By Laura Daquino

Active Hydration Method: Why Face Mist is Essential

Like most skincare products, face mists are formulated for specific purposes, helping to soothe skin, set makeup, give you a healthy-looking glow, or a boost of hydration. A face mist is typically the second step in your skincare routine.

You might be wondering, do face mists actually do anything for your skin? They definitely give off calming vibes (especially on a hot day) and they’re sure to make an appearance when you're scrolling #SkinTok. Are they worth the extra step? Let’s break down all the benefits of spritzing your face and when in your routine you should be doing it.

Who needs a hydrating face mist?

But first, who needs a hydrating face mist?

If you've ever experienced the not-fun-feeling of dry or tight skin, you might want to listen up. When skin lacks hydration it can feel rough, scaly, itchy, and even painful. Enter the hydrating face mist, a multi-tasking beauty product that can deliver revitalising results in just a couple of quick spritz.

A must-have complement to your skincare routine, a hydrating face mist spray can help to wake up your skin (and you!) in the morning hours to provide an instant boost of hydration. Likewise, this glow-getting product can work to add in extra moisture before going to sleep, as our skin tends to lose water overnight (especially in summer, and sleeping in AC). Face mists can also be an asset before and after makeup to prime, set, and refresh your look throughout the day.

Unlike toners, which are best used only in conjunction with cleansing, face mists can be applied anytime to quench dull skin with deep hydration. Their true power lies in the ability to seamlessly integrate into any part of your existing skincare routine. And provide a major benefit at that.

Quick facts: What is a hydrating face mist?

  • A 2-in-1 hydrating mist and setting spray that hydrates, tones, and refreshes the complexion throughout the day.

  • A facial mist for all-day, every day hydration, suitable for all skin types, especially dry, dull, and environmentally stressed skin.

Choose active ingredients for optimal skin hydration

A hydrating face mist should be formulated with active ingredients to provide optimal skin hydration. When formulated at the right levels, these work synergistically to keep skin hydrated, nourished, and glowing. From natural astringents to skin-softening ingredients leaving your skin smooth and refreshed, here are some ingredients that you might look for in a hydrating face mist:

  • Snow Mushroom: Move over hyaluronic acid. Snow mushroom, more formally known as tremella mushroom, is a powerful, natural humectant that binds water to the skin to attract and retain moisture. It creates a nourishing moisture barrier to plump and smooth the skin, helping to keep your skin hydrated.

  • Glycerin: A natural moisturiser and another effective humectant, glycerin draws moisture into the skin, reducing the appearance of wrinkles, improving skin elasticity and delivering hydration to improve barrier function. Glycerin may be derived from vegetable or animal sources.

  • Sodium Hyaluronate: The salt form of hyaluronic acid that penetrates deep into the skin. As a humectant, this ingredient attracts moisture to keep skin plump.

  • Calming Plant Extracts: A hydrating face mist should be enhanced with plant extracts to further help clarify the skin and protect against inflammation. Ingredients such as dandelion, chamomile and green tea can offer anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.

  • Aqua (Water): Best in the form of a floral water or hydrosol, this goes without saying. Water is essential to life, and the foundation of a hydrating face mist. It helps to balance and refresh the skin, providing a solid base for other ingredients.

  • Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Extract: While aloe doesn't offer much in terms of hydration, it can help soothe the skin with anti-inflammatory properties.

How to use a hydrating facial mist for best results

Applying skincare to damp skin enhances hydration. When skin is damp, this helps other skincare (especially balms, moisturisers, oils or serums) absorb more easily, helping to lock in moisture. This method is key to keeping a dewy complexion and reduces the risk of skin over-drying. With that being said, here's the best way to apply a face mist:

  • Shake to mix and combine ingredients, especially if the face mist is charged with active ingredients and extracts.

  • After cleansing, with eyes closed, spritz the face mist on clean, dry skin to soothe, refresh and hydrate.

  • Hold the bottle approximately 20cm from the face and spray onto the skin as desired, keeping eyes closed.

  • Use before applying most other products (balms, moisturisers, oils or serums) to help lock hydration into your skincare routine. You know it - this is the critical step before Tallow Balm!

  • You can also apply face mist throughout the day to refresh the skin, before skin is exposed to the elements, or use over the top of makeup to set or throughout the day for a quick refresh of your skin.

Face Mist & Tallow Balm: The damp skin method

The damp skin method is effective for water-based and waterless skincare alike. However, it works particularly well for waterless skincare, specifically anhydrous balms such as TUTTOFARE Tallow Balm, as a trick to locking in hydration.

Most moisturisers and creams are 70% water at a minimum. While this high level is unnecessary, at TUTTOFARE, we recognise the importance of water to a skincare routine.

Oils and occlusives are one part of the moisturising process. As our Tallow Balm doesn't contain water, it works best when applied to damp skin. With a splash or spritz of water, this will help your skin function optimally.

Water is key to life, as well as skin. Without water, the skin's barrier weakens, leaving it vulnerable to environmental damage and premature ageing.

It took over 12 months to develop TUTTOFARE Naturally Active Face Mist because it was important to get the right level of actives to lock in hydration, while remaining gentle on the skin, that further enhance the performance of Tallow Balm.

All it takes, after cleansing, is to spritz the skin lightly. While your skin is still damp, lock in all that hydration with TUTTOFARE Tallow Balm. If using with other products, such as oil or serum, apply as the final step in your routine before SPF.

FAQ

Benefits of using a hydrating mist?

  • Go from full to dewy in seconds and apply on bare skin for a glow up any time.

  • Provides on-demand hydration, leaving skin with a velvety soft, dewy finish, and helps shield skin against daily environmental stress.

