Hard Candy Setting Spray, From Baby-Blue Sky Polish to Lock Sprays

Hard Candy began in 1995 with a nail polish the color of a clear sky. Founder Dineh Mohajer mixed a baby-blue shade called Sky to match her Charles David sandals, and after scores of compliments she started selling it at Fred Segal in Santa Monica. Bustle adds that Alicia Silverstone's blue manicure got a mention on Letterman while she was promoting Clueless. LVMH bought the brand in 1999, and in 2009 it announced a partnership to take Hard Candy to mass.

That history is why I find a hard candy setting spray a little lovable. The brand still thinks in bright, easy, grab-it-and-go terms. The current sprays come in a family of finishes called On Lock, with Look On Lock and Grip On Lock each promising a 16 hour hold without alcohol or fragrance. I could not find a story for the spray's own launch, and I will not pretend the nineties line made one.

What a shopper wants from any setting spray is simple: makeup that stays put without a stiff, tacky layer. The finish is the real choice, natural or dewy or matte.

The first grid is Hard Candy and NYX, with sprays, a concealer, an eye treatment and a calming mist. The second grid is eight other setting sprays, from matte to glassy. My tip: hold the bottle at arm's length, spray in an X and then a T, and let your face dry fully before you touch it.

From Hard Candy, Look On Lock is the natural-finish one, a lightweight hydrating spray that is sweat and water resistant, alcohol-free and fragrance-free. Grip On Lock is the dewy sibling, with aloe and niacinamide, and it is the one I would hand to someone with dry skin. The Long Wear Setting Spray comes from the Sheer Envy line, with a fast-drying, non-sticky formula, cucumber extract and a 12 hour claim.

NYX Professional Makeup is the matte side of this grid. The Matte Finish Long Lasting Makeup Setting Spray is vegan and built for oilier skin that shines by noon. The Face Glue Gripping Setting Spray is the stronger one, with a claim of up to 24 hours, waterproof, and transfer and fade resistant without a sticky finish. Face Glue is what I would reach for before a long event or a humid day.

The rest of the grid is the step around the spray. Glamoflauge Pro Concealer is creamy and brightening, with a large applicator. Sheer Envy Instant Eye Fix has a peach tone to neutralize dark circles and a cooling metal tip, with vitamin B, caffeine and green tea. Skin Rescue Spray is a hypochlorous acid mist for redness relief, pH-balanced and fragrance-free, and it belongs before makeup.

What I would skip: Skin Rescue Spray as your final step. It is a calming prep mist, not a setting spray.

Start with the glowy ones. Urban Decay All Nighter Waterproof Hydrating and Glowy gives a glass-skin glow with niacinamide and goji berry, and the brand says it holds up to 24 hours. ONE/SIZE by Patrick Starrr Powder Melt Glass is skincare-infused, with ceramides and ginger flower water, and it melts powder layers so they stop looking dry. Saie CitySet is alcohol-free with a natural-dewy finish for oily, dry or sensitive skin.

For a more invisible finish, Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Hydrating is waterproof with Japanese green tea, and Fenty Beauty You Mist is a superfine mist that is fragrance-free, alcohol-free and oil-free. A house-brand All Day spray is vegan, with ginseng and a natural finish, up to 16 hours.

Then there are the pore blurrers. Benefit POREfessional Super Setter is waterproof and smudge-proof and visibly blurs pores. Anastasia Beverly Hills Impeccable 24HR is a matte spray that blurs and hydrates, and the brand calls the finish non-drying and skin-like. A matte finish plus a primer underneath is the combination I trust for oily T-zones.

What I would skip: the matte Anastasia spray if your skin is dry and flaky. Pick one of the dewy sprays here and let the powder melt in. Dry patches grab hold of matte formulas.

I think the best setting spray is the one whose finish you already like on your bare skin. Dewy suits dry skin, matte suits oil, and the natural ones sit in between. Hard Candy is the easy starting point, and the On Lock names make the choice simple. Then try one spray from the second grid if you want to see what the extra blur or glass finish feels like, and keep the one that does not feel stiff on your skin by lunch. Shake, spray from arm's length, and leave your face alone for a minute. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Perfume Samples and Toppik Hair Fibers and the Thickening Sprays and Scalp Serums Around Them.