Eva Longoria Shares the One Thing She’d Tell Her Younger Self

It’s not everyday you get to sit down with one of TV’s biggest stars and bond about terrible high school adventures with hair gel. But that’s exactly what we got to do with mega-star Eva Longoria. Longoria, who cohosted the 25th anniversary celebration of Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds Fragrance* and launch of the brand’s new scent White Diamonds Night ($68, hsn.com), a luxe fragrance fit for any Diamonds-lover, was not one to shy back from talking her best beauty tips from days past and naturally all things fragrance-related.

Growing up in a Mexican household full of cooking, Longoria is no stranger to delicious scents. In fact, she admits her first scent memories are actually food related. “You could boil water in my house, and it was like, what’s cooking?” she says. And it turns out this love of cooking (and yummy fragrances) hasn’t gone anywhere. She reminisced about one specific time she was roasting a chicken while in hair and makeup prior to a red carpet event. “I was at the event and this reporter goes, you smell like…chicken. I was like, ah I know, I was roasting a chicken!” Thankfully, Longoria notes the reporter said the chicken scent was a pleasant one!

Needless to say, Longoria’s love of fragrance runs deep. She was cohost of the White Diamonds 25th anniversary party for good reason— her first perfume purchase was the iconic scent. She shares she actually saved up to buy the fragrance after seeing the memorable black-and-white commercial of Elizabeth Taylortaking off her diamond earrings and tossing them on the table, saying “These have always brought me luck!” And it turns out her love of the iconic fragrance is just as strong now as it was back then—she’s convinced her Telenovela character Ana Sofia Calderon would wear White Diamonds. (“The ultimate diva!” she says of her character.)

It didn’t take 30 seconds with the actress to realize she’s still incredibly passionate about her first fragrance find. “Latinos are very brand loyal,” she says. (Up until last year, she religiously bought the same Ivory soap her family used growing up.)  Although her childhood-self might have saved up for her White Diamonds purchase, ultimately her perfume choice nowadays is a bit more diverse. It depends upon how she feels, where she’s going, and even who she’s with, she explains. “I think fragrances should be used like accessories,” she says. “You should have a good variety you can interchange for dates [and] for the office.” Longoria’s application method of choice might be wondering? Running through the mist of course. “And then I put it in my hair,” she adds quickly. “I feel like it holds more in the hair.”

But fragrance isn’t the only beauty look we got her waxing poetic on. Turns out young Longoria was victim to big Texas hair. “Oh girl, oh girl, you need to see my yearbook picture,” she says. “I had a perm, that explains a lot. And I remember my perfume competed with my gel because the gel had a scent,” she laughs.

Frankly, many of us might look back in horror at our former-selves’ beauty choices, but in talking with Longoria, she seems relatively at peace with her ghosts of beauty days past. Her one piece of beauty advice she’d tell perm-haired Eva, though? “Easy with the Aqua Net and don’t follow fads in hair!” she says “With haircare, it’s like everybody’s getting the perm, everybody’s doing the streaks. You know? You’re like, ahh! Don’t follow fads. Be yourself.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

*A portion of the proceeds from White Diamonds and other House of Taylor Fragrances go to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

Do Hair, Skin, and Nail Vitamins Really Work?

It’s a question pondered by the beauty obsessed everywhere: Do hair, skin, and nail vitamins work? With a slew of beauty supplements on the market touting benefits from detoxifying skin to straight up erasing wrinkles, sometimes it leaves us wondering if just applying our vitamin serum at night isn’t enough—must we ingest it, too? We spoke with Dr. Marina Peredo, associate clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital and Josephine Tutrani, a clinical nutritionist who specializes in customizing diets for anti-aging, weight loss, hair loss, acne, and other skin conditions, to get the lowdown on what’s on the market, what works, and what’s just a bunch of hokum.

The Top 3 Supplements For Your Hair, Skin and Nails
“I recommend supplements to patients who are looking to address certain skin, nail, or hair issues,” says Dr. Peredo. In particular, she suggests three supplements that have proven to be extremely effective in addressing certain skin issues.

Biotin
“Biotin encourages the production of protein for nail growth when absorbed in the core of the nail bed, where the cells are generated,” says Dr. Peredo. “In addition, it also stimulates new hair growth and promotes healthier texture by protecting against dryness, scalp flaking and increasing elasticity of the hair’s cortex to prevent breakage. I recommend it to my patients who have any concerns with thinning hair or brittle nails.”

