Who doesn’t love a little fun in the sun?   A day at the beach can be very relaxing for both body and soul. Just make sure you take good care of your skin once you return home.  This way your skin stays smooth, healthy, and hydrated even after you spent a long day enjoying surf and sun.

Updated by Hanah Tetro

1.  Shower and Moisturize

You’ve undoubtedly applied layer upon layer of sunscreen, and swam around in the salty ocean so it’s time to clean your body well to get rid of the product build-up. Don’t use a drying deodorant soap, opt for a hydrating natural bar of soap or hydrating shower wash instead.

Immediately upon drying off, apply a moisturizing body butter to your entire body. The salt and sun can be very drying to your skin, so you need to moisturize your skin immediately after your shower. When you apply it right after you dry off, you seal in all of the moisture on your skin from the shower.

If sunburn is an issue, using Clarins: SOS Sunburn Soother is a must. I keep a jar on hand all summer for any sunburns that might occur.

2.  Moisturize Your Feet

You know how great it can feel walking around in the sand without your flip-flops? (Well, at least in the cool wet sand!)  You’re actually giving your feet a fantastic natural exfoliation when you do this.  So if you don’t typically kick off your shoes at the beach, start doing it; sand is the perfect natural exfoliator.  When your wading in the water, take some time to rub your feet in the sand, and swirl your feet around to make sure every part is exfoliated.

The next important step you can save for the car or at home: moisturizer!  It’s a must!  You’ve exfoliated the dead skin from your feet, soaked them in salty water, but unless you moisturize them, they are going to be a mess.  Once you apply moisturizer, you’ll notice your feet feel like you just had a pedicure.

3.  Don’t Let Your Hair Frizz Out

Your hair can take a real beating when you are out on the beach.  A quick tip pre-water: apply a spray in hair conditioner such as Goldwell Moisture Definition Detangler Spray before hitting the beach. This will help keep your hair tangle free, and gives it a bit of a protected layer. Also, a product you can apply before you go out for the day is a UV protector for your hair.  This is sunscreen for your hair.  Secret Professional UV-Aqua Spray is a good choice.

When you get home from the beach, give your hair a thorough washing, and apply a deep conditioner for a good 5-10 minutes. Make sure to use a wide tooth comb to comb out your hair.

4.  Take Gentle Care of Your Face

Depending on how windy your day is at the beach, your face might have been included in thenatural exfoliation from the sand. The last thing you want to do is come home and exfoliate your skin again. Use a gentle face cleanser to wash off all of your sunscreen, and then apply ahydrating moisturizer or night cream to soothe your skin.

5.  Soothe Your Lips

Hopefully you applied a lip balm with SPF in it throughout the day. Lips can easily sunburn, and this will be a big step in taking care of your gentle lip area.  But no matter if you did or didn’t, your lips will be feeling a bit dry and abused.  Apply a thick lip balm or even simple Vaseline to your lips and let your lips soak the product in.  They’ll instantly feel hydrated and soft.

6.  Water, Water, Water

It’s hard to remember to drink your eight glasses of water when you’re looking so cute in your bathing suit sitting on a lounge chair.  But now that you’re home you can stock up from where you left off before you went to the beach. Drink a few glasses of water for good measure; I promise you’ll feel better because of it.