Melissa's Beach Bag Must Haves for Summer 2011

During the summer this Pro travels a lot! I spend most of it in Europe and Canada, but I am never far from the water and when I finally take my holiday during the month of August, I live on my family's island surrounded by the St. Lawrence River. Besides a huge floppy hat and my iPad, my beach bag "must haves" consist of products that pull their weight during all types of summer weather!

I always start with skincare because this Pro doesn't want to feel like I have to put on a full-face of makeup to look great in the summer! My skin needs to feel clean, fresh, moisturized and protected.

I cleanse my face with the Clarisonic Pro when I am home, but when I travel I bring my Clarisonic Mia. It is more compact and the charger takes up less room in my "essentials" bag. I use it in combination with my Jan Marini Age Intervention Gentle Cleanser. These two products help my skin look and feel incredible during hot, dry summer months, which gives me the freedom to choose to wear less or more makeup depending on my mood and not my skin's condition.

Sunscreen is a staple in my bag all year and Jan Marini's Antioxidant Daily Face Protectant, SPF 30/Waterproof is my favorite. I mix this product with a little bit of my Purely Cosmetics Mineral Foundation in California Blonde and viola! Instant tinted moisturizer! Jan also makes an amazing Body Sunscreen, which is another product you will never catch me without!

I have also fallen head-over-flip flops in love with the same tinted moisturizer that Cathi wrote about in the previous post, Revision Skincare's Intellishade SPF45/Matte. Now, I didn't believe this when I was told about it, but both Cathi and I have put it to the Pro test! This product comes in one color shade...yes, you heard me right! No need to try to match your skin tone because this product does it for you through some mircale technology. So, if you are light, medium, tan, olive, dark or deep, we all use the same tube! Apply, wait for about 5-10 minutes and like magic the color is a perfect match without the worry of a line of demarcation at the jaw! All I have to say is...it's about time!

I really try not to use too much setting powder in the summer, but if you have oily skin or you happen to be....cough, cough...of a certain age and are creating oil due to changing hormone levels, Purley Cosmetics Oil Absorb Powder can help. I like to lightly dust a thin layer over my minimal summer makeup just to take down the shine and I find that it helps to minimize touch-ups during the day.

Speaking of touch-ups, you will always find Clean and Clear's Oil Absorbing Sheets in my beach bag! They are great for soaking up the oil around the nasal labial folds, chin and forehead eliminating the need to whip out a powder, which adds makeup on top of makeup. I don't know about you, but that makes me feel like my face is cracking in half, especially in the summer!

When I do decide to wear more makeup and I feel like I need a little more coverage to hide, in my case, a few broken capilliaries around my nose area, I turn to Vichy's NormaDerm Stick. It is a drying and concealing anti-imperfection makeup that makes your blemishes and other skin sins disappear by naturally camouflaging them. This product is also a treatment so using it on top of breakouts is recommended, however I do not approve of using makeup directly on top of any open sore, it will contaminate your makeup and can infect the wound. Instead, check out Pro MUA Kim Greene's Makeup Tips From The Set blog for a great idea on how to protect a healing "zit" before you conceal it with makeup!

Usually the only eye product I wear during the summer is a smudge of eyeliner very close to my lash line. I am loving Lise Watier's 24 Hour Glam Liquid Eyeliner in Brun, when I want a natural look or in Violet when I want something more colorful. When they say this liner is 24 hours...they mean it. It won't come off until you take it off. Totally waterproof, smudge proof and sweat proof. Other colors include: Noir, Vert and Bleu.

For those times when I want to wear all over color on my eyes, I love Make Up For Ever's Aqua Cream Shadow in Warm Beige, which is a very pretty champagne shimmer. This is another product that stays put all day and well into the night, plus it gives you a beautiful highlight, but won't make you feel overly made up.

When I go out in the evening I coat my lashes with waterproof mascara on both my upper and lower lashes. I always use my trusty, waterproof CoverGirl LashBlast in Black. It is my favorite because it doesn't run or smudge...ever!

I will use a cream bronzer for the cheeks in the summer and Chanel's Soleil Tan De Chanel is the best color for my skin tone. It gives me perfectly sculpted cheekbones and an overall, natural tan effect. Since I never tan my face, my neck and body are usually 1 to 2 shades darker, which means that I look strange if I don't use a bronzer. After many years of trying to find a great bronzer, this product gives me a gorgeous glow, blends evenly without streaking and doesn't look orange! Bravo! Worth every penny!

When I want to add a "pop" of color to my cheeks I like to use Napoleon Perdis' Cheek to Chic Blush Duo in Coral. I am loving this product because the two colors that come in the component are the perfect summer coral shades that match any skin tone. It is a powder product, but it is incredibly pigmented and has amazing staying power!

When I want to feel glamorous for a night out on the town, I apply highlight to my orbital bone area (the crescent moon shape which begins at the end of your eyebrow and continues along the very top of your cheekbone). I only use the best highlighter product in the industry...Gleam by Melanie Mills! This product is a staple in my professional makeup kit and personally, I also use it all over my body and on my cupid's bow to create the illusion of a fuller lip line. This product will warm up your skin tone if you are pale, provides an incredible glow if you have a great tan and gives off a beautiful sheen that is perfect for showing off your amazing stems (legs)! It dries completely so it won't transfer onto your clothing and will help camouflage unwanted cellulite! If you plan on baring any skin this summer, make sure that you purchase a tube of Gleam so that you can look your best during all those summer parties!

I think I need a 12-step program for my addiction to lip products! My bag is jammed with a barrage of them! This summer I am switching up between Vaseline's Rosy Lips, Youngblood's Lipgloss in Coy, Clinique's Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Color Balm in Mega Melon and Clarion's Instant Light Natural Lip Protector in 01. "Hi, my name is Melissa and I am obsessed with having a juicy pucker!" There, I said it!

Fekkai's Summer Hair Sun Bandana is a leave in conditioner that I toss in my beach bag and use after swimming. It has a heat activated, invisible UV shield that protects your hair and scalp when exposed to the sun. This product is oil-free and water resistant. For best results you should use this product on wet hair and then let your hair dry naturally.

After sun skincare is very important too and I don't negelect the fact that my body is craving moisture after hours in the sun. Voture Vu's On Holiday Skincare line is the best. Not only is it packed with essential vitamins, the amazing scent will propel you into true vacation bliss! I like to use this product all year because the smell alone triggers my brain into an instant calm state during stressful times!

This Pro's list might night be as long as my blog partner's, but I like to travel "light," leaves more room for shoes! Oh and speaking of shoes...have you guys heard of the flip flops called Tkees? I am obsessed! Their company slogan is..."wearable cosmetics for your feet!" These "slaps" have been seen all over Malibu and they come in a wide variety of colors. My favorite is French Pedicure 01, but I also love Bubblegum and Limelight!

We hope that all of our readers are having a great summer and we want to take this opportunity to thank you all for subscribing to IMPO. We are celebrating our 2 1/2 year blog-a-versary and are very proud to have dedicated people following us on this blog, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.