  • Can be used to refresh makeup or as a makeup setting spray to tone, set, and forget,

  • Helps to hydrate and nourish the skin lipid layer, providing long-lasting hydration to the skin.

  • Instant refresh when spritzed throughout the day, perfect for a quick pick-me-up.

  • Can help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles when formulated with active ingredients.

  • May repair and strengthen the skin barrier.

  • May help achieve radiant skin, dullness and dehydration

  • May enhance the absorption and performance of your skincare.

What is a hydrating facial mist? Is it a toner?

You can use a face mist in a similar way to a toner, but it is different in nature.

While toners typically dry your skin out, a hydrating face mist is designed to hydrate your skin.

It will be based on hydrosols or floral waters, as opposed to drying, alcohol-based ingredients that feature prominently in a toner.

A toner will typically be designed as a harsher, more astringent product. Toners also traditionally contain a wider range of ingredients, many of which are intended to be drying to the skin.

Is a hydrating facial mist just floral water?

Not necessarily, it should be more than that. While floral waters and hydrosols on their own have calming and soothing properties, consider them to more of a vessel that carries active ingredients down the channel. Water on its own is immediately refreshing but it doesn't have lasting impact.

Floral waters and hydrosols can become vessels that carry active extracts. For natural face mists, some of the most nourishing and moisturising extracts include tremella mushroom and dandelion extract. These penetrate deep into pores, leaving you feeling refreshed and balanced.

Meanwhile, a natural face mist may also contain ingredients such as sodium levulinate, the salt form of levulinic acid, which conditions and softens skin, and has antimicrobial properties. It's important for a hydrating, natural face mist to include such ingredients to ensure a balanced pH and provide antibacterial benefits, as the formula is water-based.

Is a facial mist suitable for all skin types?

It may depend on the specific formula (soothing vs hydrating), but broadly speaking, yes! Everyone can benefit from a face mist.

A hydrating face mist should be considered a skincare routine essential, as many skincare products are best applied to clean, damp skin. A hydrating face mist should lock in moisture and enhance the performance of products applied thereafter.

It can cater to all skin types, whether you have oily skin, dry skin, dull or dehydrated skin, sensitive skin, or environmentally stressed skin.

When it comes to sensitive (impacted by internal stressors) or sensitised skin (impacted by environmental stressors), it is most important to look for a gentle, non-irritating formula. This might contain calming ingredients such as chamomile.

Use a face mist as a toner to prep your skin, as a moisturiser to lock in hydration, or as a setting spray to keep your makeup in place. No matter your skin type, a face mist should provide the nourishment and hydration your skin needs to feel soft, smooth, and radiant.

Do you have any tips for maximising skin hydration beyond a facial mist?

Yes, plenty! To get the most out of a face mist and really let your skin glow, here's what we recommend at TUTTOFARE:

  • Reapply throughout the day: Nourish and keep your skin hydrated by using the mist throughout the day, especially in dry environments or after sun exposure.

  • Exfoliate regularly: Remove dead skin cells with regular exfoliation to improve skin texture and enhance the effectiveness of your hydrating mist. You can exfoliate with natural materials, or you can follow the oil-cleansing method to do it more gently.

  • Sun protection: Increase your vitamin D exposure in the morning and protect your skin from harmful UV rays throughout the day to maintain a radiant complexion.

  • Keep minerals in balance: Maintain your hydration levels through diet and make sure your body's minerals are in balance. To be sure, get the electrolytes your body needs from our friends over at Sodii.

Why Naturally Active Face Mist?

Often, natural skincare has the right intentions, but it misses the mark in effectiveness.

Just like we don't formulate Tallow Balm with low-cost, synthetic filler ingredients, we could never just bottle up water with a bit of aloe vera and call it a day. Because that's not a true face mist. While immediately soothing, it won't provide a lasting benefit, and offers little in terms of hydration. Regardless of the time of the season, or skin type, it's hydration that skin is often lacking and craving.

Naturally Active Face Mist is natural skincare that actually works. It's a quenching blend of citrusy floral waters, moisturising glycerin and clarifying plant extracts, with a burst of tremella mushroom as the hero ingredient. Tremella mushroom particles are even smaller than the famed hyaluronic acid, so it penetrates the skin more easily.

TUTTOFARE Naturally Active Face Mist is professionally formulated for all skin types, including sensitive, dry, combination and acne-prone skin.

  • Powered by natural, active ingredients including plant extracts and tremella mushroom.

  • Enhances the performance of Tallow Balm.

  • Weight-less, fine mist technology encourages better absorption.

  • Takes a delicious scent and smells like a treat - a fresh burst of citrus from a base of bitter orange and lemon verbena floral water.

  • Housed in ultraviolet packaging. This protects ingredients, keeps active ingredients fresh, away from light, and maximises their effectiveness and stability.

  • Made in Australia in a professional GMP-certified skincare facility.

  • SLS/SLES free.

  • Paraben free.

Quick tips for maximising benefits with facial mist

  • Use as a toning mist, makeup setter, or just for a quick hydration boost.

  • Mist lightly over makeup to help set it in place.

  • Can be used as a desk-side essential for a quick pick-me-up and instant refresh.

  • Perfect for traveling or staying in air conditioning for long periods to keep the skin feeling hydrated and invigorated.

A hydrating face mist is an essential product for anyone looking to add instant hydration and a refreshing glow to their skincare routine. It does more than create a fresh sensation, but helps other skincare products applied in conjunction penetrate more deeply and effectively. By choosing the right face mist and using it correctly, you can maximise the benefits of a hydrating face mist and achieve radiant, healthy-looking skin.