Dry Skin & Inexpensive Makeup Setters

If you follow me on twitter you probably hear my scream vanity a good number of times. I'm always complaining about dry patchy skin and that no matter how much moisturizer I apply in the morning and at night before and after makeup I always feel like I end up with dry flakes throughout the day -  I probably exfoliate my skin every other night and use a sheet masks as well. Drink a lot of water at work and still I notice those bastards pop up. Granted I do have combination skin but it can't possibly be this bad.
I came to the conclusion that its gotta be the dry air circulating in the office's A/C system! We are not allowed to use humidifiers at work so you can probably see that it does take a toll on your skin...

and I remember some people mentioning before when you fly constantly the air in the cabin is dry and sucks all the moisture from your skin. Which is no-bueno!

As we all know our parents teach us that dry skin can be bad for you, for one its dehydrating your skin and allows for early formation of wrinkles. And when your skin is too dry your skin reacts by producing more oils to counterbalance that which in turns means more acne build up.

Sephora and other make-up stores out there carries a variety of "makeup mists and setters" or also known as spray toners promising a moisturizing mists of minerals (mostly water) and vitamins to plump, hydrate and smooth your face to keep your foundation from looking too cakey and help keep it lasting longer.
A lot of them comes in a range of prices, from $10 to as high as $45! All promising the same thing. Now if you took a look at most of the ingredients a lot of them comes with the most basic ingredients;

Also called glycerol or glycerine; it is present in all natural lipids (fats), whether animal or vegetable. It can be derived from natural substances by hydrolysis of fats and by fermentation of sugars. It can also be synthetically manufactured. Whether natural or synthetic, glycerin is a humectant and extremely hygroscopic, meaning it readily absorbs water from other sources. So, in part, glycerin works because of its ability to attract water from the environment and from the lower layers of skin (dermis) increasing the amount of water in the surface layers of skin. Another aspect of glycerin’s benefit is that it is a skin-identical ingredient, meaning it is a substance found naturally in skin. In that respect it is one of the many substances in skin that help maintain the outer barrier and prevent dryness or scaling.

Source: Paula's Choice Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary

Mineral Water, Glycerin, Aloe Extract/Leaves and Rose Water - these are the most common basic ingredients in most of those expensive mists. When really, you can find these in your local stores that you can mix yourself. If you also take the time to sit down and read the rest of the ingredients in your makeup mists, alot of them has fragrances and some have alcohol. Which I know some people complained about break outs with. But if you can make your own you know exactly what goes into it.

Rose Water is great for people who tends to have redness (like me!) and is incredible hydrating and has a nice floral scent to it without any more additives. 

A lot of people suggest even using a hydrating mist before and after makeup application it will help the makeup adhere better to your skin and is a great 'pick me up' in the middle of the day and definitely really important for the upcoming spring and summer seasons - eee summer cons here we go x_X!

Here is a handy recipe from HipsterHousewife:

All you do is mix 1/4 glycerin to 3/4 water inside a spray bottle and use. That would be if you have combination skin. If you have oily skin try 1/5 glycerin to 4/5 water and if you have dry skin try using 1/3 part glycerin to 2/3 parts water.

If you have redness in your skin you can add 1 part rose water, that will also give it a nice rose smell

I imagine you can even add vitamin-e or aloe extracts if you want but be sure to just mix it all together. I carry mine in a handy little spray bottle like this:

I keep a bigger version at home in my old Mac Fix+ spray bottle, except the mixture I used I basically just took my E.L.F Setting Spray (which already lists the ingredients as

Water (Aqua), AMP-Acrylates/Allyl Methacrylate Copolymer, Propylene Glycol, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe) Leaf Juice, Green Tea (Camelia Sinensis) Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate (Vc), Tocophryl Acetate (Ve) Retinyl Acytate (Va), Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben, Propylparaben, Isobutylparaben

And it retails for about $3 and has all the good stuff for you and does all the work hah. All I had to do was throw in Rose Water from my local Indian market.

Does this $6 concotion live up against its super higher end counter parts? Does it keep my makeup lasting just as long as my Mac Fix Plus? to be honest, I didn't really notice a difference between my mac fix+ and this. Their both just as refreshing and I find myself retouching my powder halfway through the day regardless anyway due to oilllll. But it does help with the patchy dry skin and I'm sure it would be a life saver come this spring and summer cons/shoots.