15 of the best face mists to suit every budget and skin type

Best face mist for using all day:

Curél Deep Moisture Spray, £19.50

Loved by beauty editors, this fragrance-free and pH-balanced face mist has been designed with the most sensitive of skin in mind. The formula contains hydrating glycerin and ceramides to help repair the skin barrier, with which sensitive skins often struggle. The spray mechanism is more like an aerosol, so it lightly mists the skin – rather than drenching it – making it very easy to reapply throughout the day over makeup and wherever you may be.

Best face mist for teens and tweens:

Bubble Skincare Bounce Back Balancing Mist, £14

With pore-cleansing willow bark and skin softening niacinamide, this is a great option if your tween is desperate for a mist in their life. But we’d highly recommend adults giving it a go too as it feels very refreshing on the skin and can also be sprayed over makeup.

Best face mist to wear with makeup:

Kosas Plump & Juicy Vegan Collagen Spray On Serum, £40

This is one of the best makeup/skincare hybrids around, in our humble opinion. Filled with hyaluronic acid, vegan collagen, probiotics and peptides, it’s a great moisturising mist that will get dry skin feeling hydrated and soft again. It is also a wonderful makeup primer and creates a great base for your favourite foundation.

Best budget face mist:

Elf Hydrating Coconut Mist, £8

Whether you like a face mist for easy extra hydration without the faff of having to rub in a cream, or you simply like something to make you feel a bit more zingy in an afternoon slump, this brilliantly priced one ticks both boxes. It has a gorgeous, but not overpowering, coconut scent and hydrating glycerin and vitamin E.

Best face mist for hydration:

Dr Jart+ Ceramidin Cream Mist, £26

This has a bi-phase formula (which means you have to give it a good shake before use to ensure the oil and cream layers mix) filled with ceramides that strengthen the skin barrier. It comes out as a light mist and you can feel it add an extra boost of hydration the second it hits the skin. Ideal for dry skin types that feel tight by the afternoon, as this can easily spritz on over makeup.

Best face mist for SPF protection:

Ultra Violette Preen Screen SPF Reapplication Mist SPF50, £32

This gorgeous light milky mist delivers excellent hydration, but most importantly, stellar SPF protection. We would still recommend using a dedicated face SPF as a base skincare layer to ensure complete coverage, but this is an excellent option to have in your handbag when the sun takes you by surprise or you need to top up.

Best face mist for glow:

Bare by Vogue Hydrating Facial Mist, £21.99

One for all the glow-seekers out there, this combines all the elements you want from a hydrating mist: hydrating glycerin and skin-smoothing and softening lactic acid, with just the right amount of golden bronze shimmer particles to add an instant luminosity to the skin.

Best face mist for delicate skin:

Byoma Balancing Face Mist, £11.99

Packed with probiotics and ceramides, this face mist is a great first step in helping to strengthen the skin barrier. It is also pH-balanced and isn’t astringent, so even the most delicate and disrupted skin will benefit. It’s another great option for teen skin or anyone who can’t be bothered with putting moisturiser on their skin and want a quick hydration fix.

Best face mist for plumping:

Balance Me Hyaluronic Plumping Mist, £22

Beauty editors have gone wild for this hyaluronic acid face mist – and with good reason. It does a bit of everything, from the chamomile water that soothes sensitive skin to the pineapple extract, which helps to brighten uneven tone; plus, it works whether you’re dry or oily or somewhere in between. A fabulous all-rounder that really plumps and refreshes your skin.

Best face mist for all skin types:

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Miracle Hydrating Mist, £25

This fine mist – an antioxidant superfruit blend – comes in a flight-friendly 100ml plastic bottle and is virtually fragrance-free. We would wager it can be liberally squirted without annoying your fellow passengers. It feels calming on the skin and definitely makes dull skin look instantly perkier, although it does make your face feel a little sticky after a couple of sprays. We prefer to use it underneath a facial oil. The pump spray delivers just enough product so you don’t feel like you are stepping into a shower as can happen with an aerosol face mist. Plus it’s at the pricier end of the scale, so you don’t want to waste a single droplet. 

Best face mist for sensitive skin:

Avène Thermal Spring Water Spray, £15.50

This is not just ‘water in a can’, this is ‘French, clinically-proven healing water in a can’. It made our skin feel smoother and ‘comforted’, to borrow their term. It’s refreshing, obviously, and when we used it over a face full of makeup there were no touch-ups needed – the mist is so fine.

Best luxe face mist:

Tata Harper Hydrating Floral Essence, £104

This 100 per cent natural spritz not only smells totally divine but is packed with floral extracts, moisture-boosting hyaluronic acid, free-radical fighting vitamin C and antioxidant witch hazel, so it not only feeds the skin but locks in moisture and protects your face at the same time. If you just use it to refresh your makeup throughout the day, then it’s perhaps not worth the extravagance, however, if you see it as a facial treatment then it may well be worth every penny.

Best face mist for dry skin:

Clinique Moisture Surge Face Spray, £29

This spray can be used either before or after makeup application (both, if you like), and we saw lovely results from spraying it over the top of our makeup. It brought out the pigment in our bronzer, as well as keeping our face hydrated throughout the day. It’s pleasingly lightly scented however, the mist isn’t the finest we tried, so bring it closer to your face than the recommended 30cm for full effect.

Best face mist for self-care:

Caudalie Beauty Elixir, £36

This mist is inspired by the ‘elixir of youth’ used by Queen Isabella of Hungary, and apparently these days Sarah Jessica Parker and Victoria Beckham are fans. It’s quite the multitasker; it prepares skin for moisturiser, sets makeup and refreshes the complexion throughout the day. It also smells amazing – it’s like one big hit of a botanical garden.

Best face mist for temperamental skin:

De Mamiel Botaniques Dewy Facial Mist, £60

Dubbed a ‘serum in a mist,’ this piqued our interest due to its potential to provide more than just a mid-afternoon pick-me-up. Easy to apply, it acts as a moisturising undercoat for day cream and SPF. The blend of essential oils (chosen specifically for their calming properties), antioxidants (chosen for their anti-inflammatory and protective abilities) and hydrating skin goodies made for the perfect fit for dry/temperamental T-zone skin type. Pricey but worth it.