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It is not your skin prep. It is not your foundation formula. It is not even your setting spray. According to pro makeup artist @scortezzbeauty, the real enemy of your makeup, especially in the summer heat is sweat and he has a step-by-step routine to defeat it completely.
Expert tips by @scortezzbeauty on TikTok
Every summer, the same thing happens.
You spend time on your base, blend everything out beautifully, set it carefully, walk out the door feeling like you have genuinely nailed it, and by midday, it is sliding off your face.
You have tried different foundations. You have switched setting sprays. You have gone heavier on the powder. And nothing holds.
Professional makeup artist @scortezzbeauty is here to tell you that you have been solving the wrong problem.
“The biggest destroyer of your makeup is not oil, is not bad skin prep, is not bad makeup, is not bad application. It’s sweat,” he says flatly.
“Sweat is going to break down your makeup more than absolutely anything else.”
Speaking as someone who personally deals with hyperhidrosis ( a condition that causes excessive sweating), he has had to figure out solutions that actually work.
So here is his complete, product-by-product routine for making makeup genuinely sweat-proof, from the scalp down.
First, the Science: Why Sweat Beats Everything
Before you can fix the problem, you need to understand why sweat is so much more destructive than oil alone.
@scortezzbeauty explains it clearly: “What happens is the sweat then mixes with the oil. Because of the salt in it, it is going to emulsify the oil into it, just making that incredible internal makeup remover soup that is going to melt your makeup off.”
That combination of salt, water, and oil does not just sit on top of your makeup, it actively dissolves it from underneath, no matter how well it was applied.
No setting spray in the world can hold against that chemistry without the right prep underneath.
Here’s an example of a concern Chiara raised in the comments:
Chiara: “I have full on bangs — in the summer my forehead is a waterfall. Nothing works. My biggest secret, used very sparingly, is a thin layer of the Vichy 72h roll-on antiperspirant in my trouble zones with no skincare under or on top. It’s not meant for the face and my foundation will fight back but it’s the only way I can survive summer in public. Unfortunately Carpe isn’t sold in the EU. I recently bought the One Size Secure the Sweat Primer and will test it soon.”
The Full Sweat-Proof Makeup Routine
Step 01 · Before Anything
Start With a Clean, Cool, Completely Dry Face
This sounds obvious but @scortezzbeauty is specific about what “clean and dry” actually means here.
“The first thing you want to make sure of is that your face is completely clean and dry and sweat-free.”
Any existing moisture or sweat on the skin before you begin is going to compromise everything that goes on top.
His tool of choice for this? A good clapping fan.
“I really recommend getting yourself a good clapping fan to make sure that everything is dry and cool at all times, because it is going to help you out immensely.”
Keeping the skin cool lowers your body’s impulse to sweat in the first place, giving your products the best possible starting conditions.
13″ Large Rave Fan Bamboo, Folding Clack Hand Fan
Step 02 · The Revelation
The Problem Is Your Scalp, Not Your Forehead
This is an insight that changes everything, and it is one most people have never considered.
“The majority of the time it isn’t the face that causes the majority of the issues. It is the scalp.”
He goes on to explain: “Those of us who really sweat…think it’s our forehead. 99% of the time it is actually going to be your scalp that is overheating and dripping down your face, not your forehead itself.”
The fix is the Carpe Scalp Serum, an antiperspirant formulated specifically for the scalp.
Apply it before you begin your makeup, and you address the source of the problem rather than just its symptoms.
Carpe Scalp Serum
Step 03 · Skin Prep
Antiperspirant for the Face? Yes, That Exists
@scortezzbeauty uses two face-specific antiperspirant products interchangeably depending on the day and what he is applying makeup over.
The first, Carpe Sweat Absorbing Face Primer, is designed to be worn underneath makeup and includes SPF 15.
The second, the one he personally considers superior, is the Carpe Original Sweat-Absorbing Face Lotion.
“If I’m going to be completely honest, the original sweat-absorbing face lotion in my opinion is far superior.”
