Face mists: you either love them, or you can’t really see the point in them. But while they might come across as just well-marketed spray bottles filled with perfume and water, face mists have actually come a long way since they first started popping up in skin care (think: Mario Badescu’s — refreshing! but not particularly beneficial Facial Spray.) Over the years, face mist formulas have become more innovative and sophisticated — now, they’re often packed with active ingredients, and, as such, are worth considering as a legitimate, hydrating, illuminating, nourishing, and refreshing step in your skin-care routine.
Face mists can be used in a few different ways: in lieu of your moisturizer, on clean skin as a kind of toner-slash-essence, over makeup to help melt all the products together, throughout the day as a pick-me-up whenever your skin is feeling dry, hot, or tired, or (my personal favorite) as a kind of one-step, lazy day skin-care routine when I can’t be bothered to even bring myself to my sink (a frequent mood throughout most of quarantine). Or they can be used for all of the above!
Whether your skin concerns are dehydration, redness, dark spots, or hydration, I have an easy-to-use face mist for you. Below, a list of my favorites.
Rosen Skincare founder Jamika Martin created this facial mist formula to replace your daily moisturizer. It’s nourishing and hydrating enough to lock in moisture, but light enough to let your skin breathe. Like all the products in the Rosen Skincare line, this mist was created with acne-prone skin in mind: it uses blend of rosehip and castor oil to clarify, nourish, and add radiance to the skin, and rose water to lock in essential moisture and keep your skin hydrated, dewy and bouncy.
This soothing, moisturizing facial mist is fragrance-free, dermatologist tested, and has received the seal of approval from the National Eczema Association, so it’s suitable for even the most sensitive skin types. This mist uses a stabilized form of hypochlorous acid, which is naturally found in our white blood cells, and can help defend our skin against (and heal our skin from) environmental stressors and bacteria. The gentle, three-ingredient formula makes it suitable for liberal, multiple-time-a-day application: you can use it at the end of your skincare routine to add another boost of moisture to your skin, and then again throughout the day whenever you feel like it. This is the best on this list for tackling hot, irritated skin in need of some light, calming, moisturizing care.
If glowing, dewy skin is your goal (and whose isn’t) this essence mist from Acwell is a great option. First of all, the mist itself is ultra fine, and coats your face easily with a single spray. But the formula also includes some of my favorite ingredients: licorice root extract (which helps with illuminating the skin and combating hyperpigmentation), bamboo water (for hydration), algae extract (an antioxidant with nourishing and protective benefits), centella (for healing and soothing), and royal jelly (another antioxidant with antibacterial and healing properties). It is a wonderfully healing and hydrating product, and is one of my all time favorite mists to use on bare skin as a kind of toner-slash-essence step right before I apply sunscreen.
This toning mist from Biossance is filled with ultra hydrating ingredients like glycerin, hyaluronic acid and squalane, meaning it is the perfect choice for anybody who has particularly dry or dehydrated skin. As someone whose complexion is so dry it often feels unquenchable, keeping this spray by my desk or in my purse to continuously add that boost of moisture throughout the day is incredibly helpful, especially in the summer when my skin is constantly being stripped by my blasting air conditioning.
In my opinion, this is probably the least skin care-y option on this list, but if you need something that will perfectly set your makeup, there is no better mist than this from Tatcha. I’m not sure what exactly gives this such incredible makeup setting properties (maybe it’s the potent blend of botanicals and humectants) but the ultra-fine spray sinks into your skin, making your makeup look glowing and seamless. It’s definitely on the pricier side, but if you wear makeup daily, and love when your complexion looks dewy and glowy, this is definitely worth trying.
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