Beauty Favorites Friday: Beach-Bag Must-Haves.

Today's favorite is from my beauty blogging friend Bren Lee Gomez. Bren writes the great blog OMG, Bren!

OMG, Bren! is a beauty & lifestyle blog for babes who gloss, party, and sparkle so hard they sometimes wake up covered in glitter... in someone else's bed.

Bren writes about her beach-bag beauty must-haves. Read on to see what Bren says are her essentials.

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I prefer to spend my summers at the beach, in the water, with as little clothing on as possible. When I'm headed to the beach, I don't like to pile on the makeup or beauty products either: you'll usually only find a towel, some surf wax, and the following 3 beauty products in my beach tote - all 3 products will also leave you smelling like a real-life Malibu Barbie.

Luster Tonic is the best multi-tasking beauty product on the market. It's a leave-in conditioner that was made by a surfer for surfers to condition and protect hair from sun, salt, wind, chlorine and styling tool damage. It also detangles hair and, here's the best part, also works as a skin conditioner. So if your skin is feeling tight and gross after a day at the beach, or your hair is super crunchy post-surf sesh, this will restore the "luster" and radiance the elements have stolen from you. It will also leave a very light and super delicious vanilla-and-banana scent behind.

Before I leave the house, I douse myself in Sun Bum's Continuous Spray Sunscreen (available in SPF levels 15, 30, 50, or 70). This sunscreen is, in my very humble native-California beach-bumming wanna-be surfer opinion, the best broad-spectrum spray sunscreen on the market. It smells like summer - or as my family said when I sprayed them all down on the 4th of July, "This smells like Bren-in-a-Bottle." I don't know what it is - coconuts? bananas? - but it's tropical and I dig it! But more important that the divine smell is the formula: Sun Bum Sunscreen is photostable, which means its chemical structure isn't broken down when exposed to light. Obviously, this is highly important in a sunscreen, as you want it to screen the biggest source of light: the SUN! It's also hypoallergenic, paraben and oil-free, water and sweat proof, and Skin Cancer Foundation Approved.

Jan Marini AntiOxidant Face Protectant SPF 30 is my beauty holy grail. It's not cheap, but I stock up every summer on a few bottles of both regular and the tinted formulas. It doesn't clog pores or leave a shiny residue on my face, it has a great antioxidant cocktail to help fight off free radicals and repair skin, and it's moisturizing enough that I can skip using my BB Cream underneath. Plus, it smells like pineapples. Mmm summer!

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Be sure to follow Bren on Twitter and over on her Facebook page.

Comments

[Jordan]

I worship the sun, but only with Sun Bum! It smells so damn good. Seems I'm in good company!!!

[Danielle Silver]

I'd like to learn more about the hair tonic. I'm always looking for a mulch-purpose conditioning spray. Where can i buy that?

[Teri Cosenzi, Editor]

Bren is a doll - you definitely are in great company. I need to get my hands on this now too!

[Teri Cosenzi, Editor]

Hi Danielle - Look at tonicshop.com for a list of retailers.

[Carrie]

Nice round up of products Imhave never heard of.

[Courtney]

I just bought the Jan Marini Retinol Plus - I am hoping for great results. You really have me intested in this Face Protectant - I know how important that is to use with any type of retinol. Nice advice.

[Teri Cosenzi, Editor]

Thanks for the comment, Carrie. I'm happy that you like Bren's article.

[Teri Cosenzi, Editor]

You are right, Courtney. Sunscreen is a HUGE must when you are using any type of retinol product. I mean, it really is a must everyday, but your skin is even more sensitive when using retinol products

[Katherine]

The Luster Tonic leave-in conditioner sounds interesting. Really looking forward to trying that, always looking for new things to try in the summer!