My friends always ask how my makeup lasts so long on hot summer days. My secret is a $30 spray that I buy once a year.

• I'm a huge fan of MAC Cosmetic's Prep + Prime Fix+ spray, which I use to lock in my makeup.
• The product retails for $31, and one bottle usually lasts me the entire year.

"Amanda, how is your makeup still on? It's midnight," my sister recently asked after we spent hours dancing the night away at a concert.

I quickly laughed, because my sister isn't the first person to ask me this. In fact, it wasn't even the first time she asked me.

Her question is one I've been getting regularly since college when I discovered a beloved beauty product for myself: MAC Cosmetic's Prep +Prime Fix+ spray.

It was 2018, and I had been assisting a beauty editor with a photo shoot for a fashion magazine I was interning at. It was an unpaid position, so at the end of the day, she handed me a bag of makeup in return for my work.

One of the items inside was an unassuming, clear spray bottle from MAC Cosmetics.

I'd never heard of the product before, but quickly discovered countless makeup artists raving about it online. In their reviews, they often used it as the last step to lock in makeup and help it last all day.

At the time, finishing spray was a foreign concept to me. I thought the only way to set your makeup was with excessive powder.

But once I tried using the makeup as artists suggested, I never looked back.

Technically, Fix+ isn't a setting spray

The $31 water-based product was designed by MAC mainly to hydrate skin by applying it before other products, and to refresh makeup after a few hours of wear.

In my experience, it does both perfectly. It works great as a hydrating base for makeup, and it gives you a nice glow if you spray it in the middle of the day.

But I've found that when I use Fix+ more like a setting spray as the final step of my routine, I can accomplish both hydrated skin and lasting makeup in a single step.

From concerts to theme-park days, the spray always works

While friends, co-workers, and even strangers have commented on the lasting power of my makeup, no one has been more impressed by Fix+ over the years than myself.

The product kept my makeup from transferring to masks throughout the pandemic, and it prevented my foundation from running on humid days at Disney World.

It also achieved the ultimate goal of keeping my makeup fresh as I attended concerts this summer.

The sparkling makeup I wore at the Eras Tour still looked fresh after Taylor Swift's three-hour set, and the sharp eyeliner I wore to a recent emo show withstood pouring rain — all thanks to the spray.

I've tried lots of other setting sprays over the years, and there are great ones on the market. Plus, many of those options are cheaper than MAC's.

But personally, I've never had to buy more than one bottle of Fix+ per year (even with my sister stealing spritzes of it every chance she gets).

So $31 per year to ensure that my makeup always looks flawless? I'd say that's a steal.