How to be work-ready after the beach!

I have been absolutely dying to go to the beach, so my boyfriend, his friend, and I decided to get up early one day and go. I had to be at work at 2, meaning I had to be downtown at at least 1:30 to make sure I could find parking. We got to the beach around 9:30 or 10 and stayed until about 12. I was worried that I would look like a mess for work, since I didn't have time to go home and shower. But, doing these things really helped me look more polished and work-ready. My boss came up to me and said "Wow you look pretty! Did you come from Church?" ummm nope. My best friend who I also work with said "Wait you came straight from the beach? You don't look like you did!"

So, I guess these little things I did really worked! Here are my tips :)

1. Find some way to rinse off

For me, this was using the hose at my boyfriend's friend's house (his name is James). Just to make sure I get all of the sand off me, and especially out of my hair. I had my hair in 2 braids at the beach so it wasn't that messy.

2. Face Wipes

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My favorite are the Yes to Cucumbers Natural Glow Facial Towelettes. After the beach, my face is usually pretty...un-pretty. Especially after applying sunscreen multiple times to make sure I don't burn (my face ALWAYS burns. I use spf 100+ on it). Throw some face wipes in you're bag and use these to get a clean, glowy face. Not to mention, all that sunscreen, sand, and saltwater can be harsh on your skin and clog your pores. It's best to get all that gunk out ASAP!

3. A Tinted Moisturizer

I use MAC's Studio Moisture Tint, it evens out my skin tone pretty nicely and gives me a little bit of color, because my face just does not want to tan. So it looks pretty odd when my face is white and the rest of my body is tan. This is easy because you can apply it with your fingers and it isn't too heavy. Sometimes I set it with a powder since my face tends to get a little greasier when I work, because of the humidity. But this step is optional.

4. Eyeliner

Nothing too heavy, just a thin line of brown or black eyeliner. I used the Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Sparkle Liner pencil in Cosmic Cocoa. I love the Beauty Rush line because there is always the 4 for $20 deal going on.

5. Mascara

If nothing else, at least apply a coat of mascara to your lovely lashes. Mascara makes a HUGE difference in your makeup look, it makes your eyes look bigger, brighter, and more awake. You've probably already heard that a million times though. I have so many mascaras, so I don't use the same one every day. They are all drugstore (except for MAC Haute and Naughty mascara. I love it!), and I think on this day I used Maybelline's One by One mascara, it's a great lengthening mascara. The only thing I don't like about it is that it has a strange smell. I don't know if I just got a bad one, because I haven't heard anybody else say anything about it.

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Optional steps:

1. Before I applied my tinted moisturizer, I applied a light daily moisturizer under it so that my skin wouldn't dry out from the salt water and sun.

2. I used MAC's Paint Pot in Painterly to even out my eyelids and make them look less veiny

3. Hair is kind of a tricky thing to do. At work, we have to wear hats and have our hair up so I just took mine out of the braids and put it in a pony tail. There are other cute updo's that you could do that look more polished than a ponytail, like a bun or something. Here is a good tutorial from Missglamorazzi and one from Macbarbie07.

4. I don't think this needs mentioning, but a change of clothes is also necessary. So I guess this shouldn't really be under "optional steps"...oh well :P

Well that's pretty much it! Hope this helps :) Leave your own beach beauty tips below and let me know what you think!

Oh, P.S. I've been OBSESSED with TjMaxx lately! Usually when I go there it's hard to find anything I like, but lately I've found sooo much stuff! I don't know if I'm just looking harder now, or TjMaxx is stepping up there game or what. But I'm not complaining!

Oh and P.S.S we're getting closer to the 100 follower giveaway! I have some great prizes in mind :)