I Compared Urban Decay’s Reformulated All Nighter Setting Spray With Skindinavia’s Original

Urban Decay reformulated its cult-favorite All Nighter Setting Spray, ending its 15-year partnership with Skindinavia. It was a breakup the beauty world never saw coming. Official brand statements were made and a whole lot of social media drama followed. Whether it was a purely business move or a way to improve upon a great formula with new innovations, my entire TikTok feed was flooded with theories as to why this breakup happened, and how the cult-favorite setting spray was going to change.

The original All Nighter Setting Spray has been the last step of my makeup routine since high school—and I’m 30 now. It’s been with me through prom, college parties, graduations, first dates, breakups, birthdays, office life, weddings, and traveling all over the world. It’s been the one constant in a sea of endless options, living up to its name of making my makeup last all night long, through sweat, tears, and laughs.

Since I love and trust the original All Nighter Setting Spray, I needed to know if the reformulated version lives up to its legacy. I put both Skindinavia’s patented formula, the original All Nighter Setting Spray, and the newly reformulated Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray to a back-to-back wear test in NYC summer heat. Let’s get into it!

How I tested both setting sprays

To ensure a fair test for both setting sprays, I did the same exact skincare and makeup routine as a base. Skin prep included a hydrating toner, a dark spot serum, and a sunscreen that doubles as a moisturizer. I wore my go-to everyday makeup routine, which includes foundation, concealer, setting powder, bronzer, liquid liner, and eyeshadow. The tests were conducted on days with similar weather conditions over 12 hours, from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

12-Hour experience with Skindinavia’s original setting spray formula

After liberally applying the setting spray all over my face, I noticed an immediate yet subtle cooling effect as it dries down and sets my makeup. My complexion looked natural and skin-like with no powdery, matte finish or an overly glowy, dewy look. My makeup products blended to create a seamless, skin-like effect, melting every layer of foundation, concealer, and powders into one.

As the day progressed, I noticed that my skin looked a bit more dewy and shiny, but it didn’t feel oily. I saw areas that are prone to creasing, like my laugh lines, start to form by around 3 p.m. When I was ready to take off my makeup before bed, I mainly saw product separation and patchiness around my mouth, including my chin and upper lip, and prominent creasing around my laugh lines. My eyeshadow also had significant creasing, but to be fair, I never put a primer on in the first place. I also noticed minor creasing in the undereye area.

12-Hour experience with Urban Decay’s reformulated All Nighter Setting Spray

Urban Decay’s new All Nighter Setting Spray has a much finer mist that feels more elegant to apply. Instead of bigger droplets and splotches of wetness, the fine mist was evenly distributed all over my skin and dried down a bit faster. There is a subtle cooling effect with this version as well, but it isn’t as noticeable as its predecessor. It melted my complexion products together for a cohesive, natural skin look. However, this one left a more demi-matte or soft matte finish, with less of a shine or dewy appearance.

My complexion maintained more of a matte finish throughout the day, but my skin did not feel dry at all. Around midday, I noticed minor creasing of my laugh lines and under-eye area, and there was minimal transfer when I had to dab my mouth area after eating. By the end of the day, there was minor makeup separation around my chin as well as creasing on my laugh lines, eyeshadow, and undereye areas.

Differences between Skindinavia’s original setting spray formula and Urban Decay’s reformulated All Nighter Setting Spray

After my 12-hour test, both setting sprays delivered very similar results. Both felt weightless, maintained my makeup throughout the day, and gave my skin a natural finish (but the new All Nighter Setting Spray leans a tiny bit more matte compared to the original formula).

The key difference came down to the spray nozzles and the formula distribution on the skin. The reformulated Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray has a finer mist that is much more elegant to apply to the skin. But I felt like I needed more sprays to get the same amount of product out. However, the old Urban Decay bottle design is no longer available anyway, and Skindinavia’s spray nozzle delivers a smoother misting experience, somewhere between the old and new Urban Decay.

Another difference is its (listed) staying power: The reformulated version claims to have a 24-hour staying power, whereas the original version has a 16-hour staying power. Personally, I don’t see a world where I would keep my full beat on for longer than 16 hours, let alone 24 hours, without washing my face. I can promise you I will break out, so this update is negligible to me.

Along with the reformulation, Urban Decay also released a matte finish version for shine control and a glowy finish version for hydration. If you’re a tried-and-true loyalist to the original formula, you can shop Skindinavia’s classic formula on Amazon, as well as an oil control version and a bridal version, specifically formulated for the bride on her wedding day.