BEACH TRICKS

Summer is officially here! Time to hit the sun, sand, and waves–if you’re into that sort of thing. I for one am so in love with beach trips. It’s just one of the most fun types of trips. Everything about it is just so easy and relaxing. One of the best things about this country is that there is a beach on every corner. It’s overflowing with awesome beaches just waiting to be explored. I want everyone to be able to experience beach trips at its finest so I came up with a list of tips and tricks to having the best beach day ever!

• Protect your valuables from sand, water, and other elements by putting them in a Ziploc bag. It’s an inexpensive way to assure your valuables stay intact. This is especially important for your mobile phone–yes, you can still use your touch phone when it’s inside the plastic bag.
• Keep your money safe from the elements and thieves by hiding it in plain sight. You can put your money in random everyday containers like sanitary napkin wrappers, empty chapstick containers, empty marker pens, and the like. Thieves will never know where to find your money–unless they’ve read this post which I highly doubt.

• Protect yourself from the harmful rays of the sun by finding the perfect sunscreen that works for you. There are so many choices out there but what works for one person won’t necessarily work for you so you have to do your due diligence. I am no expert on this but WebMD has a great article on hunting down the best sunscreen for your skin type.
• Now that you’ve got the whole skin protection down, it’s time to protect your hair, eyes, and feet too.
  • You can protect your hair and scalp by wearing headpieces, like a hat or a turban, or by spraying it with a protective coating. To do this, you can combine coconut oil, lavender oil, and water in a spray bottle and spray it all over your hair before and after swimming. I also found this great tutorial on preparing your hair for swimming.
  • You can protect your eyes by wearing eyewear with UV protection. Remember that UV lenses and polarised lenses are completely different so make sure you have eyewear with UV protection. To know how to differentiate both lenses, check out this article by WebMD.
  • Protect your feet from the scorching heat by putting your flip flops face down on the sand so when you wear them your feet won’t get burned.

• Speaking of flip flops, have you ever experienced walking on the beach when suddenly the strap of your slipper detaches from its sole and you’re completely helpless? Well, it’s happened to me a few times and It is the worst problem to have while on a beach with scorching hot sand. There is a temporary remedy though, all you have to do is place a bread clip to reattach the strap to the sole. It will end up looking like this.
• Take advantage of the endless supply of sunlight by getting natural highlights. I love doing this to my hair because I’m not really a fan of dying my hair so this is a great alternative. I usually just spray lemon juice on parts of my hair but you can also follow this tutorial on how to naturally lighten your hair.

• Baby powder is your best friend and the arch enemy of pesky sand. After hitting the beach, just apply baby powder on your sandy skin and the sand will just wipe right off.
• Have you ever felt an uncomfortable itch down south? Well, the bikini line rash happens to the best of us but there is an easy way to ease the pain and redness. All you have to do is steep bags of chamomile tea in hot water then put them in the freezer for 15-20 minutes then lay them on the affected areas. The herbs in the tea bags will calm down the rash.

• One of the biggest problems people experience during or after a day on the beach is sunburn. I won’t sugarcoat it for you, a sunburn hurts like a b**** but there are many ways to ease the pain. You can spray apple cider vinegar on the affected areas for instant relief or you can apply cold plain yogurt on it for 10 minutes. There are various remedies to sunburn so just pick the one that works for you. The worst thing you can do is to do nothing–you will surely be in pain for days.

That’s it for my tips and tricks for an awesome beach trip! Remember to always have fun but be very careful.

Gifted scarf | Ray Ban aviators | TJMaxx top | Aveadena bottoms | Aldo accessories | Roxy flip flops

One of the best beach trips I’ve had, so far, was in Kamp Bira Bira located in Nagsasa. I am not at all a nature girl so I was dreading the camping part but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. The island was so beautiful and totally worth the roughing it out part–the beach stretched for miles, the water was so clear, and the corals were beautiful. There was also a river on one side and a mountain you could hike on the other side. The Philippines has so many beautiful things to offer, we just need to appreciate it in the best way that we can.

Photography by Matthew Azada