Summer Essentials

As July turned into August, it's been getting hotter and hotter here in Hawaii. Although for most of the public school students, school starts this week and it marks the end of summer vacation, the weather is only starting to heat up.

K from bihada diaries did a blog post on her 10 Summer Essentials a few days ago. I asked her if it was okay for me to do something similar and she gladly said yes. I wanted to keep mine to 10 but ended up with 12. Here's my list:

1. Extra Strength Excedrin

Unfortunately with the heat, along comes headaches and migraines for me. I've been waking up with them, which is not fun.

2. Water, Green Tea and Diet Coke

Those are my essential drinks. It's essential for me to stay hydrated, which also helps to ward off headaches. I know that caffeinated drinks drinks are supposed to be dehydrating but the caffeine helps with controlling the headaches, which is also an ingredient in Excedrin.

3. Fruits

Fruits are cool and refreshing and also help to keep you hydrated. It's also a natural source of sugar which can help to keep your energy up. Here I have pictured mango from my tree but I also like to eat grapes, white peaches, white nectarines and oranges.

4. Sunscreen

Growing up in Hawaii, the beach was often our hangout of choice. It was also the era of the golden-tanned look. Unfortunately, I only got brown/black and not golden tan. I am now paying for it with dreaded freckles and darker skin. It doesn't help that I get dark very easily. Sunscreen is now my best friend.

5. Beauty Masks

I have only recently discovered the wonderful benefits of beauty masks, thanks to beauty blogging. The masks are great for my skin but also feel cooling when applied. With the cooling feel, I have found that it helps to tame a headache. Since the weather has gotten much hotter, I like to put the mask into the refrigerator to make the mask even cooler. It feels wonderful when it's especially humid. I'm hoping that by refrigerating the mask, it doesn't affect the mask effects.

6. Primers

As it gets quite hot, humid and muggy here, primers are good for helping to keep your makeup in place. I just recently discovered how wonderfully great Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer is! It has helped to keep my makeup looking freshly applied, even 15 hours later! I'm still testing out the Urban Decay Complexion Primer and will be doing a review soon.

7. Lip Balms

I use a SPF lipbalm in the morning before applying lipstick and like to use a lipbalm at night to keep my lips conditioned. The SPF lipbalm is especially important for during the day since I do come into contact with the sun's rays, whether directly or indirectly.

8. Spritzing Water Bottle

While this is good for spritzing water on to help cool yourself down, I use this on my hair. My normal hair routine is shampoo, condition and blow dry. I will also flat iron if my hair gets wonky when sleeping and/or if I want a nice sleek look. In the summer nights, it's so hot that I don't like to blow dry my hair. Also, with the humidity and sweating during the day, my hair can frizz. I will often just shampoo and condition my hair and let it dry naturally. This means that my hair looks super awful--like the Wicked Witch of the West--yes, really, that bad! Since I wash my hair at night, I just go to sleep looking like that witch. When I wake up in the morning, I brush my hair out and flat iron my bangs and perhaps the top half of my head if necessary. I then spritz the bottom half of my hair, scrunch it up a little and let it dry. This is the result:

I get nice, natural waves. I don't brush my hair again until I go to bed but if I do need to brush it, then I will need to spritz and scrunch it again. I will do the same thing again the next morning. Since I didn't wash it the night before, the waves on the 2nd day is a little more pronounced.

9. Hair Accessories

I will use a scrunchie, hair clip, hair combs, anything to be able to put my hair up and off of my nape. I do this if it's especially hot and/or if I am doing housework or anything that will make me sweaty. I can't stand getting sweaty! I love bling so a lot of my hair accessories are blingy.

10. Nail Polish

Nicely polished toe nails is great for summer days. It's the time when strappy sandals are being worn so a pedicure is almost a must.

11. Handkerchiefs and Towels

Although it might seem a bit old fashioned, I will carry around a handkerchief to help blot off perspiration on my face when it's hot. I also try to keep a small towel in my car for when I'm driving around to help wipe my neck.

12. Miniature Fan

I keep a miniature electric fan close to my computer so that I can comfortably be online. My fan is on constantly during the hot days and nights.

That's my summer essentials. Thanks K for an awesome blog topic!

*Kat*