a woman with curly hair holding a bottle of facial cleanser

Setting Spray Is Surging: The 22% Trend That Keeps Holiday Makeup in Place

My makeup used to tap out before I did.


I'd spend forty-five minutes on a holiday look — base blended, eyes done, lips perfect — and by the time the party really got going, my T-zone was shining, my blush had ghosted, and my eyeliner was drifting somewhere it didn't start. Sound familiar? The trend data says it is extremely familiar, and shoppers are fixing it with one specific product: setting spray.


RisingTrends' October 2026 makeup report, updated yesterday, puts numbers on it: "setting spray" searches are up 22 percent year over year at 49,500 monthly searches. Their read is interesting — the conversation has moved past what goes underneath the makeup. Tinted SPF and luxe foundation had their moment. Now shoppers are searching for what evens the base out and what locks it down. The finishing layer is having its main-character era.


And the timing is perfect, because festive season is officially here. Holiday collections are dropping this week, and the 2026 festive-season trend guides all say the same thing: long-wear setting techniques are shaping how people prep for celebrations. Glass-skin bases, metallic gold-and-copper eyes, blue-red and soft-plum lips — gorgeous looks, all of them, and all of them pointless if they melt off by dessert. A party look is really two looks: the one you leave the house with, and the one you arrive home with. Setting spray is what makes them the same look.


So for today, I'm picking the product that closes that gap: the Mary Kay Makeup Finishing Spray by Skindinävia. It's a fine, weightless mist you spray over your finished makeup — and the stat on the product page is the reason I love recommending it: in a one-week independent consumer study, 92 percent said it helps avoid makeup meltdown. Not a miracle, not a filter — a finishing layer that helps your makeup look freshly applied for hours. (Price is $24.00 per the site — I'll always confirm pricing in InTouch before you shop.)

a woman in a yellow sweater is holding a candle in a store

Here's why it fits the trend so cleanly. Modern makeup routines are lighter than they used to be — skin-first bases, soft blush, blurred lips. A lighter base still needs to stay put; it just doesn't need a heavy hand to do it. A setting spray is the lightest possible version of "stay put." It doesn't add another layer of color or coverage. It just locks in the work you already did. That's exactly what the search trend is about: shoppers aren't looking for more makeup, they're looking for insurance on the makeup they have.


How to use it — three steps, thirty seconds:


1. Finish your full makeup routine first. Base, color, lips, all of it — the spray goes on last, always.

2. Hold the bottle about 8 to 10 inches from your face, close your eyes, and mist in an X or T motion across your face. One light pass is enough. Resist the urge to drench — a fine, even mist is the whole point.

3. Let it dry for about a minute without touching your face. Then go. No blotting, no re-powdering, no checking the mirror every hour.


A couple of consultant tips: if you wear glasses, give the spray a full minute before they go back on so the frames don't disturb the finish. And on big event nights, you can re-mist mid-evening to refresh — it reactivates the finish without adding product. That's the beauty of the spray format: your touch-up kit is one bottle.


Who is this for? If you're headed into party season with a busy calendar, this is for you. If your makeup looks great at 7 p.m. and questionable by 10, this is for you. And if you've been skipping setting spray because you thought it was only for makeup artists — the 22 percent search surge says regular people have figured out what it does, and this is your sign to join them. It works with whatever base you're already wearing, which makes it one of the easiest upgrades in your whole bag.


One honest note from your consultant: this is product education, not a before-and-after story. I can't show you results I haven't personally measured — but I can tell you what the product does and how to use it, and that's exactly what I'm here for. Looks and feels language only, always.


Ready to make your holiday look go the distance? You can find the Mary Kay Makeup Finishing Spray by Skindinävia on my shop, and if you want help building a full party-proof routine around it — base, color, and the finishing layer that holds it all together — message me anytime. Let's make the look you arrive home with match the one you left with.



Shop now: https://www.marykay.com/wsa/en/makeup/face/primer/mary-kay-makeup-finishing-spray-by-skindinavia-990272815/990272815US10152557.html


— Erica Young, Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant | BeautyWithErica.com