Try: NeoCell Biotin Bursts Brazilian Acai Berry ($13, drugstore.com)

Vitamin B
“I usually advise my patients who have acne to take a Vitamin B complex to help clear them up,” says Dr. Peredo. “Vitamin B acts as an antioxidant for the skin which can assist in removing bacteria. It helps to balance one’s testosterone levels, which keeps acne at bay. Vitamin B deficiency is also a major cause of acne, so making sure your body receives enough will help prevent and treat the condition. And if that’s not enough, Vitamin B also helps to reduce stress and address the adrenal glands, so it’s beneficial to those who break out when stressed.”

Try: Murad Pure Skin Clarifying Supplement ($43, skinstore.com)

Marine Fatty Acids
“When ingested, marine fatty acids such as omega-3 work to combat dry and damaged hair, hair loss, and a flaky scalp. The DHA and EPA found in omega-3 adds luster, elasticity and shine to dull strands, promoting the restart of hair growth,” says Dr. Peredo. “Furthermore, the dietary fat found in omega-3 fatty acids helps protect and repair skin cells, moisturizing the skin from the inside out. Omega-3 can even protect skin from burning and overexposure to UV rays, so I suggest to my patients to have at least one to two capsules of the supplement a day.”

Try: Perricone MD Omega 3 Dietary Supplement ($42, perriconemd.com); Viviscal Extra Strength Hair Growth Supplements ($50, dermstore.com)

Vitamins With (Some) Beauty Benefits
What about the rest of them? They’re not harmful, says Dr. Peredo, but to see dramatic skin benefits, one would have to ingest megadoses of the vitamins, much more than what is actually in the supplements. Though one shouldn’t expect dramatic results, clinical nutritionist Josephine Tutrani says that getting enough Vitamins A,C, and E is very important for healthy skin—and surprise, surprise—many beauty supplements on the market usually feature a combination of those ingredients.

Vitamin A
Vitamin A helps keep skin smooth and rejuvenated, says Tutrani, and is especially recommended for preventative purposes and those with acne-prone skin. However, to see dramatic skin results, one would have to take a synthetic derivative of Vitamin A, such as Accutane. The good old natural vitamin pills won’t hurt, but also won’t cause significant changes.

Vitamin C
Vitamin C is important for the formation of collagen, however, it would really require a very high dosage to see results, advises Dr. Peredo. And since this vitamin is water soluble, taking more of it orally would just result in it being dispelled through urination. So make sure you have enough in your diet, but don’t expect it to perform miracles as a supplement.

Vitamin E
Vitamin E is a great antioxidant and natural anti-inflammatory. In patients with eczema or psoriasis, Dr. Peredo has seen Vitamin E supplements help soothe inflammation in some cases, but there is not enough medical evidence to state conclusively that it will always work.

The final verdict? Nothing wrong in popping these pills, we say, but be realistic about their product claims and don’t expect to see dramatic results.

Try: Phyto Phytophanere Dietary Supplement ($84 for two, sephora.com)

Beauty Supplements To Skip
Recently we’ve also come across new supplements that increase human growth hormones — and with it, promise to get rid of wrinkles and make you look years younger. According to Dr. Peredo, this is one category you can skip. While human growth hormone therapy is helpful if you have pituitary gland concerns, there is no proof that it will do anything for anti-aging.

One last thing to remember: Although, most beauty supplements and vitamins on the market are harmless, it’s important to consult with your doctor or nutritionist before starting on any kind of regimen especially if you’re taking other medications, as some additives in supplements can interact adversely.

THE RUNWAY REPORT: OUR FAVORITE BEAUTY TRENDS FROM THE NEW YORK SHOWS

When it comes to beauty, fashion week isn’t just about eccentric, stage-makeupy looks that most of us would never dream of rocking IRL. Every season, there emerge a handful of fresh beauty trends that actually are adaptable for the majority of the non-model population. Of those, here are our favorites from the Fall 2015 shows in New York.

THE NEW LIP

Marsala, as Pantone calls the shade they dubbed 2015’s color of the year, is best described as a faded, browned-down red. On the runways at Philip Lim and Donna Karan, the models wore distinct and equally striking variations on the hue—and, in the case of the latter, the look is soft enough to flatter virtually anyone in real life. Created by Charlotte Tilbury, who blended two shades together to create a smoldering tawny pout with zero shine, it’s easier to pull off than 90s grunge oxblood or red red. To do it yourself, use MAC lipsticks in Spirit and Verve—and whatever you do, hold the gloss. “A matte finish is a sophisticated and chicer way of wearing color,” Tilbury told Style.com.

