The best setting spray should feel weightless on the face while still delivering many beauty benefits. From priming skin for a smooth, even makeup application to keeping foundation looking fresh even hours after it’s applied, you can rely on the makeup artist staple to ensure a long-wear, smudge-free complexion without the need for touch-ups. It’s the perfect finishing touch that locks everything in place, ensuring that your makeup stays as flawless as when you first applied it—whether you’re dealing with a busy day at work or an evening out on the town. The beauty of a great setting spray lies in its ability to protect your look from the elements, whether it’s humidity, heat, or even that dreaded midday shine.
Vogue’s Favorite Setting Sprays:
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Plus, many formulas go beyond just locking makeup in place—they can prep your skin, hydrate, mattify, or add a glowing touch. After all, you’ve spent the time crafting your beauty look, so you won’t want your hard work to go to waste. Why not give it that extra layer of staying power, knowing your face will look just as polished hours later as it did when you first stepped out the door? Below, find Vogue’s edit of the best setting sprays for priming and setting a flawless makeup look, all the while hydrating and soothing the skin.
Best Airbrush Finish: Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray
- Why we love it: Formulated with aromatic resin to give the complexion a camera-ready appearance, the weightless spray holds makeup in place for up to 16 hours.
- Key ingredients: Film-former polymers, Japanese green tea, aromatic resin
- *How to apply: Before applying your makeup and after, spray over your entire face from about six inches away.
- Size: 3.3 oz
Best Soothing: Ilia Blue Light Filter Protecting and Setting Mist
- Why we love it: As its name suggests, the soothing, lavender-scented spray doesn’t just set makeup. It also acts as a protective shield, guarding the skin against damage from blue light and pollution.
- Key ingredients: Marine actives, mastic, tara extract
- *How to apply: According to Ilia, hold the bottle approximately 12 inches away from your face, pressing the nozzle down fully while moving your hand in an “X” or “Z” motion for even application. Reuse as desired throughout the day.
- Size: 1.69 oz
Best for Dry Skin: Tatcha Luminous Dewy Skin Mist
- Why we love it: Formulated for dry skin, the silky mist soothes and hydrates the face while giving makeup a boost of luminosity.
- Key ingredients: Botanical oils, humectants, Tatcha’s Hadasei-3 (a patented complex of superfoods, amino acids, and AHAs)
- How to apply: According to Tatcha, shake gently before using and spritz your face two to three times, from six inches away.
- Size: 1.35 fl oz
Best K Beauty: So Natural Powder 4 Room All Day Tight Makeup Up Setting Fixer
- Why we love it: Dubbed K Beauty’s favorite setting spray, nearly 5,000 five-star reviews on YesStyle boasting results that last all day make a convincing case. A blend of humectants like sodium hyaluronate helps to keep your complexion hydrated. At the same time, centella and tea tree extracts reduce skin irritation and absorb excess oils to keep your makeup from slipping or fading.
- Key ingredients Hydrolyzed wheat protein, sodium hyaluronate, citrus lemon fruit extract, arnica flower extract, mugwort extract, tea tree leaf extract
- How to apply: Shake the bottle well before spraying eight inches from your face, generously and evenly misting your face with your eyes and mouth closed.
- Size: 2.5 fl oz
Best Staying Power: One/Size by Patrick Starrr on ‘Til Dawn Waterproof Setting Spray
- Why we love it: With witch hazel to absorb excess oil and green tea extract to tighten pores, the spray gives the skin a blurred, matte finish.
- Key ingredients: Green tea extract, witch hazel
- How to apply: According to One/Size, its best to shake the can well before each use. Hold at least ten to 12 inches from your face and spray in a circular motion, with your eyes closed.
- Size: 3.4 oz
Best for a Dewy Finish: Morphe Continuous Prep & Set Setting Mist
- Why we love it: Formulated with ceramides and electrolytes, the fine mist hydrates the skin and improves its elasticity while sealing makeup in with a luminous finish.
