Misting the Point

We spent $1 billion spraying it on our face, just to watch it evaporate.

Face mist promises to cool and hydrate. Chemistry disagrees.

With temperatures blazing across the entire globe, we’re all trying to figure out how not to melt. We want as little as possible touching our bodies. But with all this exposed skin, we’re reaching for anything that promises to cool us down. Especially a bottle of face mist.

The number of recommendations telling us to grab a jug and spray aggressively, repeatedly throughout the day, is comical. But stop, before you start to spray your day away.

Last year we spent more than $1 billion on face mist. The promise is that each pump will “hydrate, refresh, and revitalize the skin.” And then there is reality. This is water in a bottle. We spray it on our face, just so it can evaporate. You could stick your face in a water fountain and get the same effect. For free.

So why are we willing to pay a premium for something that’s barely there?

Since at least middle school I’ve wanted matte skin, free of acne and blemishes. Looking airbrushed, to the point of not existing. I didn’t want anyone to notice. That was my wish. No moisture. No blemishes. Nothing to blot away. Just non-shiny skin.

I know dewy skin is in now, hence the face mist allure, but for too much of my teenage life, I was called grease face because of my oily skin. So now I’m extra skeptical of anything that goes on my face that might bring about the shiny look I hate.

Evian was the first to introduce water in a pressurized aerosol can in 1962. But it’s only been in the past 15 years face mists have become an actual beauty category, seemingly new yet everywhere. Then, just like now, it’s only water.

For $7, you can get Mario Badescu’s Facial Spray, with aloe, cucumber and green tea. Or spend $95 for Augustinus Bader. It adds rose water and promises an “ultra-fine hydrating mist that tones, protects and soothes for a refreshed complexion.”

So what’s changed? Cue the influencers. By 2023, their endorsements led to 70% of face mist product purchases. That’s a lot of convincing. By 2035, spend on the category is expected to increase 60%.

But here’s the curious thing about the face mist. While we’re doing it to cool our skin and hydrate, it actually dries us out. Anything that contains water quickly evaporates, removing the moisture that was on the surface of your skin. And that can lead to dryness.

But wait, there’s more. Many of these products include alcohol, which makes everything that lands on the face disappear even more quickly. And it’s a second drying formula. So your efforts to look dewy result in a double whammy of dryness.

These concerns were raised by Dr. Joshua Zeichner in a Marie Claire piece in 2017. Before you write off an old article, remember chemistry hasn’t changed. It’s still good ‘ole H2O in a bottle.

Here’s something else funny about what we’re spraying on our face. Articles comparing different face mists acknowledge that any benefit is temporary, and it can actually increase dryness on your face. But then they go on to tell you why you should spend money that would buy a great sushi lunch for water in a can.

Don’t trust me. If you’re a fan of a specific face mist, look it up on Skinsort to see what’s inside. You can even compare different products.

Even products that may add beneficial ingredients, such as glycerin and hyaluronic acid, into the face mist are still diluted and less concentrated than any of the products you’re already paying top-dollar for and religiously using in the morning and at night.

But still, let’s assume a product does add something good to your skin. You then have to add moisturizer on top of it to keep it tucked into your pores. And that’s certainly not going to make you cooler.

Or let’s just say that you simply love using a face mist, to which I’ll cheer you on and say have at it. Like Cheryl Wischhover of Good For Your Age and her $49 addiction.

“When I was a beauty editor, I was always reading about Caudalie Beauty Elixir. It was the height of luxury,” she said. “The first time I got one — OMG I was hooked. It felt ridiculously sophisticated.

“Even today, it’s a beautiful bottle and I keep it in the refrigerator in the summer. You spray it on your face and it smells great. It has this incredible cooling sensation. I still love it.

”But I have no illusion it’s hydrating me.”

When life stops making sense, we shop. More soon.

Rani Monson

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