My Summer Beach Essentials

Jun 30

Written By

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Thanks to COVD-19, between Matt and myself, we’ve had a combined 5 trips already cancelled. While we are still playing it safe (thanks to parents with compromised immune systems), we decided a few weeks ago that we were NOT going to be cancelling our trip to the beach.

I’ve been going to Gulf Shores, Alabama for the last 25(ish) years. In fact, Matt and I even honeymooned here. It was Matt’s first introduction to the beach 17 years ago, and we knew that after months of being stuck at home, we were ready to venture out and take a bit of a break from life to enjoy some much needed time off.

We just returned from our trip and it was so so great to just get away for a bit. We enjoyed time at the beach, jumping in the pool together, and just relaxing.

So I thought I’d share a few of our “essentials” for the beach and pool from the trip. I’ve split this up into our go-to items for before, during, and after our beach // pool time. Believe me, this was hard to nail it down to just a few for each, but these are the things that I definitely WOULD NOT go without.

DISCLAIMER: The following items contain affiliate links, which means I will make a small commission if you decide to purchase these items for yourself. As always, all opinions are my own.

Before the Beach

>> Blue Lizard Sunscreen

For those of you who may not know, Miles was diagnosed with a tree nut allergy 3 summers ago, and after a few “close calls” a few times, we decided to not take any chances and wanted to find a sunscreen that we knew was not going to cause an allergic reaction.

After searching through some of our Tree Nut Allergy groups, we learned about Blue Lizard. Not only is it tree nut free, but it is also paraben and fragrance free, which is a PLUS for a mama who is trying to use good, natural products on her kids.

It’s also really cool because the bottle turns blue when in harmful UV light! The kids think that is super cool, and it reminds us just how important sunscreen is even when you’re in the shade (seriously, even INSIDE, it turns blue).

>> Color Locking + Protective Spray

This product is less than a month old and it’s already one of my favorites! Believe it or not, but my blonde is far from natural… and when you’re 4 months overdue for a cut + color, well, doing everything you can to keep that color looking NOT 4 months overdue is critical.

This not only seals in your color, but also protects it from sun and chemicals. I thought it worked great and my hair still looks pretty good - and MacKenna’s hair isn’t green, so that’s an added bonus as well!

>> Countersun Daily Sheer Defense

I learned at a young age that sun exposure causes wrinkles. While that didn't stop me from going to the tanning bed through my teens + 20s (I'm older + wiser now), I ALWAYS covered my face to avoid wrinkles. So, sunscreen is a MUST for me. This face sunscreen is light enough to wear under makeup and also doubles as a moisturizer. It's not just a beach essential - it's a DAILY essential!

At the Beach

>> Cayman Jack Margarita

One of my favorite things about a beach vacation? Day drinking! OK, we really don’t start drinking until the afternoon, but it’s probably my favorite part of the day to sit on the side of the pool while the kids swim, drinking a beer.

Or in this case this year, a Cayman Jack Margarita. If I’m not drinking beer, my go to drink is always a margarita! And let me tell ya… I don’t know that I’ve found a good canned one that tastes as good as this one!

This was just a happy accident too - someone left it in the fridge from the week before us (it’s a company-owned condo, so we know 95% of the people who stay there) and there was only ONE left by the end of the week… that just happened to make it home with me!

>> Kids Snorkel Set

So, our kids are FISH. They absolutely LOVE the water - beach + pool. But, they wouldn’t be the fish that they are without a set of goggles. They started fighting over the one set of cheap snorkel mask goggles that we had, so I took matters into my own hands and bought them each their own set.

They didn’t once use the actual snorkel, but these masks kept us in the pool for HOURS every afternoon. And helped us spend a LOT more time in the actual ocean since they weren’t worried about getting salt water in their eyes or nose!

After the Beach

>> Unknot Detangler

If you spend any amount of time at the beach or pool, you know that you need SOMETHING to get those knots out before jumping in the shower. And especially with a kiddo with fine, easily tangled hair, detangler becomes the source of all happiness when brushing out hair.

Y’all, this detangler is LEGIT. I use it on my hair after every wash! And not only does it leave your silky smooth, but it also helps protect against color fading!

>> Countersun After Sun Cooling Gel

I think this is the first time maybe ever that I didn’t get burnt the first day there - or at all this year. But, that wasn’t the case for Matt, unfortunately. While I did a stellar job lathering up his back with sunscreen, he still ended up pretty red on his back and shoulders after our first day in the sun.

While we’ve been using Rejuveniqe oil to help calm his burns a little (not the first time he’s gotten burnt this summer…), I grabbed this cooling gel and it really did the trick. How do I know? Less complaining from my man! I hope to not have to use it, but I’m thankful that I have it in my arsenal just in case!

>> Seashell frame

Like I said, we’ve been coming to this exact beach for 25+ years, but there were definitely a few firsts… including the amount of shells we ended up bringing home with us! My mom grabbed these cute frames from the Target dollar bins and the kids had a blast filling them up when we got home!

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We definitely have memories to last for a lifetime! And I wouldn’t want to make them without these 3 - or a few of my favorite products!

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