The era of glowing, dewy skin may be fading. A wave of new launches points to a softer matte finish, with the Finnish brand Lumene and the Swedish brands Caia and Idun Minerals each releasing a blurring setting spray within roughly two weeks of one another. Together the launches suggest that the matte base is returning, though in a much lighter form than before.
The look is a natural, soft base with an almost filtered effect. The aim is airbrushed skin in which pores appear blurred while some natural radiance remains. It differs from the heavy, powdery full-coverage base of the 2010s. Skin should still look alive, but strong shine gives way to a velvety finish, and the same idea is spreading to lips and eyes through softly blurred edges, semi-matte lipsticks and matte eyeshadows.
Bigger houses have moved in the same direction. Charlotte Tilbury, Too Faced and Dior have brought blurring setting powders back into focus, and setting sprays, which until recently promised radiance, now face competition from matte, smoothing versions. ELLE Sweden describes the shift plainly. “Matte skin is back, and this time in a soft focus version,” its beauty desk wrote.
The three Nordic sprays take slightly different routes. Idun Minerals’ Ready Set Blur Setting Spray, in a 100 ml bottle, is a mist that works straight away and leaves a natural semi-matte finish with a smooth feel, and it is meant to help make-up last. Caia’s That Blurred Look Setting Spray works like a setting powder in spray form, blurring pores and uneven texture and cutting unwanted shine; it also contains niacinamide, which helps even out the skin over time, and its texture is light enough to sit on top of a full face of make-up. Lumene’s Blur Longwear Makeup Setting Spray, also 100 ml, is an updated ultrafine formula with Nordic blueberry extract and niacinamide that gives an even, soft matte result while letting some natural lustre through.
For anyone used to finishing their make-up with a glow mist, the change is mostly a question of texture rather than a return to flat, heavy matte. The new products are designed to sit lightly and keep skin looking like skin. Three Nordic launches in quick succession, together with big international names reviving blurring powders, show how quickly brands have moved to meet the demand for a softer finish this autumn.
