Sum 22 Beach Bag Essentials

The sun is setting later and the weather is getting warmer, which can only mean one thing...summer is on it's way! It's been 2 years since the pandemic shut down the country, and now that we can travel safely, it's time to have the best summer of our lives.

In order to have a dream summer, we've got to have the right things in stock. At this point of the semester, we're all being summer-teased by spring break and to fight the post-spring-break-scaries lets focus on some summer prep. Specifically packing our beach bag.

Here's my top 10 beach bag essentials for summer 2022 (with pics and links of course):

1 The Perfect Beach Tote

Having the perfect beach tote is a must. We're seeing the fashion week trend of crochet with summer totes -- and I'm obsessed! I'm loving these because any sand that gets in them will easily come out with a good shake! Here's some of my favorites:

2 Fun Sunnies

Nothing makes me feel cooler than a fun pair of sunnies. We're protecting our eyes and blocking out all bad vibes this summer with fun and colorful sunnies. Say bye-bye to your brown or black ray-bans and check out these stylish sunnies!

3 Skin-Saving Sunscreen

It may be tanning season, but we're doing this in a healthy way. Feel free to use whatever sunscreen you usually use on your body, but our faces are different. You need a higher SPF and a face friendly formula. Most sunscreens contain a lot of chemicals that can irritate and dry out your face, and that's not what we want. Here's 4 of my fav face SPFs:

4 Lip-Saving Chapstick

Spoiler alert - your lips are actually skin too and they also need to be taken care of. All forms of swim water (fresh, salt, chlorine, etc,) can do some serious drying out of your lips. We want to keep those babies moisturized, soft, and plump. I recommend applying a little bit of sunscreen to your lips and topping them off with a chapstick. Here's some of my fav:

5 Sand Friendly Flip Flops

My biggest suggestion: get a pair of cheap flip flops that are water proof and you won't mind getting sandy or dirty and delegate them as your beach/pool/lake shoes. I've tried wearing Chacos or Birks to the beach and it never goes well. Here's some options:

6 Portable Charger

You're on the beach all day+you're taking pics with your friends+you're blasting music = dead phone. A portable charger is a must. Don't skip this one, the last thing you need is your mom thinking you've drowned because your phone is dead and you're not answering her texts/calls.....

7 Salty Hair Scrunchies

News flash - your hair is super fragile when it's wet, and putting it up into a bun while wet can cause a ton of damage and breakage if done the wrong way. Here's your hair-saving advice: scrunchies. Scrunchies are so much more gentle on your hair. While scrunchies are better than regular hair-ties, make sure you're not putting your hair in super tight ponytails or buns, if you are...well, hello breakage. Here's some fun colorful ones you can match to your swim suit:

8 Tanning Towel

You don't want a super thick beach towel, you're already super hot under the sun. You don't want something that's going to cling to every grain of sand it touches, and you don't want something heavy. You want something lightweight, that sand shakes right off of, but will still dry you off. These are what you want:

9 Water Proof Electronic Bag

Imagine this horror story: the charging port of your phone gets packed full of sand and your phone won't properly charge anymore. I know, scary. Don't worry, I got you. Put your phone, earbuds, portable charger, speaker, and any other electronics in one of these water and sand proof bags to keep them from getting damaged. It'll be a lifesaver.

10 Water Bottle

Lastly, and most importantly, we're staying hydrated this summer. But, to prevent your water from getting disgustingly warm from sitting in the sun, you're going to need the perfect thermal waterbottle that keeps your drink cold. If you don't already have one, check these out:

P.S. I have the third one and I LOVE it! If I put ice in it in the morning, it's usually still there at night.

Just writing this has me so ready to go on vacation. We're almost there everyone! Just a few more weeks and we're all beach-bound! Get to stocking those beach bags and I'll see you on Monday!

ttyl,

Carrie