Both are applied to the skin before any primer or foundation, creating an anti-sweat barrier right at the base of the routine where it matters most.
Crow’s comment: “I didn’t know they made antiperspirants for the face 😭 this might actually be game changing for me, make or not”
Scortezz’s reply: “Yep! I use them near daily”
@scortezzbeauty’s Superior Option
Carpe Original Sweat-Absorbing Face Lotion
Carpe Sweat-Absorbing Face Primer with SPF
Step 04 · Primer
Fenty Beauty Grip Trip Matte Primer: Built for Stage, Built for Sweat
Once the antiperspirant base is on, he reaches for the Fenty Beauty Grip Trip Mattifying Primer, and the reason he chooses it is rooted in where the brand comes from.
“Why do I like this? These are humidity-proof. Everything Fenty Beauty is humidity-proof because they were designed for stage. This was while Rihanna was still hootin’ and hollerin’ and making music.”
Makeup designed to survive a live performance under hot stage lighting, with dancing, in front of thousands of people, is exactly the kind of makeup that is going to survive your summer.
“Fenty Beauty was designed for that longevity and it has always lived up to that. This is no exception.”
Fenty Beauty Grip Trip Mattifying Primer
Step 05 · Primer Spray
After the face primer comes a primer spray, but the formula matters here.
“You are going to go in with the Skindinavia primer spray, but you are going to go in with the oil control formula.”
The reason goes back to the chemistry he explained earlier: sweat mixes with oil and the combination is what actually removes the makeup.
“The sweat then mixes with the oil. Because of the salt in it, it is going to emulsify the oil into it, just making that incredible internal makeup remover soup.”
Controlling the oil with the primer spray means even when sweat does break through, it has far less to work with.
Less oil equals less emulsification equals makeup that stays.
Step 06 · Between Every Layer
Carpe Instant Matte Setting Mist: Spray Between Every Single Step
This is where @scortezzbeauty’s routine becomes genuinely next-level, and it requires a shift in how you think about setting spray.
Rather than spraying once at the very end, he uses the Carpe Instant Matte Setting Mist between every single layer of makeup.
“Foundation spray, concealer spray, contour spray, bronzer spray: you get the gist.”
The logic is about reinforcement: “This is going to just really reinforce each layer and just make it harder for the sweat to break through and get rid of your makeup.”
Each layer of product becomes its own locked, set barrier rather than a stack of loose layers that sweat can work through from the top down.
Carpe Instant Matte Setting Mist
Step 07 · Setting & Touch-Ups
Carpe Sweat-Absorbing Mineral Powder: Your On-the-Go Lifesaver
The final product in his routine is designed for both the initial set and for touch-ups throughout the day.
The Carpe Sweat-Absorbing Mineral Powder comes in a compact twist-up format, no brush required, no loose powder cloud, no mess.
“All you need to do is literally twist it up, tap it, the powder’s already in there, and you just go through.”
What makes it different from a regular setting powder is that it does not just mattify, it actively absorbs sweat as it happens.
“It mattifies everything, but it also absorbs sweat.”
He especially recommends it along the hairline at the initial setting stage: “Game changer, especially for right on the hairline.”
And it fits in your bag for the whole day.
Carpe Sweat-Absorbing Mineral Powder
Mikaylamua: “Do you have any recommendations for eye primers?”
Scortezz’s reply: Any waxy eyeshadow primer — Mac 24 hour eye base, Glamraider eye primer, Nars, Fenty, NYX”
Julia Kossmann: “My biggest issue is i sweat off all of my eyebrow gel. any tips for that?”
Scortezz’s reply: “You’d use these products above and in the brow”
The full routine looks like a lot on paper, but the principle underneath it is actually very simple.
Address the sweat at the source. Reduce the oil it feeds on. Lock every layer of makeup independently so there is nothing loose for sweat to break through.
And carry something on you for the moments when the heat wins a small battle but you are winning the war.
After this routine, it will not stand a chance.
“This is how you are going to deal with your sweat ruining your makeup.This is how.”
@scortezzbeauty says at the end of his video.
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