Setting spray

Two things: it fuses powder layers into a single surface, and it reduces the dry, powdery look that is often visible in person.

What it does not do: stop your skin producing oil, or correct a base that was the wrong choice. If makeup slides after two hours, the problem is almost always preparation rather than the absence of a spray.

Spray after the makeup is completely finished, from about 20 to 30 cm away, evenly rather than concentrated in one spot.

The main error is spraying too close: the droplets are then large enough to mark the base. The second is touching the face immediately — it needs to dry before anything comes near it.

Setting sprays fall into groups that are not interchangeable, and using the wrong one is worse than using none.

• Mattifying — for oily skin, to reduce shine
• Hydrating or dewy — for dry skin, to reduce a powdery finish
• Pre-makeup sprays — a different product entirely, used to prepare skin
• Waterproof — only where it is genuinely needed, since removal is harder

It is not worth it if the makeup is light and the day is short. One thin layer of base and minimal powder is not going anywhere in four hours.

It is also the wrong answer when the real problem is dry skin. A mattifying spray on dry skin emphasises the texture further — the fix is in preparation, not in setting.

In summer, and particularly in humid air, a setting spray does more work: it is the one layer that stands directly between skin and perspiration. On the Georgian coast that difference is noticeable within the first hour.

In winter the reverse applies. Heated rooms are very dry, and a mattifying spray dries the skin further. Changing type by season gives you more than buying one expensive product ever will.