What’s the Best Way To Refresh Makeup Throughout the Day?

Touching up makeup during a busy day can be as simple as adding a fresh swipe of lipstick, eyeliner, or mascara — or as fraught as layering base makeup on top of a full face, resulting in a cakey, overdone mess. Allan Avendaño, a L’Oréal Paris celebrity makeup artist whose clients include Joey King and Sandra Oh, assures us that touch-ups don’t have to be so tricky. He has built a career by helping celebrities sail through multi-appearance press days and extended premiere nights while looking fresh every step of the way. Ahead, he shares his best tips for reapplying makeup.

To get the most mileage from your makeup (and reduce the need for touch-ups later), Avendaño advocates for finishing a look with a spritz — or three — of setting mist, such as L'Oréal Paris Infallible 3-Second Setting Spray. “This will literally lock your makeup into place with minimal-to-no touch-ups needed throughout the day, except for maybe a powder touch-up here or there to control shine,” he says. 

Still, if you notice concealer or foundation settling into fine lines, you can use a revitalizing mist, such as Epicuren Colostrum Hydrating Mist, throughout the day to give excess makeup a lift. “Spray it directly on your face to refresh your foundation or spray it on a blending sponge and tap onto any areas that look creased or cakey,” Avendaño advises.

To rebuild base makeup in spots that may have lost coverage, Avendaño recommends a powder foundation. (Well People Bio Powder Foundation is a great talc-free option that covers, blurs, and absorbs excess oil.) “This is a handy way to refresh areas on the face that have become shiny or to lightly cover any place where foundation has worn off,” he says. “I like to use a fluffy brush [for application] to keep from applying the foundation too heavily.”

Another way to address patchy coverage from makeup that may have smudged off with phone use? Packing two self-setting concealers in your bag (such as Makeup By Mario Surreal Skin Concealer): one that matches your skin tone and another in a lighter shade to brighten skin under the eyes. Self-setting concealers are more matte and generally don’t need a powder to stay put. “A setting concealer is great for touching up areas that lose coverage because it goes on like a thin veil and doesn’t need to be set with powder,” Avendaño says. “Use your fingertips to warm up the product before patting it onto skin.” If schlepping a bag of tubes and compacts doesn’t work with your lifestyle (or fit into an evening bag), Avendaño offers a one-stop solution no bigger than the size of a credit card: blotting papers (such as Chanel Beauty Papier Matifiant De Chanel Blotting Papers). “If you want to control shine but don’t want to pile on more product, then blotting film is your best friend,” he says. “It keeps your makeup intact, but absorbs all the grease on your face so your makeup will look like you just refreshed it.” Blotting sheets can also be used to set lipstick (which can be particularly helpful before a meal or post-work cocktails) or help keep mascara in place, when used on the lashes before application to remove oils.