What to Actually Bring on a Summer Beach Vacation: Beauty & Skincare Necessities

Monday, July 6th, 2009 | Beauty Tips, General, Photos, Product Picks, Skincare

While Meilily is on vacation in Kauai, here are some beauty and skincare product tips on what to bring on your next summer beach vacation… Check out this comparison of what Meilily brought, and what Meilily actually ended up using (and not using) while on vacation!

Beauty & Skincare Products for a Summer Beach Vacation

Meilily Summer Beach Vacation Products

Must-haves…

Mineral Sunscreen -Lavera Sun Block SPF 40 Neutral Sunscreen (thick, mineral sun protection, whitening, but actually waterproof- perfect for hiking, snorkeling, and even beach-sitting!)
Insect Repellent – Skin So Soft BUG GUARD Plus Picaridin Insect Repellent Towelettes (easy to apply in the right amount and smells pretty good)
Natural Deodorant – Tom’s of Maine Natural Long-lasting Care Deodorant in Apricot (great, but perhaps not enough for a day-long trek through a swamp apparently)
Hair Conditioner sample packets – DHC has some generous hair care samples (4 Free DHC Samples with Every Order.)
A basic razor – I brought a disposable razor (shame on me), but non-disposable works too
A wide brim fold-able sun hat – found one at Nordstrom on sale (so useful in hot sun!)
Large sunglasses (really helps keep the delicate eye area protected from sun)

Good-to-haves…

A good tankini swimsuit for more skin coverage/protection – Merona Olive Tankini Swimsuit I found at Target (with a cute and useful swim skirt)
Dr.Ci:Labo Aqua-Collagen-Gel Super Moisture Moisturizer (great for after-sun or pre-sun moisture even in tropical climates)
Avon Skin So Soft Bug Guard Spray (I definitely prefer the towelettes for more even application, but this is good for touch-ups)
Body wash – The Body Shop Satsuma Body Wash (brought in a travel bottle, as it doubles as shampoo or laundry soap)
A gentle face scrub (to keep the grime and waterproof suncreen from clogging pores) – Cosmedicine Medi-morphosis sample size exfoliator
A lip balm or mineral lip color with good spf – Bare Escentuals Lip Guard Spf 15 with non-chemical sun protection (did use it, but not very often: gloss + beach = meh).
Shampoo samples or travel sizes (just in case it’s not provided) – I reused a travel size bottle and filled it with grapefruit shampoo from Whole Foods

Forget-about-its…

Any kind of lipstick or lip gloss without spf (I brought a Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Bahama for some strange reason, and never used it)
Extra clothes (especially if you stay at a place with laundry facilities; you can always buy clothes on vacation if necessary!)
Low strength Hydrocortisone Cream (just didn’t help with my mosquito bites, which I actually got indoors when not wearing bug repellent!)

What Meilily Would Bring Next Time:

Waterproof mosquito repellent!

Happy Travels! from Meilily

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Tags: Avon Bug Guard, Beauty Tips, insect repellent, mosquito repellent, Skincare, Summer Skincare, sunscreen, Swimsuits, Travel Style, Travel Tips

2 Comments to What to Actually Bring on a Summer Beach Vacation: Beauty & Skincare Necessities

anjali
July 6, 2009

i am slowly growing addicted to trying new moisturizers and sunscreens, and the lavera and the dr.ci:labo seem like great products, i will have to check them out. i hope you had a lovely time in hawaii 🙂

Meilily
July 7, 2009

Thank you so much, anjali! I had a great time exploring Hawaii! I really love the dr.ci:labo for use anywhere – it is fantastic and simple – and the tube of lavera sunscreen really stayed put in the intense salt water and sun, so I didn’t really mind that it made my tan look a little pasty. Let me know if you try any of these products!