Is there anything more frustrating than a makeup meltdown? You know how it goes: after carefully applying your makeup, you finally head out to face the day with confidence, until, a few hours later you catch a glimpse of your reflection. Whether it’s your skin’s texture, oiliness, or accidentally touching your face—your carefully applied makeup can easily fall victim to smudges and creasing, and ultimately diminish by lunchtime.

Since I’ve been so impressed with the quality and price of e.l.f. Brush Shampoo, I decided to give another e.l.f. product a test drive: e.l.f. Makeup Mist & Set ($3). Here’s what e.l.f. has to say about Makeup Mist & Set:

The lightweight, comfortable and alcohol free formula improves makeup wearability and prevents color from running or fading.

Sounds pretty great, right? I have to admit though, the first couple of times I used Makeup Mist & Set I wasn’t that impressed. The spray mechanism delivered an inconsistent stream, there is a slightly unpleasant scent while the product dries, and most frustratingly it actually caused my mascara to smudge a bit.

However, I did find that e.l.f. Makeup Mist & Set helped my makeup last significantly longer and gave my skin a revitalized appearance.  Since the overall outcome was impressive, I experimented with tweaking the instructions a bit, which has solved the mascara issue. Here are e.l.f.’s instructions:

Spray on after makeup application to set makeup in place or during the day for a quick touchup to refresh. After you have applied your makeup spray a light mist 12-16 inches from your face with eyes closed to set your makeup in place or use for a quick touchup throughout the day to refresh your makeup. Let it dry naturally or blot with a tissue to help speed dry.

I’ve found that this spray works best if used after applying all makeup, with the exception of my final step (mascara).  It also helps to hold the bottle as far away from your face as possible so the mist is more evenly sprayed. I like this product enough that if e.l.f. needed to raise the price by a $1 or so to cover costs, I’d gladly pay it in exchange for a better spraying mechanism.

Overall, after modifying the directions to suit my needs, the temporary unpleasant scent is a relatively small price to pay for the benefits of this product. Here is my complete breakdown of pros and cons for e.l.f. Makeup Mist & Set: