Not Your Average Beach Guide

Last Friday was a spontaneous beach day. After a week of polishing the concrete, Auckland finally gave in. Post a search for the latest Metro mag,
a hasty avocado smash at Welcome Eatery, it was 3pm and we finally made it to the sand. I had my bikini, a californian sunset carry bag. The sea.
It was quite perfect. In that lovely, easy way that only summer is. Legs up on the dash, Bob Marley's 'Could You Be Loved' sounding the length of
the coast. Later, of course, I welcomed a big red tan line.
It's times like these, I'd usually attempt an inspirational response about how one must suffer pain to know happiness. How memories can
be worth the temporary scars. I'd probably dig unnecessarily deep, and we'd all forget that we were reading about a day on a beach. Don't hold
your breath - this time is no different. Once again, I'm tackling the big questions. I'm talking three solutions to dry, potentially burnt skin, to
ridding that sea salt smell, and to working that sea salt hair. All the little problems that in a season lacking worries, become the world's largest.

Let's start with the hair.

Forget a brush, the secret is all in dry shampoo (I swear by Batiste). It maintains ideal beachy waves, while ridding the tough after-swim feel.
We'll go from drowned, and rat-like to fun, flirty and fabulous - I feel like adding 'in seconds' because despite how commercial it sounds, this
kind of is the case. The trick is to spruce up your hair the way hairdressers do. However, this time I promise you'll be happy with the outcome.
To combat a stale, salty aroma, I rely on light, summery sprays. I'm all for carrying the fresh scent of the beach minus the salt. I haven't found a
spray as easy and as damn good at what it does as Victoria's Secret Fragrance Mist. Strong enough to overpower anything less appealing, it's a must
for beach-side dinners that don't require perfume, nor desire a musty stench. Actually I'm yet to find a situation that does desire one -
so overuse the VS sprays if you have to (fortunately they're affordable enough).
99% of the time, I don't remember to bring moisturiser to the beach, and if I do, it's that thick, heavy stuff that doesn't help with the whole sand
situation, nor my tendency to develop claustrophobia. However, I'm considering changing my ways after trying Physiogel. With a very pharmaceutical
design, it's a cream I would usually stay away from. Big words like 'hypoallergenic' scare me, because they make me feel like I might have a disease (even
though it turns out it means quite the opposite). You could say I'm newly convinced. Physiogel is not all talk, it's genuinely light in consistency and I'm
glad about it. After being attacked by the ocean, many potential sharks in the form of shadows, and often the sun too, I can't commit to anything more.
Better yet, Physiogel is a daily moisturiser, so as summer comes more than once a week, it'll be aiding towards a healthy glow. I imagine after continual
use, I might stop leaving the beach a member of H20: Just Add Water. Here's what I've learnt about scales: they're not as cool as one might think.

Have a great Christmas, and enjoy this fine weather,
McKenzie xx