100 Degree Hottie: What I Pack in My Beach Bag

100 Degree Hottie: What I Pack in My Beach Bag

Look, I'm a notorious over-packer. 

I'm a self admitted pack rat when it comes to traveling.

But I will say this- better to be prepared than to pack light and be miserable.

SO HERE'S HOW I PACK MY BAG

First of all, if you don't pack a sunscreen you're an idiot. I'm serious. Don't give me that, "I'm already tan", "I don't burn", BS because being tan doesn't protect you from getting skin cancer and having your ears cut off.

My favorite sunscreen is probably the dry touch formulas from Neutrogena.

Otherwise the Ole Henriksen ones are nice, or if you have an aversion to lotions, Supergoop makes sunscreen towelettes that are really cool.

Next, consider Chapstick- especially one with an SPF built in.

Obviously, we all know I'm a fan of jack black lip balms, but if you're looking for a drugstore version the EOS ones are nice, or even Nivea.

Towel. Don't go anywhere anywhere without a towel. Did you not see/read hitchhiker a guide to the galaxy?

Target towels, in my opinion, are the cutest, but I know Marshall's gets in great towels too.

Mini makeup bag- you might think this is dumb, but consider the amount of times you've been on the beach only to hear someone go "let's hit a place for dinner on the way home" and OF COURSE that ONE cute guy is there. Trust me.

My makeup bag usually consists of mini's or travel sizes. 

Concealer

Tinted lip balm or a blush/lip color

Mascara

Highlighter (natural glow on the cheek/make shift eye color)

Perfume/body spray

My favorite makeup bags usually come from 31 Bags, Target, or Victorias Secret- although Forever 21 has some really great bags too and they usually have smaller sizes.

Spare clothes or a coverup- usually I bring shorts and a top to cover my suit or a really great summer dress. Again, you never know when the genius in the group is like "let's go to dinner at a nice place" when you thought you were going back to the hotel to change clothes and freshen up.

I'm a big fan of target clothes because if they get sandy, gross, ruined it's not too big of a deal, but again Marshall's has cheaper options too.



Although I'm kinda dying over Blake Lively's look.

Water. As much as possible. You're going to get tired/dehydrated/thirsty/overheated.

Sunglasses. Don't make your eyes hurt for no reason.

The essentials: keys, wallet or cash, ID, etc.

Stuff to do!

I'm a big-time reader and I usually prefer book series that don't require a lot of mental heavy lifting (I am on vacation, okay?), but magazines are great too.

And lastly, a really great summer bag:

Target bags are great and you can usually find one in a tote size that's plastic and you can wipe it down when you're done at the beach.

Otherwise, I'm a huge fan of backpacks and they come in all shapes and sizes, and some even convert into purses. It's all very fancy.



I totally have this bag but in pink. It was at target for like $15 and I have been using it for yeeeeaaarrrsss. And I know Victoria's Secret does totes with a large purchase periodically too. (I have a couple of those as well).

Have a safe, fun day at the beach. 

-SamanthaK

Just a Plain Ol' Blog Post: 6/7/14

Just a Plain Ol' Blog Post: 6/7/14

The sheer amount of crazy going on lately... I can't even.

This picture pretty much sums up my life lately- just remembering a bunch of last minute shit.

So awhile ago, things were pretty sane. Most of my time was either working or bothering Roger in the office.

And I actually had time to play golf with my dad more than once.

But then we ended up going to Shaver Lake to clean out the cabin- a 2 day excursion that turned into 4.

I wore my hair in Kaley from Firefly fashion for most of the trip.

My sister in law cleared out one of the closets that hadn't been touched in about 50 years...

We found a ton of 70's relics that we opted to keep. For what reason? I don't know. We just thought it was cool that this packet in particular was amazed with plastic. LITTLE DID THEY KNOW, AM I RIGHT?

I feel like I've been mostly living in my car.

Then Kristina trapped me and forced me to buy new stuff from Sephora.

...Not really, I'm just a sucker and needed new foundation. 

She actually used the ColorIQ set up where they take pictures of your skin from a few different areas on the face and then the computer puts it all together and tells you what color you are in every single makeup line in the store.

It was kind of amazing.

