NYTimes: Beauty and the Beach - Skin Deep

Reprints

This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. You can order presentation-ready copies for distributionto your colleagues, clients or customers here or use the "Reprints" tool that appears next to any article. Visitwww.nytreprints.com for samples and additional information. Order a reprint of this article now.

June 22, 2011

Beauty and the BeachBy CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS

THERE’S a certain kind of put-together woman who won’t leave the house without her

beauty armor. She has not a hair out of place, not a freckle in sight thanks to full-face

foundation, and generally looks as if she were born in towering heels. Such sleek creatures

thrive on urban streets. But at the beach, a more natural, laid-back look is perennially in

vogue.

Well, natural-ish. Some preparation is needed to look as if you’re winging it.

It’s long been said that exfoliating before hitting the beach will maximize the life of a tan,

the thinking behind body polishers like Elemental Herbology’s Beach Prep ($37,

spacenk.com): a thick finely gritty polish that, they say, will “optimize the life of a tan.”

But it’s not true, said Dr. Kenneth R. Beer, a dermatologist in West Palm Beach, Fla. “That’s

moronic, because regular tans come from pigment cells at the bottom of the skin layers,

melanocytes, and you can exfoliate from now till the cows come home and it won’t affect

them,” he said. But exfoliating before applying a self-tanner does makes sense, he said,

because the “superficial scaly stuff that externally applied pigments bind to will be more

adherent after exfoliation.”

Are you self-conscious about being a bit pasty in a bathing suit, but not into self-tanning or

messy bronzer sticks? Wearing the sunshine sparkle body cream ($8.99, itsjoon.com) from

Joon, a natural line for pre-teenage girls, gives a touch of glamour and whimsy under

sunscreen. Some bold pedicure colors like MAC aquamarine “ocean dip”

($15, maccosmetics.com) look lousy with sandals or clash with peep-toe red heels. But

barefoot, they work.

Beach beauty isn’t just about the here and now, but about avoiding sun damage that can

eventually cause cancer and wrinkles. After more than three decades, the Food and Drug

Administration last week unveiled rules requiring that sunscreens offer equal protection

against two kinds of ultraviolet rays, wrinkle-causing UVA and sun-burning UVB. (Both

Beauty and the Beach - Skin Deep - NYTimes.com http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/fashion/skin-deep-how-to-...

1 of 3 7/2/11 3:53 PM

cause cancer.) The rules will take effect in 2012. For now, pick a sunscreen labeled “broad

spectrum” or UVA/UVB with an SPF of 30 to 50 and reapply every two hours.

To make reapplication less of a chore, mix it up. One broad-spectrum brand called

Supergoop has water-resistant face and body lotions, a sun stick, a spray, lip balms and even

swipes (at sephora.com). The swipes, 40 for $34, can lure even the most defiant child into

holding still to get protected, and are easy to hand out to adults clutching Coronas.

“People don’t often reapply as often as they should,” said Holly E. Thaggard, Supergoop’s

founder, whose husband uses up to four swipes for his face and chest. “There are certainly

times when a swipe is easier than a lotion.” But she did admit, referring to wipes, “it’s a little

bit up in the air as to how many is enough.” (A shot glass of lotion is the rough gauge for

one’s body.)

Don’t forget to protect your lips. Squamous cell carcinoma, a cancer, can metastasize faster

on lips than on a leg, said Dr. Ava Shamban, a dermatologist in Santa Monica and Beverly

Hills, Calif., who often sees beachgoers with perpetually chapped lips that turn out to have a

precancerous change. Tinted balms with SPF are easy to apply without a mirror, and

because their color is ephemeral, they must be frequently reapplied. That’s a good thing in

the sun. Try Fresh’s Sugar Honey, a sheer warm rose, and Sugar Plum, a burgundy, both

SPF 15 and $22.50 at Sephora.com.

A coral lip is as integral to this summer as flatforms. To get a beach-ready one, first apply

MAC Surf, Baby Suntint SPF 20 in nude Lilt of Lily ($15.50) then layer over it a poppy-

orange like the collection’s hibiscus lipstick ($15.50). For a classic pale pink that pops with a

tan, try Nars velvet matte lip pencil ($24, narscosmetics.com) in Bolero over an SPF gloss.

Tousled, windblown locks, known as “beach hair,” are so sought-after that they're no longer

just for seaside. The look is a spray away any day, thanks to saltwater-based products like

Bumble and bumble Surf Spray ($23 for 4 ounces, bumbleandbumble.com). But what if

your parched hair becomes a wreck oceanside?

Without moisture, curly locks frizz, so to restore curl shape use a reviving spray like Free

Your Mane ($14.95 for 6 ounces, rickysNYC.com), which hydrates with baobab seed oil.

Couture Colour pequi oil ($32 for 2 ounces, sephora.com), which has an inoffensive smell,

will leave overheated tresses soft.

For bronzy shimmer, there’s Alterna Summer Hair Rx ($20 for 4 ounces, sephora.com),

which accentuates highlights, but has a saccharine odor.


2 of 3 7/2/11 3:53 PM

Dr. Shamban, author of “Heal Your Skin,” believes that antioxidants in the three hair

products mentioned above protect hair from sun damage. Hair is dead protein. Still, she

said, sun exposure can lead to dryness and rough texture. She suggested that applying oil,

then putting on a hat would resemble a hot oil treatment or be a way to get “really nice

moisturized hair” post-beach. One hat suggestion: a Michael Stars number in ombré ($58 at

bloomingdales.com). It will help keep bugs away from your face, too, which brings us to our

next topic: perfume.

Not every fragrance does well at the beach. Floral and citrusy scents can attract bugs, Dr.

Beer said, but more important, scents with bergamot and lime essence can “react in the sun

and give you horrific blistering.” So what’s a gal to do if she wants to wear a perfume

reminiscent of carefree pleasures of summer, like Kate Spade bergamot-laced Twirl? ($18

for the roll-on at sephora.com) In general, Dr. Beer advises putting fragrance on areas not

exposed to sun to decrease chances of a reaction.

You could also choose a fragrance that transitions well from day to night, and spritz to get

rid of lingering funk as you’re packing up the entourage. Another to try: Hanae Mori No. 3

($95 for 3.4 ounces, shop.nordstrom.com), which has notes of orange, Indian sandalwood

and soft white musks, is pitch-perfect for the season and gets its golden hue from a trio of

sunflowers from France. Summer, bottled.


3 of 3 7/2/11 3:53 PM

Documents

NYTimes: Beauty and the Beach - Skin Deep