If you are a makeup girl like me, you know that no matter how many times dermatologists/skincare experts/instructions on the back of sunscreen packaging tell you to reapply your sunscreen, that ain’t gonna happen. How am I going to put an SPF cream on top of a powdered and mascara-ed face? I won’t. So you can see how an SPF setting spray is filling out an obvious market gap.
It is a pretty cool(-a) idea. Because we are not just collectively going to give up on makeup, are we? Sun rays may burn holes in my skin but lack of makeup will burn holes in my soul. There are a few sunscreen powders out there that we can keep reapplying on top of makeup, but I honestly avoid reapplication with those because my face can look quite cake-y quite fast.
Hence me giving a shot to the Coola Makeup Setting Spray, despite the not-so-great reviews on Cult Beauty’s website.
Well, I should have listened.
Application: the mist on this one is about as fine as a downpour on a picnic – it is not pleasant, it’s aggressive, and it unevenly deposits some huge water droplets on the skin. And if some of those hit your eye area (no way to avoid it, the spritz is unpredictable), it stings. I have a huge tolerance for stinging skincare, but this one burns. For all its touting about “organic” ingredients, it sure has a whole lot of alcohol. If you have an sort of skin sensitivity, run from it. Now for the cherry on top: it stinks! I’ve read some reviews that mention this has “a bad chemical sunscreen smell” but I don’t think this smells like SPF at all (which I actually wouldn’t mind), it smells like 80’s nail polish remover.
Finish & Performance: fortunately, the big water droplets don’t make my foundation move or melt, and they dry until they’re completely imperceptible. This setting spray does not change the finish of my makeup, which is good. It also doesn’t prolong my makeup wear at all, which is bad. It does not make my foundation last less either – it does not alter anything when it comes to makeup wear, period. I can understand if this spray serves only the purpose of adding SPF to the skin and not prolonging makeup wear, but in that case just call it an SPF face mist, not a “makeup setting spray”. My expectations are different when I see those three words together.
Packaging & Other Info: out of everything, the thing that annoys me the most, that makes me hate this product intensely to the point where I don’t think I’ll bother finishing up the bootle, is the packaging. I took it on a trip, freshly after purchasing it, with the cap on tightly closed, and it leaked. It leaked on my luggage. Not only that, some residue dried around the lid (you can see that on the photo below) and now I can’t fully close it again. Not that it matters though, the cap wasn’t really preventing anything. So that stinky smell permeated my luggage throughout the whole trip. Fun. And you get the pleasure of this experience for the low price of 42€ for 44ml (as a reference, Urban Decay’s setting spray is 32€ for 118ml). Waste. Of. Money.
Coola SPF30 Makeup Setting Spray Ingredients: Alcohol Denat. (Sd Alcohol 40-B), Isodecyl Neopentanoate, Ethylhexyl Salicylate, Homosalate, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Diisopropyl Adipate, Silica Silylate, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract*, Sodium Hyaluronate, Ethyl Ferulate, Parfum/Fragrance, Pvp, Aqua/Water, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil*, Glycerin*, Alcohol, Algae Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract*, Juniperus Communis Callus Extract, Paeonia Lactiflora Leaf Cell Extract, Phoenix Dactylifera Leaf Cell Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice*, Hydroxycitronellal, Methyl 2-Octynoate, Limonene, Amyl Cinnamal, Citronellol.
Final Thoughts: well, I think it’s obvious I hate it. Not worth it at all: performance is unexistent (makeup wise), user experience is awful and packaging is criminal. I really don’t want to keep sh*tting on Coola as a brand too much since this is the only product I’ve tried, so my first impression is terrible and that could be unfair, but honestly, this needs a whole revamp. Because the concept is great and I don’t think they should give up on the idea, but please, get back to the drawing board. I’ll be here for the new version (after a few other people have tried and review it and say it’s good, because I’m not putting my face on the line again).
