10 Beauty Essentials To Pack In Your Beach Bag This Memorial Day Weekend
Whether you’re traveling for Memorial Day or staying local and planning a staycation, chances are your holiday weekend agenda involves plenty of time in the sun. To safeguard your skin, then, it’s essential to pack a lightweight, effective, non-greasy, and preferably pleasant-smelling sunblock that you can reapply as often as necessary. Similarly, you’ll want to have lightweight mists that you can spritz on your complexion when you need a quick dose of hydration and moisturizing sprays for your strands. On the makeup side, you’ll likely want to adopt a minimalist approach, being sagely discerning with the products you pack in your makeup bag. Choose a multi-purpose tinted moisturizer or CC cream that contains SPF protection and will also offer the coverage you desire, then opt for a natural-looking cream blush (it won’t melt off your face) and a handy lip crayon to deliver creamy, bold, long-lasting color to your pout.
Below, you’ll find a number of great products to keep you looking and feeling your best no matter your destination!
Hampton Sun SPF 15 Gel, $36. Available at HamptonSunCare.com and BergdorfGoodman.com
Even if you’re not planning on sunbathing at the beach, you need to apply SPF before heading outside and reapply every three to four hours.The genius of this sunscreen lies in its delectable texture, which is lightweight and gel-like without being sticky or tacky and which absorbs rapidly after being smoothed onto the skin. Formulated with aloe vera, vitamin E, and walnut oil (a non-greasy moisturizer and anti-aging ingredient that’s rich in omega-3 fatty acids), the SPF 15 gel hydrates, soothes, and cools the skin in addition to protecting it from harmful UV rays. There’s no white cast left behind when you apply this product, no putrid chemical scent, and no pore-clogging heaviness. Instead, your skin will feel softer and look more radiant, making you actually enjoy applying sunscreen rather than regard it as a necessary but somewhat odious task.
Make Up For Ever HD High Definition Blush, $25. Available at Sephora.com
When temperatures rise, many of us prefer cream blush formulas to powder iterations that can melt off with just a few beads of sweat. That alone would make the Make Up For Ever HD Definition Blush worthy of some room in your makeup bag, but the product’s virtues extend beyond its creaminess. What makes this blush groundbreaking is how seamless it looks when applied to the complexion. There’s no evidence of a layer of cosmetics having been applied, no discernible difference in texture, no glitter or shimmer, so that the flushed color appears all the more realistic. The blush comes in 16 shades ranging from 210 Cool Pink to 515 Tangerine.
Vichy Eau Thermale Spa Water Spray, $14. Available at Walgreens and Target stores.
When you feel beads of sweat beginning to form around your hairline, simply reach for the Vichy Eau Thermale and spritz the mist atop your face for an instant hydration boost. Filtered through volcanic layers, this thermal spa water contains 15 minerals that regenerate, nourish, and protect the skin — among them selenium, zinc, and calcium. You can apply this anytime, over or under makeup, making it a great to-the-rescue beauty product for steamy summer days.
Bite Beauty Matte Creme Lip Crayons, $24 each. Available at Sephora.com
Lip crayons are incredibly handy during the summer season since they’re essentially melt-proof (as opposed to our favorite lipsticks, which can be decimated by the sun’s rays), they entail a quick and goof-proof application, and they tend to feel creamy and luxurious on the pout. Many options are available — among them Clinique’s Chubby Sticks and NARS Cosmetics’ Satin Lip Pencils — but I’m currently over the moon about the Bite Beauty Matte Creme Lip Crayons since they’re saturated with pigment, come in a nice array of attention-grabbing shades, and they last a almost surreal amount of time without losing their intensity or luster. Just as importantly, they’re incredibly moisturizing thanks to ingredients like resveratrol, shea butter, sunflower seed wax, and jojoba wax.
Nars Cosmetics 413 Blkr Illuminator, $30. Available at NARScosmetics.com
A bit embarrassed about your winter pallor? Don’t be! With this illuminator, you can look like you’ve been working on your sun-kissed glow since January! Like so many NARS illuminators before it, this lightweight formula will make your complexion glisten beautifully, giving you the appearance of a golden goddess. What makes the 413 Blkr Illuminator so remarkable, however, is just how demure the effect is. Formulated with light-reflecting liquids, this sheer yet buildable formula makes the skin look as if it were bathing in candlelight, swathing it in a shimmering, champagne gold glow. Whether worn atop bare skin, blended with tinted moisturizer or liquid foundation, or used to highlight key areas of the face, this illuminator will get you glowing before you set foot on the beach!
