The Beauty Diary by Beck Sullivan: The product that changed my life and keeps your makeup in place all night long

THIS week’s Beauty Diary column is about a simple product I’d dismissed as completely unnecessary, until I tried it and now I can’t live without it.

This spray makes you look fresh and awake all day long.

THE arrival of event season is both exciting and terrifying.

Warmer weather means Aperol spritzes and pretty summer dresses, but also a million weddings and very long lunches that require looking presentable for an annoyingly long stretch of time.

It’s hard enough having to leave the house on a weekend and interact with other humans, but we also have to get dressed up and look decent for Instagram. It’s exhausting.

I wish event invitations came with a plethora of RSVP options to prepare us for what’s to come.

Like, yes, I’ll come to your thing. But I know you said you’ll be providing food and alcohol, so will it be nice Champagne or the dodgy cheap prosecco that always destroys me? And are we talking catered canapés or those sad little sandwiches you served up last time?

Also, how many of the men I have sent sad and needy 1am texts have you invited? Will my ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend be there? Do you know what she is wearing yet so I can upstage her with a better outfit?

There are so many questions and never any answers.

What we can control is the face we present at these events. But keeping our makeup in place from the time we get ready until the moment we stumble through the front door at the end of the night is a battle.

I’ve been testing out my Stay-Put-All-Day-And-Night-Event-Face for the past few weekends — at a hen’s party, a day at the races and after-work drinks.

It’s been a tough assignment but someone had to do it. Plus, while I was diligently beauty reporting from the field, I stumbled upon a life-changing new product I never knew I needed.

Here are the products that will keep your face snatched from AM to PM.

Missed last week’s column? We reviewed the cult $45 sunscreen that broke the internet.

Welcome to News.com.au's weekly beauty column, The Beauty Diary.

NAPOLEON PERDIS AUTO-PILOT PRE-FOUNDATION SKIN PRIMER

"Not to prime is a crime!" according to Napoleon Perdis.

Price: $59

Available from: Napoleon Perdis online, Adore Beauty, Myer, Priceline

“Not to prime is a crime!” is the genius yet irritating marketing phrase conjured up by Aussie makeup man Napoleon Perdis, but I hate to admit he’s kind of right.

I always thought primers were an unnecessary product created by beauty companies to make us buy more stuff.

You certainly don’t need to wear one everyday, but for a big event or a long day/night out they are helpful.

Primers go on underneath your foundation and help the makeup stay in place. They usually contain lots of boosting skincare ingredients. For example, this one contains vitamin E and camomile extract.

It’s confusing to describe how primers fit into the rest of your skincare regimen, so instead I have created a multiple choice explainer.

Simply pick one option depending on your care factor that day and overall skin oiliness.

Option A: Go the whole hog and apply serum, then moisturiser, then primer, then sunscreen

Option B: If it’s a night event, just apply serum, moisturiser and then primer

Option C: Serum and primer

Option D: Moisturiser and primer

CHARLOTTE TILBURY BRIGHTENING GLOW PRIMER

This will give you that all over glow without the shimmer.

Price: $76

Available from: Charlotte Tilbury online, Net-A-Porter

The experience of using Charlotte Tilbury’s products in their gloriously luxe packaging always makes me feel good before an event.

This primer contains glowy pearl particles to help create that delicious luminosity we all want.

GIORGIO ARMANI POWER FABRIC FOUNDATION

The heavy duty version of Luminous Silk.

Price: $99

Available from: Sephora, David Jones, Myer, Adore Beauty

Armani’s famous Luminous Silk foundation is lovely, but sometimes when you know you’re going to be out all day you want a little more coverage.

Power Fabric is heavier and more matte, but without that gross cakey effect you get from some fuller coverage foundations.

Go to a DJs or Myer Armani counter and ask them for a few samples so you can find your correct shade in natural light outside the store. Don’t worry if they give you sass for asking — it’s their job to be helpful and you don’t want to waste $100 on the wrong shade.

I apply my foundation with fingers, using their warmth to massage the product into my skin and then I smooth out the edges with a dry Beauty Blender ($30 from Sephora).