- Key ingredients: Ceramides, rosehip fruit extract, panax ginseng root extract, licorice root extract, cucumber fruit water
- How to apply: Morphe recommends using before and after makeup application, by spraying at eight inches from your face.
- Size: 6.5 oz
Best Matte: NYX Matte Finish Setting Spray
- Why we love it: Ideal for oily skin, the niacinamide-enriched spray locks makeup into place with a matte finish that makes the skin appear poreless for up to 16 hours of wear.
- Key ingredients: Niacinamide, sodium salicylate, plantago lanceolata leaf extract
- How to apply: Hold the bottle six inches from your face and mist evenly.
- Size: 2.03 fl oz
Best Classic: MAC Prep + Prime Fix+ Primer and Setting Spray
- Why we love it: This multipurpose spray refreshes the skin and gives makeup a pearlescent glow—not to mention it’s been a classic setting spray amongst beauty lovers since the dawn of YouTube makeup tutorials. Aside from prepping and setting your makeup look, you can also spray your favorite color power products to intensify their color payoff. Available in rose, coconut, or lavender scents, it also perks up the spirit with a touch of aromatherapy.
- Key ingredients: Glycerin, cucumber fruit extract, caffeine, panthenol
- How to apply: To set your look in place, spray with the bottle held 12 inches away from your face. For intensifying color products, like eyeshadow, tap your favorite brush into the product and spray the brush bristles before applying it to your face.
- Size: 3.4 fl oz
Best Lightweight: Hourglass Veil Setting Spray
- Why we love it: This ultra-fine mist gives skin a soft-focus finish and ups the ante on makeup’s staying power; should you wish to keep your glam intact for a full 24 hours, this water-resistant formula will help you achieve it.
- Key ingredients: Glycerin, dimethicone, Ethylhexyl palmitate
- How to apply: According to Hourglass, shake well before each use, with the bottle held 10 inches from your face before spraying generously. Ensure the formula has fully dried before opening your eyes.
- Size: 4.5 oz
Best Waterproof: Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray
- *Why we love it: The spray is waterproof and transfer-resistant, relieving you of the need for makeup touch-ups—even on long and leisurely pool days. For an added long-wear look, you can even mix this with your foundation for a smudge-proof look.
- Key ingredients: Alcohol denat., PVP, dimethicone, Ppg 3 benzyl ether myristate
- How to apply: According to Urban Decay, shake the bottle well, spraying from 10 inches away from your face in an “X” and “T” formation. Repeat the formation two to four times.
- Size: 4.0 oz
Best Cooling: Skindinavia The Makeup Finishing Spray
- Why we love it: Add this to the packing list for your next tropical getaway. The long-lasting spray prevents makeup from smudging or budging for up to 16 hours, even in hot and humid environments. It also has a cooling effect on the skin.
- Key ingredients: Alcohol denat., PvP, aloe barbadensis leaf extract
- How to apply: Spray generously across your entire face, with your eyes and mouth closed.
- Size: 4.0 oz
Best Pore Minimizing: Benefit Cosmetics The Porefessional
- Why we love it: The hydrating spray has a blurring effect on the skin, wiping away any trace of pores and giving makeup a fresh, just-applied effect for up to 16 hours.
- Key ingredients: Butylene glycol, PvP, Dimethicone
- How to apply: Benefit recommends sandwiching your makeup by spraying before and after makeup application for best results.
- Size: 4 oz
Best Multipurpose: Too Faced Hangover 3-in-1 Replenishing Primer & Setting Spray
- Why we love it: Packed with hydrating coconut water, the spray works equally well as a primer and a setting spray. Plus, mist it on at any point to feel refreshed.
- Key ingredients: Coconut water
- How to apply: Shake well, and apply before and after makeup application. Holding the bottle six inches from your face.
- Size: 4.0 fl oz
Best Newcomer: Fenty Beauty You Mist Makeup-Extending Setting Spray
- Why we love it: Fenty Beauty’s setting spray only launched in January, and it’s still getting much buzz online for being one of the best newcomers in the category. The ultra-fine mist does it all: Fragrance-free, alcohol-free, non-comedogenic, waterproof (so sweat and humidity won’t interfere with your makeup look), and transfer-resistant. Hundreds of videos online can’t be lying: when beauty enthusiasts stress test the performance of this setting spray, product swatches and even lipstick won’t budge after a generous spritz.