BLACK HAIR

After what’s felt like decades (but really, is more a matter of years) the “it” hair color in the fashion world isn’t impossibly pale platinum or an Easter egg pastel. Just the opposite, it’s inky black. Said Edie Campbell, who went to the dark side at the hands of Guido Paulo for the Hugo Boss Show, “I think it’s kind of stronger than blond hair. You know, it gives the whole look a bit more power, which is quite nice—particularly for a show.” Style.com reports that Campbell is going back to blonde for the Europe shows, which are happening right now. As for going black in real life? This kind of back-and-forth toggling probably isn’t feasible. Unless you’re willing to risk your hair’s health, take this plunge only if you’re willing to make a long-term commitment to darker color, and by all means, leave it up to a skilled colorist.

A FACE FULL OF COLOR (AKA ‘PRETTY’ MAKEUP)

Though it’s certainly easy and almost always flattering, “no makeup-makeup” can get boring. (Marc Jacobs himself just declared it “over.”) Backstage at Rachel Zoe, Charlotte Tilbury echoed that sentiment by giving the models good old fashioned pretty: illuminated, youthfully pink-flushed cheeks, pastel-dusted eyes topped with black flicked liner and Twiggy-esque lashes, and plush pink lips.

LONG, LUXURIOUS LOCKS  

Low-fuss hair (see: the lob, the ponytail, the “gym updo”) has reigned supreme on the runways for several seasons—and on the heads of tastemakers and fashionistas all over the world (see: Emily Weiss, Miroslava Duma). But that’s all changing.  Elle magazine reported that the extensions used at Donna Karan (every model got them) cost more than $35,000 in all. As for how the long hair was styled? Not a beach wave in sight; the look consisted only of a deep side part with a high-gloss sheen. If you’re looking to emulate the luxe straight-hair look via extensions, we say go for it—and note that 100% human “virgin” hair, while certainly not your cheapest option, will look and feel the best.

GET THE PAT MCGRATH GLITTERY EYE

We here at BBTA aren’t usually inclined to wear makeup looks ripped straight off the runway. We don’t like to shock our bosses, boos and supermarket baggers too much. But, when glitter became a major beauty trend during the recent fashion weeks in New York and Paris, our sparkle-loving hearts went pitter-patter. Bling is an eyelid accent we can embrace as long as it’s not too extreme or too girly. Unless we end up face down in glitter, chances are we’ll avoid dousing our eyebrows with it à la the arch glitz atGiambattista Valli. With apologies to Emanuel Ungaro, we generally reserve glistening hot pink for our lips or cheeks. However, the chic gild makeup artist extraordinaire Pat McGrath placed above the lashes at Tommy Hilfiger is a refined take on shimmer we’d be delighted to test drive. Part of an undone/done vibe the makeup was cultivating, McGrath said, “The play with gold palettes [a.k.a. glitter] over the eyelids (starting in the corner of the eye) persists with the idea of the woman who wants to embellish herself and dress up.” Although the inspiration was a free-spirited downtown girl, we think the illuminating flecks were quite adult. To help us conquer sparkle in a similarly elegant manner, we turned to Galit Strugano-Wigdor, founder of Girlactik, a beauty brand that started offering subtle shine in 2000 when going big with glitter was de rigueur, to fill us in on a five commandments to follow to keep our glimmer grown-up.

Sparkle Commandment #1: Slim Down Your Shimmer

Strugano-Wigdor advises women select super fine shimmer particles. Chunky particles tend to transform your eyelids into an arts and crafts project gone horribly wrong. “My concept was creating a base and introducing very fine sparkles. A very fine sparkle is classy, and a lot more wearable. Women are drawn to it because it’s soft and pretty, and not too harsh,” said Strugano-Wigdor. Large particles can also be difficult to handle, especially if they’re mixed into shadows and lead to fallout on the face. Skip the glitter-infused shadow and use Girlactik’s pearl base under your favorite shadow before dabbing on the brand’s sparkles. “The base acts as an adhesive and you put the sparkles right on top of it. It doesn’t feel wet. You won’t even feel it,” explained Strugano-Wigdor, adding, “I have seen some brands do finer sparkles where they will use glitter glue and a blow dryer to dry it. With Girlactik, here is no need for the blow dryer.”

