My Pool Beauty Must Haves

Now that summer is here, we’re spending a lot of time at the pool here at my house! Which means a few changes to my beauty routine. We tend to spend an hour or two in the pool in the late afternoon or early evening, rather than the full day. So, I’ve modified my basic every day routine with a few product swap outs that let me look like my “normal” self, but are pool friendly. I do this pretty much all summer long, since I don’t always know which days we will (or won’t) get in the pool. And of course there are days that the weather looks like it will be terrible on my weather app, but then it’s amazing. So, I still have days where I’m in the pool, without waterproof mascara. Oops!

Makeup

The main swap outs that I make for my makeup are things that run and make me look like a raccoon. I also like to still have some concealer under my eyes, since I’m on call and not always getting a lot of sleep I like to keep my undereye circles covered!

I honestly don’t worry too much about my brows, I still just apply my normal stuff (usually this It Cosmetics pencil or my favorite Chanel brow powder). None of the brow products seem to run in the pool, they just fade away on their own.

For the rest of my face, I’ve tried a lot of different waterproof bronzers, shadows, etc. There are a few that do stay put, but I admit that I don’t really feel like they’re necessary. I don’t expect to have a perfect face of makeup when I get out of the pool, but I do not want to look like a raccoon!

Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof Long-Lasting Eyeliner (buy it at Nordstrom, Chanel, Macy’s or Neiman Marcus): After trying out a ton of waterproof liners, this one is my current favorite for a traditional pencil liner. It smudges and looks just like a non-waterproof version, but it stays put longer than my previous favorite (which is pretty close and less expensive, but when you’re doing this every day you want to splurge!) If you want a liquid liner, this is my favorite.

Chanel Inimitable Waterproof Mascara (get it at Nordstrom, Chanel or Macy’s): Yes, I’ve tried all of the other waterproof mascaras. Yes, I’ve likely tried your favorite. Yes, I’ve tried them all from the drugstore. And the department store. And ULTA. And Sephora. This is the only waterproof mascara that comes close to the Chanel. Why is is so much better? All of the other waterproof mascaras manage to not melt off of my lashes, but they don’t look the same after swimming. The Chanel makes my lashes look just as amazing before and after swimming! Swimming is much harder on waterproof mascara than crying at a wedding, so many of the others are great, just not my favorites for swimming. Note, you can watch the Chanel section of RueLaLa for a deal, it shows up there maybe once or twice each month.

IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Illumination Concealer (from Sephora, ULTA, QVC): This is one of my favorite undereye concealers. It’s also the one that stays put the best while swimming.

Hair

I pretty much gave up on trying to keep my hair dry while swimming a long time ago. Even if I’m not getting dunked, my kids splash enough that I get pretty wet. I typically just swim and do my thing, then take a shower that night before I head to bed. I use a clarifying shampoo roughly once a week, and I try to use hair masks that hydrate at least once a week as well. I’m not currently drying my hair at night, instead I’m using an air drying product and just going to bed, letting my perm leave my hair a bit wavy. If I want my hair to be curly rather than wavy, I’ll dry my hair a little bit at the roots, and then put in the Sleep Styler curlers.

Oribe The Cleanse Clarifying Shampoo (at Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s or BirchBox): Read my full Oribe The Cleanse Clarifying Shampoo review. I haven’t tried this to take the green out of my daughters’ blonde hair. I’ve tried a huge array of swimming shampoos on them, and my best results have been this shampoo.

Redken No Blow Dry Bossy Cream (buy it at ULTA or Amazon): I use about the size of a quarter. I’ve also had great results with this cream or this air dry mousse.

Sleep Styler (at their site or QVC): You can check out my Sleep Styler review. I mostly use the smaller size currently as my hair is a bit hard to hold curl. I’ve found they’re a little more comfortable at night than the original size as well.

Skincare

Since I’m mostly jumping in the pool without any special prep immediately before, it’s important that I have a good SPF in my morning skincare routine. I aim for at least SPF 30, and I prefer SPF 50 or higher if I can find it. One the rare day that I’m not prepared for swimming (aka- I’m not wearing waterproof eye makeup), I’ve been really loving the Olay Daily Facials for quickly removing everything from my face and then I’ll apply fresh sunscreen before heading out to the pool.

Kate Somerville Daily Deflector Waterlight Broad Spectrum SPF 50+ (buy it at Kate Somerville, Sephora or DermStore): I love this light sunscreen alone or under makeup.

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