Review: Almay TLC Pressed Powder

Excuse the blurry picture. I forgot to bring the camera with me to Sabah and as it will be a few months before I go back to KL, my camera phone will have to do for now.

I always think of Almay as a drugstore version of Bobbi Brown. A little bit boring but chock full of great, fool-proof staples. Big siter is a huge fan of their i-colour eyeshadows -- "Saves me the bother of mixing, matching and thinking," she says -- and we both agree that their foundation range isn't too bad.

Which brings me to their TLC foundation range. Now, in Almay's books, TLC stands for Truly Lasting Colour as the foundation supposed to be able to last for up to 16 hours. Big claim, but I decided to put their pressed powder to the test.

I picked this up in Medium as it had a neutral undertone which matched my skin fairly well. One drawback about this powder are the limited number of shades: Light, Light/medium and Medium. Anyone darker than NC 35 should give this a miss.

After trying this out for the past few months, I have to say that I really like this powder. Coverage isn't very heavy but it works well in evening out my skin tone. It blends in beautifully and best of all, the oil control is superb. I am oil-free after 6 hours without any touch ups. It's a different story when I use sunscreen under my makeup though.

The main drawback to this product is the bulky packaging. It's round and fairly big so I can't slip it inside a tiny tote. Furthermore, the sponge compartment under the powder is pretty tiny so any sponge thicker than 3 sheets of paper isn't going to fit in there unless you strap a rubber strap around the case to keep it closed.

And no, you don't want to use the original sponge which came with the powder. It gives very cakey coverage. Use a brush or a very good sponge instead.

Alas, we can't get this in Malaysia but you can buy it from Australia for AUD 29.95.