How To Prep for the Beach (Your Body, Your Bag & Your Family!)

Are the gentle breezes of the ocean calling your name, is a cooler full of ice and snacks begging for you to head to the lake? Or do you just need a good ol' day-dream-vacation? 

Either way, I'm gonna give you my must-haves for heading to any watery, sandy location, to beat the heat and have some fun in the sun!

Come and Get Ready with Me (my smallest of them all, Ellie), CLICK THE TRIANGLE in the CENTER to play, as I get ready from shower to cellulite machine (ha ha ha):

1. Shower Action Shaving & Smoothing

 You want your skin to be as smooth and buttery and hair free as can be! So first, make sure you shave all those "we-don't-want-you-here-hair" areas. Then, make sure your feet look smooth, too. I like to use a pumice stone to soften them up, and for extremely rough areas I bring in the big lava rock stone.

After you shaved, swipe over any "freshly shaved areas" with the Bliss Ingrown Eliminating Pads, and ingrown hairs be gone! Yes, this will even work for that man in your life and his facial shaving ingrown hairs!

2. Self-Tanning & Moisturizing to Glow & Glisten

My new self-tanning obsession is the Vani-T Brazilian Bronze Self-Tanning Mousse! It's free of parabens, mineral oil and all the chemicals in most all self-tanners, streak-free, no stinky, burnt Frito-Lay chip smell, instant cocoa brown town, no orange, fake looking tan at all! Vani-T's special formula also disguises cellulite and stretch marks! Yes, A-to-the-MAY-zing! And you have to use the "self-tanning mitt" or your hands will end up being way darker that the rest of your body from smoothing it on!

Then to moisturize after your self-tanner has dried, I love the Shikai Borage Therapy Dry Skin Lotion. If you want to add some extra shimmer, you can mix a few pumps of MAC's To The Beach Body Oils. For lighter skin use Seaside or for a deeper shimmer, use Man Rays.

For non-shimmer, but pure moisturizing, I mix a few pumps of the Shikai Skin Lotion, with a few pumps of the Umidita Fine Wine Body Oil. It is rich in vitamins to increase collagen and cell growth.

3. Beach Beauty

I don't want to wear a full face of make-up to the beach, but you can put a little bit on that will also protect your skin from the sun! BB Creams are great because they even out your skin tone, get rid of the redness, and provide sunscreen! I've got two different options. A bargain beauty Maybelline BB Cream and the "bigger ticket purchase" of the Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream.

Next add a little extra beach concealer. You may be taking a day off for the beach, but your under eye circles and blemishes are not! I‘m loving the Kat Von D Lock-It Tatoo Concealer (it's not for tattoos really, but it stays on like a tattoo!).

Then it’s time for beach blush. For a bit of waterproof beachy glow, I love the Make-Up Forever Waterproof Aqua Cream in #9.

Then, you need beachy eyes! A little swipe of some waterproof eyeliner is always fun! I used the Benefit Bad Gal Eyeliner and the Anastasia of Beverly Hills Covet Waterproofer Eyeliner in Noir.

The best bargain beauty waterproof mascara and primer to try are: L'Oreal Double Extend Tubes (using the primer side) and Covergirl Lashblast Waterproof Mascara. To splurge, go with DiorShow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum (the plumper is a mascara primer, which will add fiber and length to your lashes so they look longer, thicker, and fuller after mascara), and Dior Show Waterproof Mascara.

The finishing touch: beach beauty lips! I like to wear a nude lip at the beach, not only does the lip color pigment act as a sunblock for your lips, but it’s just a pretty look! I have two favorites: to "shell out" you can use the YSL Rouge Volupte in Nude #2 and for the bargain beauty, L'Oreal Colour Caresse in Pink Plush.

4. I Dream of Bikinis (Or Not!)

Since putting a bathing suit on is probably one of my least favorite things to do, I try to find the most flattering option around. The fringe bathing suit is my favorite right now! If you don't have a lot of boob-action, going on, this baby makes it look like "hey, look at all the fringe." You could be hiding little boobs or big boobs behind all that distracting fringe—no one will ever know!

I’m also a huge fan of anchors for some nautical reason. This bathing suit is old, but you can search anchor bathing suits. Just so cute at the beach!

Meanwhile, my favorite flip-flops are Havianas. I have several colors and they’re the most comfortable ‘flops ever

5. Itsy Bitsy Bathing Suits & Beach Hats

For my little ones, I love IPlay Swimsuits for boys and girls. They’re super cute, the baby and toddler sizes have built-in diaper bottoms, and they protect delicate skin on the shoulders and arms from the sun, better than any sunscreen!

We’re also fans of the IPlay Sunhats. They are cute, keep faces and necks free of sunburn, and we get compliments on them all day long!

The kids like these Cute Kids Animal Hooded Towels, but water from the bath is the same as water from the beach, so they’re fun to use there! We have monkeys, owls, dogs, and ducks—they’re just too cute!

And don’t forget the mini sunglasses! You can find the cutest pairs for under $10 and my kids love wearing them!

6. My Sunglasses

I'm always hunting for cool sunglasses. Whether it's retro looking glasses or these fun ones from Juicy Couture with the gold chain on the side!

7. Beach Bag Essentials

Grab a beach bag big enough to fit your little ones—just kidding! But she did love playing in this! And in all seriousness, the bigger the beach bag, the better!

Fun towels are also must for the beach. I love my leopard print beach towel and a roll-up beach mat is a great way to keep your towel free of sand!

For sun protection, I like to stick to natural and organic sunscreens. Many "standard" suncreens are full of so many awful chemicals. I also use the natural baby sunscreens for our whole family because they are more sensitive and better for you skin, so you won't break out, or have any allergic reactions.

For the face, I love the California Baby Sunblock Stick. It's free of chemicals—it's even gluten, soy, and dairy free (you'd be surprised what's in most sunscreens!)—and you can toss it in your bag without fear of messy, sunscreen tube leaks!

For the body, I like Badger Broad Spectrum Baby SPF 30. It's water-resistant, organic, blocks both UVB and UVA rays, and is cruelty free.

Then comes hair protection! Not too many people think of the sun damage to your hair, or your hair color! If you've spent time coloring your hair in any way, you might want to spray on something like the L'Oreal Color Vibrancy Dual Protect Spray, to keep it the color you want and prevent it from fading.

And last but not least...you want to smell like a little bit of heaven on the beach, and my favorite perfume is Sud Pacifique Vanilla Extreme.

Now let's all daydream and pretend we’re going here today:

Huge hugs, sunglasses and beach bags, from your virtual best friend, Kandee

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