Then of course she was like, "LEMME FIX YOUR FACE".

Which, she did, and in the process got me addicted to a bunch of skincare and foundations. 

Kristina is a good salesman and also a ruiner of wallets.

Then it was time to blow a paycheck on stuff for the lake, because I'm an adult now and I have to be responsible.

And my mom asked me to.

And I was tired of using towels that were mostly rags.

Then mom called me and was like, "I gotta go down to Solvang for the day for a meeting. Wanna wander around a Danish town?"

And I was like, "Is there ebelskiver?"

The town of Solvang is pretty hilarious and amazing. I went to eat at a place where all the beers were viking themed, as in beers called "Odin" and "Valhalla". 

And it was amazing and I was so happy and the weather was blissful.

Even my hair looked cool for some reason.

Then on the way home, mom was like, "Let's hit Cambria" and I couldn't say no- mostly because there's a bakery there with Olallieberry cake.

There was also a wedding party taking pictures in the street. It was hard to get a photo of them without looking crazy.

Then I was home for about .2 seconds, and then we rounded up our stuff and the Bear and went BACK up to Shaver Lake.

After all the cleaning, we played Cards Against Humanity- which is great and funny in the most terrible of ways.

This is not a picture of my brother cooking mind you, this is when we were playing cranium, and the only couple who were married lost in the most losing of fashion.

He is stirring a pot and saying, "I'm that girl from the cooking channel that I hate a ton."

And his wife/my sister in law is saying almost every other person on the channel except Rachael Ray and despite his laughter, he is so agitated.

But it was ok, because he dropped the ball when trying to guess "peacock". 

All in all, it was a stressful and long couple of weeks. Between traveling quite a bit, and then working days in between to keep the money flow going- I am very tired.

Cut I will say, coffee in a cabin at the early morning when everyone is still asleep is pretty great,

SamanthaK

My Current Skincare Routine

My Current Skincare Routine

So as we all know, I'm kind of obsessive about skincare but I also have the rule of "don't fix what ain't broke".

When something at least kind of works, I will NEVER change it. Such is the case of my last version of skincare, which you can read about here:

http://samanthakweis.blogspot.com/2014/02/haul-o-rama-napa-ulta-and-more.html

Honestly, it was working... for awhile. I went through the face wash and just never repurchased because the smell was so ridiculous. And although I've tried a few products with a similar weird orange smell- nothing actually smelled to the point of being described as "rotten".

And the moisturizer, and tea tree were fine too. Nothing to sing about- but it was fine.

The only thing I really stuck with was the Skin Food from Weleda. That stuff has so many uses it's insane. You can apply it to dry patches, knees, elbows, or anywhere you had a sunburn...My latest thing is slapping it on my cuticles before I go to bed and it's sooooo nice.

So when I went to go see my friend Kristina at Sephora, I was actually looking for makeup for a bridal appointment I have coming up- but she's so damn passionate about everything I was suckered into looking for stuff for myself too.

"Are you still into skincare?"

"Uh, duh." (I love skincare, I like waxing, I like EVERYTHING.)

"What's your skin type?"

"Dry and acne prone. So... the devil. The devil is my skin type."

"I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM."

"OMG FINALLY, SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS."

And of course, being that she has the whole realm of Sephora to play with, she hooked me UP.

So let's start with what I already had going on.

First I start with wipes if I had makeup on. Kirkland has bomb wipes (around $20 for a big ol' box), they are awesome and come in a huge box with big packs and travel sized ones. (I don't know if I would recommend using these BEFORE putting on makeup as it has a base that makes your skin a little slippery. I've done it before, it makes life difficult, but it's doable.)

Then for washing, I've been using the Olay Fresh Effects "Bead Me Up" wash. ($6)

I won't lie, I was suckered by the bright packaging and the Star Trek funny. So far, I like this wash. It's got enough beads in it where it's being semi-exfoliant but it's not too harsh for everyday. Just be careful and don't get this in your eyes. Honestly after using the face wipes, I feel like splashing water around my eyes is plenty but if you really must wash- use something else without the beads in them.

