What's In My Beach Bag ~ Summer Essentials

Since I'm on vacation for a week, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do this post. During the summer, I like to keep a bag with all my sun/summer things because a lot of times we'll plan on taking out boat to the lake, and it can be very last minute. These are the things I like to have along with me. Although I did forget to include whatever book I'm reading. I like to bring some good reading material with me to the beach/lake/pool. 

My light blue backpack is from Target. I got it this spring after putting it off for so long. I finally gave in. It's a good size, and I like the hands-free aspect a backpack entails. It's especially nice while trying to get a boat into and out of the water. You need both hands for that. My big white sun hat is from JC Penny last year. The brim is rather large, but for someone who burns super easily (It's ridiculous), it's nice to have something shading my face and neck. 

I keep a lot of these smaller items in this Burt's Bees pouch along with extra hair ties and bobby pins. I mentioned above that I am very prone to sunburn so I have a bottle of spf 50 lotion, but I also have some spray on sun screen in spf 30. I'm really excited to use this because it combines my three favorite things in a sun screen: the fact that's it's the sport performance makes it less likely to sweat off, the fact that it sprays, much easier to apply in my opinion, and I'm really excited for the whole 'cool zone' effect. Sounds refreshing. I may actually enjoy reapplying! I have another sun block in spf 30, I think this one is better for applying to the face. The next thing I have it the St. Ives Eye and Face Stress Gel. This has cucumber (and aloe I believe) and it's really nice to put on if your face gets burned, or if you're me, your nose gets burned to a crisp. The Curel lotion is for my face. I have dry skin, and he sun block is not good for it. Also, swimming washes away any face lotion I may have applied earlier in the day. I always like to have a backup. The same goes for deodorant. Pretty self explanitory. Although I would NOT recommend this scent. Makes you smell worse in my opinion, which is why I only use it as a backup. I didn't want to waste it by throwing it away. The last things I keep are hand sanitizer, ibuprofen (I'm prone to  headaches in the heat), some body spray, and of course lip balm with spf 15. 

 If you're going swimming, you obviously need a towel. I also like to bring a sarong to cover up with and protect my skin from the sun. It's also nice to use as a blanket since it tends to get breezy on the boat. I just use this tie-dye one my aunt brought back for me from Africa. 

The last things I bring along are my iPod, sunglasses, and water. It's always a good idea to stay hydrated especially in the sun. 

Keep Smiling,