Sparkle Commandment #2: Light Up Your Lash Line

Your face doesn’t need to be glitter bombed. A more tasteful approach is strategically placing shimmer on the upper or lower border of the lashes. To jooj up your liner, simply apply Girlactik’s black base along the lash line with an angled liner brush, then dip the brush into the sparkles and set the sparkles onto the base with the brush. A glitter eyeliner pencil won’t achieve the same shimmery effect because wax within the pencil coats and diminishes the shimmer. “When you apply base and dab sparkles on top, there is nothing covering it, and that is what allows it to sparkle. If someone wants only a little sparkle, they can apply only a little,” said Strugano-Wigdor. “I don’t care what age someone is, everyone loves sparkle, but it has to be done in the right way. Whenever you see contestants on ‘The Voice’ wearing sparkle, it’s always mine. It photographs well. It’s clean, and it doesn’t look like there is too much.”

Sparkle Commandment #3: Careful About Your Color Choices  

A sparkly smoky eye is a sexy makeup standard. Girlactik’s sparkles in the shades midnight black or gunmetal work great for the smoldering evening look. During the day, Strugano-Wigdor gravitates to antique gold to accentuate golden highlights in the hair and olive skin. White gold pairs well with lighter skin, and champagne is a fit for women with pink undertones. “If you are using the right color and size sparkle, it can make all the difference,” said Strugano-Wigdor. “When I started, I did do all the funky colors, but now I pretty much only do the staple colors: gunmetal, midnight black, brown, champagne and white gold. They are all very wearable and sophisticated colors.”

NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 15: A model poses backstage at the Tommy Hilfiger Women’s Fall 2016 show during New York Fashion Week: The Shows at Park Avenue Armory on February 15, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Grant Lamos IV/Getty Images for Tommy Hilfiger)

Sparkle Commandment #4: Keep Your Middle Finger Down  

Glitter is fabulous and fun. You don’t need to aggressively shove it on your eyes. A ring finger rather than a middle finger provides precisely the right amount of pressure. “Your ring finger has the lightest touch,” said Strugano-Wigdor. “It’s what you use when you are doing something delicate.”

NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 15: Model Gigi Hadid poses backstage at the Tommy Hilfiger Women’s Fall 2016 show during New York Fashion Week: The Shows at Park Avenue Armory on February 15, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Grant Lamos IV/Getty Images for Tommy Hilfiger)

Sparkle Commandment #5: Don’t Pry Off Your Sparkle

Video tutorials often feature YouTube makeup artists removing glitter with scotch tape. Strugano-Wigdor insisted the scotch tape be scratched. “You need a dry cotton ball, and it wipes away,” she said. “It is that easy.” Save the tape for your Amazon returns.

THIS SINGLE TREATMENT BANISHES ARMPIT HAIR & SWEAT FOR GOOD

We humans have millions of hairs covering our bodies. Frankly, we could do with fewer. Shaving helps. Laser hair removal helps even more. And now there’s a new treatment using microwaves to zap hair follicles that could be even better. Called miraSmooth, it is designed to eradicate 70 percent of your armpit hair over the course of about an hour in a physician’s office. And there’s a bonus: it simultaneously reduces around 82 percent of your armpits’ sweat secretions. “It’s total armpit victory,” exclaims Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Sheila Nazarian. “Not only are you getting rid of sweat, you are getting rid of odor and hair. Everything that bothers you about your armpits, you are conquering.”

Before Nazarian performs miraSmooth on her patients, she advises them not to shave for a few days. Once they arrive for the treatment, grid-like fake tattoos are affixed to their armpits to guide the placement of the miraSmooth device, and they receive an injection of saline, lidocaine and epinephrine to numb the area and diminish bruising. After that, the armpits are ready to be microwaved. Explaining how miraSmooth works, Nazarian says, “When you take food and put it in the microwave with a little water, the water molecules go back and forth, back and forth and heat up the food. Sweat glands are filled with water and, when the microwave is applied to them, they heat up and are eliminated.”

Nazarian has had miraSmooth done on her pits, and she reports the pain is minimal. Immediately following the treatment, sweaty armpits cease. “Then, the hair grows, falls out and doesn’t come back,” details Nazarian. Fifteen years ago, she resorted to laser hair removal to address thick, dark hair under her arms. The results didn’t compare to miraSmooth’s. “I was a dancer and, even when I shaved, you could still see the hair under my skin. Laser hair removal thinned the hair, but it didn’t remove it. I still had hair growth,” she reveals. Post-miraSmooth, Nazarian says a coin-sized dollop of sweat under her arms is the most she’ll experience in sweltering heat, and she forgets to shave because she has almost no underarm hairs.

