Kimberly Petre

Thinking about my upcoming beach vacation is the only thing getting me through this most recent winter storm.  However, some of us might be cringing at the thought of bathing suit shopping, let alone bathing suit wearing, after so many months under layers of clothes!  The good news is there are fabulous beauty trends available to get your skin ready for bikini-style exposure. 

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Kim on her way to Montauk for a beach vacation

The other issue is deciding what to bring with you to make sure that your skin is taken care of while you are glued to your lounge-chair.  I recently dug out my beach bag, which is still sandy at the bottom from carefree days spent at the beach last summer (sigh).  While the beach bag still looks great, the contents have seen better days.  My skin care advice is to refresh your beach bag prior to taking your winter vacay, because a lot of the products we rely on expire.  Plus, in the beauty world, things are ever-changing and it’s likely that there are new and exciting products that you don’t even know about yet that you will soon be wondering how you ever lived without!  Read on for my beauty trend picks to pack in your beach bag!

Beauty Trends for Bikini Body

Part of getting yourself beach-ready involves a certain amount of preparation in the weeks before.  Don’t expect to walk out in your teeny-bikini and look like you did late last August after a whole summer of sun.  Without the proper pre-treatments, you could be in for a real shock when you peel off your cover-up!  My skin care advice is to look into the LED treatment offered at the Joanna Vargas salon in NYC.  It looks like a tanning bed but what is does is basically the opposite.  This beauty trend is an infrared light that promises to eliminate cellulite (yes, you read that correctly), diminish stretch marks, and reduce pores to give you a smoother and more even skin tone.  This LED technology has been recognized by In Style magazine, which is basically my Bible for all things beauty related.  The recommendation is for a 30-minute treatment once a week for six weeks.  At $150 a pop, this is something that you should really think about before trying.  While it is a significant investment, LED therapy will improve the overall quality of your skin, so it might be one worth making.

Tip #1 Consider LED treatment to give you smoother skin, offered at the Joanna Vargas salon in NYC

Another trick to getting beach-ready includes cheating a little in terms of your tan.  With the big 3-0 fast approaching, gone are the days of baking in the sun sans SPF.  Even though getting a dark tan is no longer a priority, I still like the way my skin looks after a little sun.  To get the glow without stepping foot into the sun, I love Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Glow Pads.  They are individually wrapped self-tanning pads that simultaneously exfoliate and brighten your skin.  My skin care advice is to use them two to three times in the week leading up to your trip so that you have a little bit of color if the sun even touches your skin.  I find that this beauty trend boosts my confidence when I hit the beach without any make-up on and it reduces my desperation for a real suntan.  It’s a real win-win!

Tip #2 Use Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Glow Pads two to three times in the week leading up to your trip so that you have a little bit of color if the sun even touches your skin. 

 

Beauty Trends for Your Beach Bag

When it comes time to stock up on the items you plan to tote with you to the beach each day, choose carefully!  Try to include only the bare essentials because you don’t want to look super high-maintenance with an over-stuffed bag of products.  One indisputable beauty-bag essential is high-quality sunscreen.  In my experience, sunscreen designed for your face is very different than sunscreen designed for your body.  For me, it is essential to have a high-SPF sunscreen that will not clog my pores.  Any other skin nourishing benefits are just an added bonus.  I know $120 sounds like a lot to spend on sunscreen, but Soleil de la Mer’s the Reparative Face Sun Lotion is worth every penny.  La Mer’s whole shtick is that they use powerful minerals from the sea to repair and nurture your skin, so what better place to use them than at the beach!  The other reason this beauty trend is such a good fit for me is because I use la Mer moisturizer every day, so I know it works well with my skin.  For me, using their sunscreen gives me peace of mind because I know I’m not going to have some freakish skin reaction while I am thousands of miles away from home, ruining my vacation.  If you don’t want to spend quite so much on your sunscreen, my skin care advice is to see if your daily moisturizer or another brand that you are familiar with in your daily skincare regimen makes a sunscreen.  Either way, spend your money on the sunscreen for your face.  Any sunscreen for your body will do as long as you are comfortable with the SPF level.

Tip #3 Use a high-quality SPF and moisturizer such as Soleil de la Mer’s Reparative Face Sun Lotion

Don’t neglect your lips.  For some reason, lip SPF is often forgotten as we prepare for our tropical get-a-ways.  By the time you realize it, it’s too late and you wind up smearing white sunscreen until it’s caking onto your lips and making for some really unattractive photos.  My skin care advice is to get a multi-purpose stick that you can use on your lips, nose, and other sun-sensitive places.  Clarins Sun Control Stick High Protection SPF 30 is my all-time favorite.  It still makes your lips look a little white - but in a cool, beach-y way.  This beauty trend smells great and comes with a handy little string to secure it to something so you don’t lose it. 

Tip #4 Use a tinted SPF for your lips, cheeks, and face such as Clarins Sun Control Stick High Protection SPF 30

The best way to protect yourself from the sun, especially if you over-indulge and find yourself sun-burned early in the week, is to cover your skin with clothing.  But who honestly wants to do that at the beach?!  Thankfully, this season has brought about a new trend that is fashionable and it will help you to protect your skin.  Rash guards are a new must-have item and they are sold everywhere from J.Crew to Net-a-Porter.  The bathing suit/rash-guard combinations are basically endless and they will really add something to your pool and beachside look.  The best skin care advice I can give is to cover-up!

 

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