I know you’re supposed to wet Beauty Blenders but I never do — I feel like doing that just makes your face damp and it’s not cute.

IT COSMETIC OIL FREE & MATTE CC CREAM

For those people who find the original too dewy.

Available from: Sephora stores, not yet available online

This week Sephora launched the much anticipated oil-free, matte version of the cult sellout CC cream we mentioned last week.

One of my mates has literally gone into his local Sephora everyday to see if this has arrived yet and has now made friends with the employees.

It has good coverage and stays in place all day long. If you find the original too dewy, then this is for you.

The shade range is very limited so ask for a sample before you commit to the full tube.

Use this as a bronzer or a highlighter.

Price: $72

Available from: Sephora

I loooovveeeee highlighter. But there’s a fine line between glowy and shiny, especially during a day out.

Sometimes I find that using this powder highlighter instead of my usual cream formula keeps things in place for longer.

I get a gigantic fluffy brush and use one of the darker shades as a bronzer under my cheekbones, on my temples and around the hairline.

Then I use the lighter shades as a highlighter on the high points of the face — so the cheekbones, bridge of the nose and cupid’s bow.

RMS POWDER

A great light powder to set your face.

Price: $49

Available from: Mecca, Net-A-Porter

Full disclosure: I hate powder. I never powder my face because I hate that really matte look.

But I know many people swear by the stuff to keep their makeup set all day and prevent shine.

One time I had to film a video for work and the producer said my forehead was too shiny — rude — so she put this on me to mattify my face.

I was pleasantly surprised by how nice it was. The little cushion puff makes it idiot-proof, so you don’t have to mess around with a brush.

SPORTSGIRL EYESHADOW PALETTE

Just as good as any of those $100 eyeshadow palettes at Sephora.

Price: From $19.95-$29.95

Available from: Sportsgirl

When I received an invitation to the launch of Sportsgirl’s beauty category a while ago, I’ll admit I turned my nose up. I assumed everything would be crap and I’d go home to smugly roll around in the one Tom Ford product I can afford.

But their products are really great, especially the eyeshadow palettes. They give the expensive Anastasia, Kylie Jenner and Huda Beauty palettes that always break the internet a real run for their money.

The colours are beautiful, the pigments are good quality and they blend really easily. For the price point, you really can’t complain.

Shimmery eyeshadow is beautiful for events. But don’t get freaked out by all the colours.

You really only need one colour swept over the eyes with your finger, then blended thoroughly with a clean “crease” or blending brush.

TOO FACED HANGOVER 3-IN-1 REPLENISHING PRIMER & SETTING SPRAY

For all the girls who want that dewy dumpling look.

Price: $46

Available from: Mecca Cosmetica

I never understood setting sprays. Like primers, I used to think they were another made-up category created by bored beauty execs to profit off junkies like me. Until I used one.

I got a sample of this in my Mecca Beauty Loop box and I’m obsessed.

I sprayed it over a full face of makeup before an event and could not get over how incredible it made my skin look. I was dewy — but not shiny — and all of my makeup seemed to melt together seamlessly.

Hot tip: Don’t spray too close to your face. You want your arm to be outstretched quite far.

Don’t freak out if you look really wet at first. Give it a minute and everything will settle down nicely.

NYX DEWY FINISH SETTING SPRAY

This is a dupe of the Too Faced spray.

Price: $14.95

Available from: Priceline, Target

This is a cheap, pharmacy dupe of the Too Faced spray. It also comes in a matte version if that’s more your jam.

URBAN DECAY ALL NIGHTER SETTING SPRAY

Your face literally will not move.

Available from: Mecca

This matte setting spray faced the ultimate test to live up to its name a few weekends ago, when I had a surprise 1am encounter with my ex-boyfriend at a house party, exactly 12 hours after I had applied my makeup for a fancy lunch.

My initial reaction — a drop in the pit of my stomach and a big gulp of rosé — was calmed after I dashed to the bathroom and checked my face after our five minutes of lame small talk.

My makeup was still perfectly in place and nothing had moved at all.

What. A. Relief.

— This column is not sponsored and this is not advertorial content. Every review is independent, honest and ad-free.

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