when I was in that position with a previous job, I came to the conclusion that my quality of life was more important.

Lastly, I would suggest you start journaling, if you don’t already do so. Journaling as been pivotal in my own life because it helps me pinpoint what areas of my life I’m happy with, which ones I’m not happy with, what I want to change, and how I plan on doing so. Simply starting to write down your feelings can really help bring clarity to your situation.

3. Do you still use fresh diet? – Anonymous

I wish! I can’t afford it right now.

4. Where do you get your hair cut? – Anonymous

Nowhere. I have my mom or a friend trim it for me about once a month.

5. How long did it take you to build a blog audience? Would you say that is one of the harder parts of blogging? –Andrea

Yes – absolutely. The difficult part isn’t just building the audience, but also keeping yourself motivated to keep up with it even when barely anyone is reading. When I first started blogging I was constantly asking myself “why am I doing this again?” I decided to stick with it no matter what, and it paid off after about 6 months.

I would say that the most important things for building a blog audience are 1) consistency 2) relatability and 3) aim to make friends, not just readers.

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Please note that I’m *not* an expert and that this advice is based solely on my own experiences and thoughts.

Have a question? Feel free to leave it as a comment on this post or ask me anonymously.