I have no idea how a liquid can keep your make up in place but all I know is I can’t get enough of setting sprays! Before the world of primers and fixers, it always annoyed me that make up just seemed to disappear. You could say that was because of the quality or not of the make up, but to be honest, even some of the best products needed a little retouching throughout the day. Make up has changed so much over the years and you do get some amazing, long lasting foundations and concealers now, even so I always like to spritz a little bit of setting mist all over my face just for extra reassurance. It seems that every single brand has brought out a setting spray now and I wanted to find out which ones actually worked and did what they said they would do! There are many other setting sprays on offer that you could try, but I have definitely found a couple that work well for me. (I have rated them all out of 5)
Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray (£22) 5/5
This spray has been my “go to” setting spray for the past couple of years. I think it works really well and is worth the money. As it has always worked for me, I’ve never really ventured away from it. To be honest, if you’re happy to spend £22 I think this one is perfect. It keeps make up in place, it keeps my skin hydrated and I’m not sure what else you could want! For those of you who don’t want to spend too much, I have tried some cheaper brands and give you my thoughts below.
NYX Dewy Finish Setting Spray (£7) 3/5
First Impressions of this product, I felt my face was quite wet after spraying, however it did dry quickly and I didn’t have to fan my face at all to quicken the drying process. This product also comes in a “Matte Finish” but I decided to go for the dewy finish because I like that look and I have dryer skin. However there was definitely not any form of a dewy finish and my face felt really dry throughout the day, which was not very pleasant. When I do my make up I do put a dusting of powder over my foundation just to set it, so as my skin was dry with the spray, I decided not to put any powder on for the second day and see what happened. It actually worked a lot better and my skin didn’t feel anywhere near as dry but still didn’t look particularly dewy either. When it came to keeping make up in place it did pretty well; by the end of the day my make up still looked pretty fresh and I didn’t think I needed any touch ups. I feel if you advertise that a product will give a certain finish, you should make sure it does, although some people may be happy to overlook that for the cheap price!
Maybelline Superstar 24hr Setting Spray (£6.99) 2/5
This one I wasn’t so sure of. First of all the spray was very wet. I know I keep talking about certain sprays feeling “wet” and I get they're liquids so they technically are wet, but I prefer it when it’s more of a mist as it’s a lot lighter on the face. With this one in particular, I could see the droplets all over my face, and my issues did not end there. You have to shake the bottle well before use, same as the L’Oreal one, and mayyyyybe I didn’t shake it as well as I should have, but once the liquid had dried on my face I was left with WHITE SPOTS ALL OVER MY FACE ON MY FRESH MAKE UP. I was horrified. Literally, white spots. Where the liquid had dried. Bearing in mind I decided to try this one for my FIRST DAY at my NEW JOB on a MAKE UP COUNTER, I didn’t have the time to take all my make up off and start again. I was able to camouflage the spots when I applied more powder to the areas but then my face felt really dry from all the powder. Safe to say it was not the best start to the day. By the end of the day my blush had definitely disappeared but the make up didn’t look too bad. My skin tone still looked even and the coverage was still good.
After my miniature freakout I decided to give this another go for a second day, and it turns out if you shake the bottle well you don’t get white spots all over your face. Oops. Even so by the end of the day I still felt my make up had disappeared in areas, especially under my eyes, which is where I need products to stay the most to cover my dark circles. Not sold on this one, I think others are better and at a similar price point.
L’Oreal Infallible Fixing Mist (£7.99) 4/5
I liked the feel of this one, again my face felt quite wet after spraying and I must warn you the spray was quite forceful and I did flinch at first. Throughout the day there was no need for touch ups and my skin still felt fresh and not too dry which I liked. By the end of the day I was amazed that you could still see the blush on my cheeks! It literally looked exactly the same as when I first applied it in the morning, which is fantastic. For the price, I was impressed with this product, a really good, cheap setting spray.
Pixi Fixing Mist (£16) 5/5
I really liked this setting spray. The smell was a bit funny, but I think it worked very well. It definitely felt more like a “mist” and after I had sprayed it looked like it had covered my face quite evenly and felt very light, not like it had been soaked, something I didn’t find with some of the others. My skin felt hydrated throughout the day, not dry. My make up looked fresh throughout the day and didn’t need any touch ups. All in all I think this spray is really good.
Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe Herbs And Rosewater (£7.50) 5/5
For a while I just used this as a refreshing facial spray before putting make up on or just to refresh my face. I never thought to use it to set make up but it does suggest this on the packaging so I gave it a go. I must warn this spray soaked my face. Seriously, my face was soaking wet after spraying it. But do not be alarmed, it does dry and does not wash your make up off. I found the spray had evenly covered my face and it had a really nice scent, which was pleasant. I really like this spray, my face felt hydrated and my make up looked fresh, not cakey, and stayed on well throughout the day. Thumbs up from me!
Gerard Cosmetics Slay All Day Setting Spray (£11) 4/5
This was a brand I hadn’t heard of before seeing the setting spray online. I thought the price was pretty decent so definitely worth a try. Overall I thought the spray worked really well; it definitely kept my make up in place and it still looked fresh by the end of the day. The only problem I encountered was it did make my skin tingle a little bit. Now, this is probably my fault. There are 5 different scents available and I chose grapefruit because I love grapefruit scented products. However, I didn’t look into what the different scents are for so I'm not sure whether the one I chose was suitable for sensitive skin. That being said, the tingling didn’t last long and it worked really well as a setting spray, so I would recommend it. Maybe I’ll try a different scent in the future!
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