Providenciales Part 8: Beach Beauty

While we were in Providenciales, we did our best to take great care of our skin and hair.

It's v. important to pay attention to what I call "beach beauty" when you're hanging out in sunshine 10 hours straight every day for a week.

First things first, we were incredibly strict about putting on sunscreen. We slathered it all over our bodies. My advice: before you're heading to the beach and before you've even put on your swimwear, strip down to your birthday suit and slap some sunscreen onto your whole body. Your swimsuit only offers sun protection equal to maybe SPF10 so you've got to get your bum and your boobs too. I used Hawaiian Tropic as my base.

Then, once you're suited up, mist yourself with some sporty sunscreen, if you plan on going into the water. And then, tote the bottle with you when you head to the beach and/or pool. You'll want to reapply after 90 minutes. I'd say every 60 minutes if you're in and out of the water a ton. Oh, and make sure to hydrate from the inside out a.k.a. drink lots of water. You might be tempted to go for cocktail after tropical cocktail, but make sure to drink water alongside the cocktails. Baking in the sun and sweating will dehydrate you.

Then, once you've come back inside and you've showered and you're ready to relax for the evening, I suggest using some sort of after sun product. We brought both aloe and a super moisturizing after sun lotion. Your skin will lose a lot of moisture when you're baking in sunlight and soaking in salty water so it's important to replenish that lost moisture with some lotion. Also, if you've got any bit of burnt skin, this will soothe it.

I should also make mention that we brought a little jar of coconut oil with us as well. I slathered oil all over my body and my hair for added moisture.

On a side note, this bit's not really health related, but I wanted to share anyway. I brought these fun gold tattoos which we sported here and there, just for kicks.

I have to tell you, I got a little bit of a tan the day I wore this steer head thing so now I've got a little pale spot on my shoulder. All in good fun though!

All right, back to more beach beauty tips! Always bring a pair of shades with you when you're in the harsh sunlight and make sure the lenses actually offer UV protection. These will protect your precious eyeballs (eyeball skin can burn too) and it will protect the skin around your eyes as well. The skin around your eyes is super sensitive and thin so sun damage in this area is one of the worst things that can happen. Premature wrinkles, papery skin texture, sun spots; these are all no-no's in my book.

By the way, take care of the rest of the skin on your face too. I like to use moisture masks and slather on deliciously thick lotions to really plump up my skin. And, a good round of exfoliation is great and gets rid of the dullness that seems to come with wearing sunscreen all day.

Last little tip for you is to sport a hat when you're out in the sun! Hair can be quite sensitive to the sun as well, and can feel dry and dead if it's "cooked" long enough. I also recommend a good deep conditioner (coconut oil works wonders) to replenish your hair at the end of a trip to restore some softness and reduce that crunch. I love sexy beach hair, you know, when it's kind of wavy and fluffy and salty. I mean, I wish I were a mermaid and that is ideal mermaid hair. However, once I'm home, that crispy look is really not the cutest look.

Do you have any beach beauty tips?

xoxo.