Beach Bag Essentials

In honor of all you beach babes heading out on vacay this month I've put together a little list of my favorite beach bag essentials. Just so you know, all of these products work just as well just chilling by the pool as that's what I'll be using them for! (I don't do oceans, just watch Shark Week to understand why.)

I love bright, colorful beach bags and while I usually like using waterproof ones I've decided to pack all of my goodies into my Lilly Pulitzer for Estee Lauder bag that I got earlier this summer but you can use whatever bag you choose.

So let's work clockwise from the top, shall we? 

One of my number one Beach Bag essentials is a great pair of sunglasses. I am obsessed with the tortoise shell print this summer so these (fake) Ray Bans are perfect for me but Forever 21 has some really great, super cheap and super chic shades like these Tortoise Frame Square Sunglasses that run a cool $5.80.

Next up, I have one of my everyday essentials which is the Pinch Provisions Minimergency Kit in Pink Candy Striper. I wrote about this little sucker in my May Favorites and it has come in handy so many times since then and you never know what kind of mini-emergency you could find your self in at the beach. 

You can't expect to spend a day in the sun without some SPF and I love the quick ease of a spray on sunscreen so I love to throw Neutrogena's Wet Skin Sunscreen Spray with SPF 30 in my bag. I love that I don't have to worry about my sunscreen melting and spilling all over my beach bag, it's also super great to be able to spray this over your body even if you've hopped in the ocean for a bit first.

Next up, I have my Goody Tanglefix which I believe to be a fairly decent dupe for the Tangle Teezer. I always pack this with me because it is great with wet hair and we all love great beach waves but not that seaweed tendrils knotted mess that can happen when caught in the waves. This will definitely prevent that. 

You can't go to the beach without a towel so that is a must, I also like to take a beach blanket with me just because nothing is more annoying than hot sand all over your wet skin when you're trying to dry off. 

This next item is probably no surprise to most of you Magnolias because we all know I love a great body moisturizer and am obsessed with anything coconut. That's why one of my top beach bag essentials is my Coconut Lime Breeze Body Cream from Bath & Body Works. This is my favorite classic scent from B&BW and I just think it screams beach getaway so it is absolutely perfect to moisturize my body after a day in the sun and surf. 

I've also thrown in a fun Coconut Passion Body Spray from Victoria's Secret to compliment the body cream but also because you never know when you might have to spray away that sweaty, ocean mist beach scent.

I've also thrown in my Secret Scent Expressions Deodorant in Pasion de Tango for obvious reasons. You can read more about my odd love of this stuff in my June Favorites. 

No Beach Day is complete for me without some beach reads so of course you've gotta pack the bible according to Elle Woods, aka Cosmo. Side Note: How hot is Megan Fox's hair in this month's issue? As if I didn't envy her enough already. Ugh!

I can't imagine laying out in the sun all day without my little monogrammed Lilly Pulitzer Lulu clad iPad Mini. Aside from a host of games, Pinterest, and Tumblr my main love affair with my iPad is because of my collection of ebooks. My top beach read at the moment is the fabulously hilarious book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by the fabulously hilarious Mindy Kaling.  

I hate having little bits and bobs just floating in the bottom of my bag so I love grabbing a cute little makeup bag (the Ipsy Glam Bags are perfect for this!) and throwing all my little stuff inside.

What's a Beach Day without some Beach Spray? I love this Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray from the June 2014 Ipsy Glam Bag and my June Favorites!

I don't go anywhere without some hand sanitizer so it should be no surprise that I've included some in my beach bag essentials. I've also thrown some simple hair ties and some money in for safe measure but also because I don't like leaving my wallet alone on the beach so hiding away some money for emergencies is no big deal.
Last but not least, you've gotta have some lip balm with some SPF and a good concealer just in case.

I hope you've enjoyed this look into my summer essentials, leave a comment below letting me know what you've packed in your beach bag!

until next time, darlings.
xo
Merisa

My Night Time Routine

So this post came about when me and my sister were discussing our skincare routines. She almost died when she found out a.) just how many products I use and b.) that I don't use face wash at night. 

Yeap, that's right, I've gone against every beauty blogger out there and don't actually wash my face at night.

Gasp!

That doesn't mean I don't clean my face though!

Since my sister found this rundown so interesting and this routine actually works really well for me I thought I would explain myself here.

Let's get started!

Usually I light a few candles before bed. Right now I'm really liking (clockwise from the top left) Red Velvet Cupcake, Champagne Toast, and Marshmallow Fireside from Bath & Body Works.

I also usually have a cup of sleepytime tea before bed but I don't have any at the moment. :( 

Next, I use the Equate brand Night-Time Soothing Makeup Remover Towelettes which are comparable to Neutrogena Night Calming Cleansing Towelettes. I use to hate makeup remover cloths before finding these! I tried a bunch of brands, including the Neutrogena ones, and found that they were all either too rough of my skin, didn't actually remove any makeup, or were way to dry.

These are perfect! I can remove a whole day's worth of makeup in one sweep if I want to with these bad boys. I really enjoy the night-time soothing kind because they really are soothing and don't irritate my face, plus they're super cheap! 

Sticking with the Equate products, I remove my eye makeup and waterproof mascara with the Equate Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover. This stuff is an excellent dupe of the Neutrogena Oil-Free Remover, it's seriously the same product but cheaper. 

To get any left over product off of my face and just leave my skin refreshed I put a little bit of the Sephora Triple Action Cleansing Water on a cotton pad and wipe over my face. 

I just realized that I didn't actually include my moisturizer in any of the photos I took and that's probably because I just recently starting using a new brand. I found that my skin was especially dry as the temperature started to drop so I invested in the L'Oreal Paris Ideal Moisture Dry Skin Lotion. So far, so good with this product. I've only been using it for a few days and I've already started to notice a difference in my skin's hydration.

Which brings me to my next step which involves my mantra you all should know and love by now:

Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!

I can't say it enough, you have to keep your skin hydrated! That's why I put lotion on my body, moisturizer on my face, and lip balm on my lips before I go to bed, so my body can soak in that hydration overnight!

The Soap & Glory Butter Yourself Super Rich Body Cream was a part of one of my Christmas gifts and came with 2 other Soap & Glory lotions in the Good, Butter, Best set from Sephora, this proved to be the best! When this says super rich, it means it! I can't wait to use up my other lotions so I can purchase the full size version of this. It smells amazing which is saying something coming from me seeing as it has a light citrus scent and I've never really been a fan of citrus, but for some reason I'm really enjoying this. 

For my lip balm I use CO Bigelow's Classic Rose All Purpose Salve and I LOVE it! I've used this stuff since high school and it is my go-to lip balm. I also use it on really dry skin around my elbows and knees too. 

Now, back to the face. I am having some serious eye issues at the moment. Between my crazy school schedule, the new puppy (which you will hear more about very soon!), and my lapse in judgement with the tanning bed (I know, I know! I'm suffering the consequences now, for sure!) I've had some issues with dark circle, puffiness, and even...wrinkles! 

My mom thinks I'm going crazy but I seriously have spotted some crazy crow's feet creeping up around my eyes, which I of course blame on the tanning bed. Fake Bake for me from now on!

So for night's when I'm feeling a little wrinkly I use Miracle Worker from Philosophy and stick with You Won't Believe Your Eyes from Soap & Glory on other nights. 

After all that, I usually curl up with a good book or more recently, my iPad mini to fuel my Pinterest obsession before bed.

I hope y'all enjoyed this look into my nightly routine, comment below if you did and I might just show you the wackiness of my morning routine next! haha!

until next time, darlings.

xo

Merisa