- Key ingredients: Wild thyme extract (for hydration)
- How to apply: Fenty Beauty recommends finishing off your glam by either applying by spraying 8 inches from your face, or directly onto a makeup sponge and patting the product into your skin.
- Size: 3.4 fl oz
Best Blurring: Anastasia Beverly Hills Impeccable Blurring Matte Setting Spray
- Why we Love it: Anastasia Beverly Hills’ most recent 2025 launch gave beauty lovers a non-drying mattifying setting spray, promising up to 24 hours of wear. The lightweight mist aims to halt shine in its tracks and blur the appearance of enlarged pores.
- Key ingredients: Butylene glycol (for product absorption), pentylene glycol (for hydration), acrylates copolymer (for water resistance)
- How to apply: Anastasia Beverly Hills recommends shaking the bottle well before giving yourself a generous and even mist, in an “X” motion. Repeat two to four times.
- Size: 3.38 fl oz
How To Choose a Setting Spray:
“You have to know your objective for setting spray before making your selection,” says makeup artist and brand founder Jenny Patinkin. “Looking for keywords like ‘dewy,’ ‘oil control,’ ‘waterproof,’ or ‘lasting’ will help you get to the right formula for your desired outcome. There are also setting sprays that are marketed as protection from blue light.”
How do you know if a setting spray is working as it should? “In general, the spray should not feel drying, or make your skin feel itchy and taut,” says celebrity makeup artist Nick Barose, whose clients include Lily Gladstone and Lupita Nyong’o. “Your makeup should look fresh, and never dull, once the mist settles.”
How and When To Use Setting Spray:
“My favorite way to apply a setting spray is in a snowflake motion—up and down, in an X formation, and horizontally across the face—to ensure 100% of the face has been sprayed,” Dresher notes. She advises using a setting spray as the “very last step” of a makeup routine, though other facial sprays can be used at various points throughout the day to freshen up skin and makeup.
Alternatively, a setting spray can be used for targeted shine control. “I like to apply a mattifying setting spray to one of my damp Jenny Patinkin Green Tea Makeup Sponges, and then gently press it into the T-zone, only where oil and shine control is needed,” Patinkin shares.
Who is a setting spray best for?
“Setting spray is for anyone who knows that they need extra long wear time or wants their makeup to look perfect in any weather condition,” Patinkin says. “I use it more in the summer to protect makeup from melting off in heat and humidity, and I always recommend it for brides and bridal parties so that their makeup looks perfect in photos from start to finish.”
What’s the difference between a setting spray and a finishing spray?
Though the two terms are often used interchangeably, setting sprays and finishing sprays do have some differences. “Setting sprays create a barrier to help your makeup last longer,” says film and television makeup artist Vasilios Tanis, who has worked with Sydney Sweeney, Dakota Johnson, and Jennifer Coolidge. “They can save you time as you’ll need fewer touch-ups.” Some of his go-to setting sprays include Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray and Hourglass Veil Setting Spray.
On the other hand, Tanis says: “Finishing sprays provide more emollients to moisten the skin and create a dewy look, with or without makeup. They can also be used as a skin revitalizer—a pick-me-up for your skin.” His skin-rejuvenating picks include Lotion Yon-Ka Phyto-Aromatic Treatment Mist and Byroe Hibiscus Tea Glow Mist.
- Nick Barose is a celebrity makeup artist whose clients include Lily Gladstone and Lupita Nyong’o.
- Jenny Patinkin is a beauty expert, makeup artist, and brand founder.
- Vasilios Tanis is a celebrity makeup artist who has worked on film and television sets with Sydney Sweeney, Dakota Johnson, and Jennifer Coolidge.
- Natalie Dresher is a celebrity and influencer makeup artist whose clients include Dylan Mulvaney and Remi Bader.
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