Unlike laser hair removal, which is ineffective for blonde hair and not advised for people with darker skin tones, miraSmooth is suitable for a vast range of skin and hair colors. For patients choosing between Botox and miraSmooth – or miraDry, another name for the treatment – to abolish sweat, Nazarian underscores miraSmooth is generally cheaper than Botox injections. She charges slightly less than $2,000 for a single miraSmooth treatment, and the majority of patients only require one treatment, while Botox injections for the same purpose are typically $1,000 and have to be repeated every three to six months. “And that doesn’t even address the hair,” adds Nazarian.

BEFORE MIRASMOOTH

AFTER MIRASMOOTH

Four to six people undergo miraSmooth weekly at Nazarian’s office, and they aren’t disappointed by it. “They are so happy,” she declares. Many seek out miraSmooth to stop excessive sweating or the need to wear deodorant. “There are yoga instructors that never want to wear chemicals again, and there are socialites who don’t want to ruin their designer dresses,” says Nazarian. Luckily for socialites, yoga instructors and the rest of us, miraSmooth may be available in the future for body parts beyond armpits. Hands are most likely up next. “It is in the plans to have different applications for more areas of the body,” says Nazarian. “They are targeting the palms right now because they think there will be a big patient base. Some people will show me their hands, and the sweat drips from them onto the floor, and people in business don’t want to have clammy hands when they get nervous.” If miraSmooth can deliver on good handshakes and hairless pits, it seems like a winner to us.

OLD SCHOOL VS. NEW COOL: THE CLEANSING CONDITIONER EDITION

Have you dumped out your shampoos? If you haven’t, you might soon. Cleansing conditioners are the fastest growing type of conditioner at salons, according to research firm Kline. That means plenty of people are jumping on the no-poo or co-washing bandwagon. (Co-washing undoubtedly sounds sexier.) Almost 15 years ago, the sans-shampoo bandwagon was a very lonely place, but hairstylist Chaz Dean, founder of cleansing conditioner brand WEN, forged ahead as its driver in the shampoo-filled wilderness. He explained to the Huffington Post, “I used to literally mix concoctions for my clients. I told them they are never going to use lather shampoo again; they are going to cleanse their hair with conditioner. They thought, that doesn’t make sense — conditioner weighs my hair down. I explained it’s a whole new way of looking at it.” Today, Dean’s whole new way of washing hair isn’t so new, and it’s been embraced by a slew of brands, including Ouidad, L’Oreal, As I Am, DevaCurl, Carol’s Daughter, Shea Moisture, Herbal Essences, Pureology and more. For the first post in a sometimes series on Beauty By The Ages testing classic products and their progeny, I’ve sampled one of the latest co-wash entrants – Unwash Bio-Cleansing Conditioner – to compare it to its ancestor, WEN Cleansing Conditioner.

When I first tried WEN many years ago, it was a revelation. I have frizzy, coarse, often dry hair. I hate it. It can be unruly. It’s mostly a disjointed mess with parts extremely curly, other parts wavy and still other parts sort of straight. As I get older, it’s thinning, and that only makes matters worse. Now, I have an uncontainable, barely-there situation going on. I’ve experimented with tons of treatments and products to control my mop. (I was initially wowed by the Keratin smoothing treatments until they made virtually all my strands break.) WEN was and is the antidote to harsh treatments. A pioneer of ridding sulfates from hair products, WEN is gentle. It contains surfactants and emulsifiers designed not to eliminate hairs’ natural oils. My early encounters with WEN produced a soft, well-behaved, coherent mane. I didn’t stick with WEN, though. I was worried it would create build-up in my hair – especially in their thinner state, residue easily clogs my curls – and, as a beauty editor, I was excited to trial different hair care products that shoved WEN aside.

Returning to WEN for this post was like inviting an old friend into my home. The intoxicating smell – I used the Sweet Almond Mint variety, although I remember loving the Lavender scent as well – was familiar and wonderful, and the results didn’t waver from my previous rounds with the product. My hair was left supple and manageable. I didn’t feel that tempted to try the Unwash Cleansing Conditioner after my revisit with WEN. However, I glanced at the product’s ingredient deck and thought that my experience with WEN might be repeated with Unwash. The two cleansing conditioners share several ingredients, including the basic building blocks of water, the humectant glycerin, and the emulsifier Cetearyl alcohol. I talked to Brandon Schwartz, director of marketing for Unwash, to get a better understanding of the brand’s cleansing conditioner, and he indicated it was an upgrade to, not a total departure from, WEN. “We tried to make it as universal as possible. Something that you will notice is that it is a lot thinner because we wanted it to have a broader appeal. The product is more runny, and you don’t need to use as much of it,” he said.

