Almay Foundation: ‘Skin Perfecting Comfort’ Is Long Wearing and Affordable

Skin looks healthy with this Almay foundation.

A foundation that still allows the glow of my skincare to peek through? Sign me up! Gone are the days of wanting a fully matte face all the time (though, there’s still a time and place for that). Coupled with buildable coverage, a long wear, and good ingredients and you have yourself the making of a perfect foundation cocktail. Now, let’s see if Almay Skin Perfecting Comfort Matte fits the bill.

Promises vs. Performance: A lightweight, long wear, soft matte foundation.

Almay Skin Perfecting Comfort Matte promises a natural, shine free finish for up to 16 hours. With a lightweight feel and buildable coverage, this foundation provides a customizable look. It features “optical blurring technology,” which creates a soft focus effect on skin, evens out skin tone, and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. This soft matte foundation claims not to feel dry, look cakey, or fade. Almay doesn’t include a pump with this foundation in an effort to minimize their usage of plastic.

The texture of Skin Perfecting Comfort is thicker and mousse-like. Being a thicker consistency, it blends out easily with a dense brush and gives skin a natural, soft matte finish. I feel that the coverage is buildable as claimed, achieving a solid medium coverage that isn’t too heavy. It doesn’t feel drying on my skin and I love that it allows the glow from my skincare to peek through. If you have super oily skin, I recommend topping with a setting powder as it does take a bit to fully dry down and doesn’t fully set on its own.

As far as the wear goes, it really depends on how you prep your skin and if you set your face or not. I don’t typically wear primer, so, for me, this is not a long wearing foundation as claimed (Almay claims 16 hours). From my experience, I do get a decent 6-8 hours. But, if paired with a gripping primer and setting powder and/or spray, I could see this foundation meeting closer to 10 hours of wear. Because it is a thicker texture, it can settle into fine lines and pores and accentuate imperfections the longer you wear. I recommend touching up with a powder to help soften the settling!

Note: I tested this foundation during the spring time in a moderately-humid climate. Also, I have normal to combination skin that sometimes has dry patches, but also gets oily.

Quick Rating Rundown

This Product

(3.5)

:Almay Skin Perfecting Comfort Matte Foundation

Price: $13.99

1.0 oz

Value

(4)

Application

(3.5)

Coverage

(4)

Texture

(3.5)

Longevity

(3.6)

Shade Range

(2.5)

Extra Benefits

(3)

Industry Standard

(4.4)

:L’Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Fresh Wear

Price: $15.99

1.0 oz

Value

(5)

Application

(4.5)

Coverage

(4)

Texture

(4.3)

Longevity

(4.5)

Shade Range

(4.3)

Extra Benefits

(3.5)

MILABU PICKS

(4+)

:Best Rated Full Coverage Foundations Under $25

Price: $11 – $22

various sizes

Value

(4+)

Application

(4+)

Coverage

(4+)

Texture

(4+)

Longevity

(4+)

Shade Range

(4+)

Extra Benefits

(4+)

MILABU PICKS

(4.5+)

:12 Best Foundations You Need To Try

Price: $15 – $70

various sizes

Value

(4.5+)

Application

(4.5+)

Coverage

(4.5+)

Texture

(4.5+)

Longevity

(4.5+)

Shade Range

(4.5+)

Extra Benefits

(4.5+)

^{Our Rating Criteria}

How It Compares: I gotta say, this drugstore foundation is a good one.

Almay Skin Perfecting Comfort Matte has buildable coverage with a soft matte finish. Despite it’s thicker consistency, this foundation blends into skin easily (I prefer using a dense brush). I enjoy the application and initial wear of this foundation. However, the longer I wear it, the less I love how it looks. I find that it can accentuate my fine lines, pores, and texture. And, without a primer or setting spray/powder, it isn’t the most long wearing. Even though it has a 16 hour wear claim, I don’t find that to be true. I only get 6-8 hours of wear.

My other gripes with this foundation line is the shade range, and that the bottle doesn’t come with a pump. I get (and appreciate) Almay’s effort to use less plastic in their packaging by not including a pump. This makes it easy to pour too much foundation out, therefore wasting product. Then, there’s the shade range: it isn’t inclusive. There’s only 16 shades to choose from, which means you’ll probably have to mix two to get your perfect match or may not even have a match.

Here are two drugstore gems.

With 30 shades to choose from, Infallible 24 HR Fresh Wear (rated **** 4.3) is my top drugstore pick. If you’re looking for a medium to full coverage that looks seamless on skin, is long wearing with a natural skin-like finish, this is it. Infallible is the drugstore foundation I reach for most. Though, if you are sensitive to scents, be wary, because Infallible is heavily fragranced.

If you’re looking for a true matte finish foundation with an inclusive shade range, Juvia’s Place I Am Magic (rated **** 4.3) is a great one to check out.

Milabu Beauty Method: Prep and set for long wear.

1. Prepare your skin for long wearing makeup. A holy grail primer of mine is Milk Makeup Hydro Grip ($36). I find that this primer works well with most all face base products, from drugstore to luxury. It has a gripping benefit, but also boosts skin hydration.
2. Apply your foundation, concealer, and complexion enhancers (blush, bronzer, highlight).
3. Lock everything in place with a setting powder and/or setting spray. Some of my favorites are the iconic Laura Mercier Translucent Powder ($40) and Morphe Continuous Setting Mist ($16).