Ogx Weightless Hydration Coconut Water Weightless Hydration Oil, $7.99. Available at drugstores and mass market retailers. Visit Ulta.com
Too often, when having fun in the sun, we remember to drink water and protect our skin, but we forget all about our strands, letting chlorine, salt water, and the sun’s UV rays wreak havoc on our manes. This summer, take the necessary precautions to protect your locks by coating strands with the Ogx Weightless Hydration Coconut Water Weightless Hydration Oil, which is formulated with coconut oil and coconut water. The latter is packed with electrolytes like potassium, magnesium, and calcium that work to boost cellular activity and promote circulation within the scalp, as well as strengthen hair follicles, and prevent protein and moisture loss.
You can apply this hydration oil to damp, towel-dried hair, using it as a leave-in conditioner and frizz fighter, but you can also spritz it onto dry strands to smooth them a bit, get rid of fly-aways, and boost shine. As its name implies, the formula is pleasantly lightweight so that your mane will retain its movement and volume, all the while receiving the hydration it so desperately needs. Added bonus: your hair will have a light coconut scent that’s beyond fitting for the season of piña coladas.
Lumene Time Freeze Anti-Age CC Cream, $14.99. Available at drugstores and mass market retailers. Visit Ulta.com
I’ve tried over a dozen CC creams (stay tuned for a rather in-depth piece on that!) but this one remains one of my favorites — a welcome revelation given that it’s one of the more affordable options on the market. The multi-purpose cream offers six benefits in one handy dandy formula: nourishing and hydrating the skin with botanicals like sunflower seed oil and rosemary extract; protecting the skin against visible aging signs thanks to the inclusion of lingonberry, a superfruit found in abundance in Scandinavia and known to be rich in vitamin E and vitamin C, as well as polyphenols that fend off UV rays and prevent skin damage; offering natural-looking coverage; helping to give the complexion a radiant look; evening skin tone via color-correcting mineral pigments; and providing broad spectrum SPF 20 protection (thanks to the incorporation of octinoxate and titanium dioxide). When you need SPF protection and want a hint of coverage so as to conceal any redness and dark spots without having to rely on heavier foundations and powders, this CC cream will work wonders.
Nivea Q10 Plus Skin Firming Cellulite Serum, $11.99. Available at drugstores and mass market retailers.
Dreading having to wear a bikini? Stop it! First off, remember that, whatever your size, you’re positively beautiful. Those around you probably don’t even give a second thought to the stretch marks, saddle bags, fleshy thighs, and cellulite you obsess over. After all, they’re natural and — don’t let the airbrushed magazine pics fool you — ubiquitous occurrences. Besides, every woman has a few tricks up her sleeve (or tucked inside her bikini bottom!). To make your thighs, hips, and rear look more toned and reduce the appearance of dimpling (the tell-tale sign that cellulite is present) for a limited period of time, apply this ultra-concentrated serum to the areas of concern. The serum is formulated with L-Carnitine, believed to act as an anti-inflammatory, reducing puffiness and swelling, when applied topically; lotus leaf extract, believed to cool and soothe the skin while improving its overall texture; and coenzyme Q10, which is naturally found in skin cells but the production of which declines markedly as we age, and which, when applied topically, can boost collagen production, stimulate cellular activity and energize the skin, helping it eliminate toxins. Though it’s not a long-term cure for cellulite, it does deliver some visible short-term results, making skin appear more taut and leaving you worry-free as you shimmy into your favorite swimsuit.
Jergens BB Body Perfecting Cream, $11.99. Available at drugstores and mass market retailers nationwide.
We’ve heard all about BB creams by now but, until recently, these products were centered only on the complexion. Jergens, however, decided a multi-action lotion was needed for use on the body and so its dedicated scientists developed the BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream. Available in two shades, one for light skin tone and one for medium to dark skin tones, this lotion contains cocoa butter, shea butter, mango butter,aloe leaf juice, to nourish, soften, and smooth the skin; and hydolyzed collagen to make it appear firmer. A proprietary Skin Tone Evening complex helps to disguise any redness in lighter skin tones, while light-diffusing pigments make skin glow ever so lightly while also blurring any existing imperfections. Because this cream doesn’t fit in the “body makeup” category, it won’t wash off when you shower (or when it rains) and it also won’t transfer onto your clothing — welcome news if you plan to break out the summer whites this weekend!
Korres Yoghurt After-Sun Cooling Gel, $23.50. Available at Sephora.com
This sweet-smelling, quick-drying, creamy gel not only provides sun-drenched skin with some much-needed relief, but it titillates the senses with its milky aroma. The paraben-, sulfate-, silicone-, and phtalalate-free formula is centered on edible yoghurt, which is a natural source of lactic acid, protein, phosphate, potassium, zinc, calcium, and vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, D, and E. The lactose in the formula hydrates the epidermis, while the lactic acid’s anti-microbial properties protect the skin from irritation and the minerals and vitamins therein provide antioxidant protection and anti-aging benefits. The therapeutic properties of the fennel extract and the healing benefits of the firewood extract incorporated into the formula, meanwhile, further augment the gel’s soothing sensation.