For my eyes I like the Olay Fresh Effects "Bright on Schedule" eye awakening cream. ($13)

I reaaaaaally like this. It's very lightweight, smells nice, has a cooling sensation from the metal rollerballs, and doesn't shift into my eyeball as the day goes on- it sinks right in. Ordinarily I think eye creams are a bit of malarkey, as you can just put your moisturizer up there and call it a day but switching to something lightweight did make a huge difference when it came to my under eye concealer and makeup shifting. 

THEN KRISTINA SHOWED ME THIS AND IT KIND OF RUINED MY LIFE BECAUSE IT'S EXPENSIVE AND I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT IT.

Ole Henriksen Pure Truth Youth Activating Oil- ($45)

I can't believe how amazing and how expensive this is. To be fair, I have spent this much on a moisturizer without batting an eye but when it came to serums I was like, "Why bother". So when Kristina showed this to me, I was like, "Are you kidding me with this?"

But then she put it on me and I don't think I've ever turned around to a product on it's first try. Anyone who has dry skin knows that when you take off your makeup with a wipe, or when you wash your face, your skin immediately feels tight and uncomfortable. And even when you apply moisturizer, your skin doesn't quite feel right for a few minutes. THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN A PROBLEM FOR ME. I don't like my skin feeling tight ever, because with tightness comes the itchy feeling and I hate it. 

And then on top of that, as a person with dry skin you get to a point where you start applying the thickest, nastiest moisturizer you can find to combat the skin, but then you immediately get breakouts because your skin can't breathe.

So to apply this, I've been mixing it with my current moisturizer:

The Olay Fresh Effects "Dew Over" Hydrating Gel Moisturizer ($13).

Which, on it's own, it pretty dang nice considering it's drugstore. The gel formula really penetrates the skin quickly and doesn't leave a goopy, lotion feeling behind it. 

But mixed with the Pure Truth Oil it's INSANE how awesome it is. 

So the oil smells very orangey, as it has a huge vitamin C and orange concentration in it and it's supposed to heal, hydrate, and and nourish. According to Sephora, it'll reduce fine lines, work as a anti-oxidant, has anti-inflammatory properties, and does your taxes (just kidding).

I will say this, I've been using it for a week and I've noticed all that. And I will even say I didn't even read the claims before trying it so I wouldn't be biased. I will say with all confidence, it has make a huge difference in my skin. It's much more plump, hydrated, the fine lines around my eyes are fading away, and it's really done a doozy in terms of my acne and dry skin flakey-ness.

WORTH THE MONEY, SERIOUSLY.

And then every couple of days, I do a deep exfoliation with Ole Henriksen Walnut Complexion Scrub ($20)

This smells like almond cookies and it takes everything in me not to eat it. I genuinely want this as a lotion and perfume so I can walk around smelling this all day. And the scrub itself is thick and nice and a little goes a long way. The sample I got from Sephora (like those tiny tiny plastic pots) lasted more than 4 scrubs. 

And then once every couple of weeks, I'll pull out my trusty (AND EXPENSIVE) face mask. Disclaimer: I got this as a gift, and I could probably never justify buying it myself despite how great it is.

GlamGlow SuperMud Clearing Treatment Mask ($69)

This is the best mask I've ever used. Just Google it and you'll see tons of pictures of happy people. Once you apply it (either all over or as a spot treatment) you can literally see spots on your face as the mask dries- THAT'S OILS BEING PULLED OUT OF YOUR PORES. It's disgusting and delightful at the same time. People who are fans of looking at your blackheads on those nose strips from the drugstore will enjoy this mask. And frankly, I think anyone with big pores, loads of blackheads, or acne will enjoy this mask. It has a very tingly cool sensation and if you wet it again after it dries, the crushed tea leaves inside double as an exfoliate.

It's worth the money, seriously, but I get it- $70 bucks is a lot to blow on a tiny pot. (I will say it lasts forever though. I use it as a spot treatment and have done 5 or 6 full on masks and it's not halfway empty yet. (I've had it for 5 months).

So far so good with this skin routine, I'm hoping to keep it up. I'm on a "better skin for summer" regime so I've been wearing makeup less often and have adopted a "no blowdrying" regime for my hair as well (it needed a break from the heat).

Hopefully soon, I'll be acne free. 

WOULDN'T THAT BE AMAZING,

-SamanthaK