$36

Indeed, per Schwartz’s description, Unwash is a runnier kind of cleansing conditioner. Schwartz estimated an ounce of product works for a single shower session. WEN’s instructions dictate ten to 16 pumps of product for short hair, 16 to 24 for medium-length hair and 24 to 32 pumps for long hair. I’m not sure exactly what those pumps amount to, but I’d guess they’re over an ounce. WEN does require a lot of product be distributed throughout the hair. A chief complaint about WEN, that it leads to greasy hair, could be the outcome of so much product. The heavy nature of WEN is definitely great for people with thick, textured hair, but might turn off people with finer hair. I’m in the finer hair camp. I do worry about WEN weighing down my hair. Unwash doesn’t carry the same weight, literally and figuratively. It also generates similar results to WEN: Unwash created a friendlier version of my hair.

Unwash’s approach is attractive. It doesn’t decree that cleansing conditioners are the be-all and end-all. With its Anti-Residue Rinse, it offers breaks from its cleansing conditioner. Co-wash products “are depositing conditioning agents. There is a need to clarify your hair because there is build-up over time, around 45 days,” explained Schwartz. I am partial to the idea of having options: WEN for the days I need a powerful solution, Unwash’s cleansing conditioner for the days I need a slightly milder choice, and the brand’s rinse for the days I’m feeling the need to be set free from co-washing. Whether I select the new cool or the old school cleansing conditioner, I’m pretty hopeful I can tame my mane.

BEACH BAG APPROVED

Now that we’ve kicked off June, it’s all sun and sand from here. It may not technically be summer for another 17 days but as far as I’m concerned it’s already here. Regardless of where you’re headed to soak up the sun, you can’t show up empty handed. Finding the perfect suit is always important, but a properly packed beach bag is key to making the most of your well-deserved time in the sun. Here are some of my personal necessities:

THE BAG

Obviously it’s a requirement to have a beach bag suitable for toting all your must-haves around. Judging by my history in caring for beach bags (or lack thereof) I’m not interested in spending a fortune on one.Harper’s Bazaar rounded up a few that won’t break the bank, including my favorite J. Crew bag that easily doubles as a day time tote.

THE SUNGLASSES

Finding the right pair of sunglasses can be a daunting task with so many styles to choose from. Between the potential of sand scratching the lenses, smashing them in your bag, or losing them in the water, it’s preferable to bring a less expensive pair to the beach. Conveniently, Target has a crazy wide range of sunglasses at a price that won’t make you feel terrible when the inevitable happens.

THE PHONE

Is it really a day at the beach if you don’t upload it to social media? This water resistant pouch will keep your phone safe so the selfies can keep coming. Not only does it keep your phone protected from the beach hazards like sand and water, you can connect your headphones through the small hole at the top, and it’s touch sensitive so you don’t have to remove your phone from the pouch to upload to Instagram.

THE SUNSCREEN

Let’s be honest, a sunburn doesn’t look cute on anyone. And even if you don’t regularly burn, you’re still not allowed to skimp on the sunscreen. My personal favorite in UV protection is Coola’s lightly tinted, unscented formula that gives your skin an immediate line-smoothing finish.

THE WRISTLET

This is the one item I always forget until it’s too late. Sometimes you need a little break for a beverage or snack, and lugging your entire bag around is less than ideal. A small wristlet to put the essentials like money, ID, and keys in will make it much easier on you. Just make sure you leave your actual bag in good hands.

THE HAIR

Coming home to find your professionally dyed hair (that you most likely spent a fortune on) has faded is pretty disheartening. You can prevent any future hair fading woes because Aveda’s protective hair veil is here to save the day. It’s a lightweight, water-resistant UV defense mist that forms an invisible screen to help protect hair from sun exposure for up to 16 hours, while minimizing damage and dryness.

There are some obvious essentials not included (flip-flops, towel, cover-up, etc.) but the list can’t go on forever. Tweak my list with what works best for you and go take full advantage of the glory that is summer.