A Day at the Beach

Summer is almost coming to an end and its bittersweet. I'm so excited to get to see all my friends at school again and to get set on a routine but definitely not to lose all my free time and this glorious socal weather. As summer vacation is coming to an end, I thought what better way to enjoy the last few days than going to the beach and even better, taking you along.

So me and my family love going to the beach especially in the mornings before it gets super busy and harder to enjoy. We got to Salt Creek beach in Laguna at about 8:30 in the morning (super early, I know)

Here's a couple things I brought with me:

A big ole flannel. This one I bought at a thrift shop (the tag says liffty released by cliffty). I love it because of the colors and how soft it is. It is quite long so I often find myself walking at beach downtowns wearing just this flannel with my bikini underneath.

My S'well bottle. I have two that I absolutely love. The one pictured is gray with a matte finish and it holds 25oz. My other one that my sister uses is the 17oz dark hearted bottle. They keep water ice cold for 24 hrs or hot for 12hrs and it makes drinking enjoyable. It is quite pricey ranging from $25 to $45 but hands down this is the best purchase I have made in a while.

A rose incense cone. I absolutely LOVE these. They help me relax so easily. These particular cones are quite strong though so the beach is the perfect place to light them. I bought mine at an indian grocery store but this link is the exact brand I use. To use, you light the tip and let burn until burning evenly. Then, blow it out and let it smoke.

A hand salve. My hands are always dry. To the point that "always" is an understatement. To fix this problem I apply hand lotion to my hands every night and for the most part that leaves me good for the day. As a little extra boost, whenever I wash my hands or get them wet, I use a burt's bees hand salve to moisturize. 

A chapstick. I was at Tilly's one day and I needed to spend $3 more to be eligible for some coupon so I randomly added this to my purchase. You have no idea how happy I am that I got this. It has spf 30 which makes me very happy and the flavor is incredible.

A pair of sunglasses. As you know, if you've read any of my other blog posts, my skin is terrible. I'm always trying to protect it from anything that could hurt it including the sun. So, I obviously wear some shades as added protection over sunscreen and a hat. These sunglasses are a pair that I happened to find at a kiosk in the mall (Irvine Spectrum to be exact). 

Here's a couple pics of our day. 

My sister's camp

I hope you enjoyed my post. This is the hardest i've ever worked on one and I'm definetly planning to do this more often. Please comment below and follow me on my instagram @eliselemans and twitter @lemanadee and my pinterest @emlemans

Summer Morning Routine and Sun Protection Tips

I'm freaking out. I was speaking with my mom about how bad my skin was looking after getting a little too much sun the other day and my mom started telling me about how one of my best friend's mom had melanoma at one point. This wasn't something I had never heard before but it definitely felt like a punch in the gut.
Living in southern California, it's basically impossible to not get any sun and I'm not planning to give up playing in the sun anytime soon. However, I have vowed to start taking care of my skin. Since that day I have developed a new routine to protect my skin.

This was a pic from the first day of summer 2015 where I spent a couple hours at the beach of course getting sun burnt:/

Every morning when I wake up I drink a large glass of water or iced green tea to keep my skin and the rest of my body hydrated. Then, I brush my teeth and wash my face. If you're new to my blog, I use the Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser or The Body Shop Skin Clearing Facial Wash with a facial cleaning brush. Then, I use the Neutrogena oil free SPF 30 under my moisturizer to protext me from the sun. After that, I apply my face, pick an outfit, and grab a bite to eat of something dairy free (new blog post about that soon) and I'm ready to go about my day.

5 Tips to Protect You From the Sun

1. Apply sunscreen with at least spf every two hours and make sure to let it soak in to your skin before swimming.
2. Wear hats to protect your face and maybe shoulders and neck as well and wear sunglasses with UV protection to protect your eyes.
3. Wear light cover ups to add an extra layer between the sun and your skin.
4. Accept your skin tone and don't try to change it with the sun. The healthy glow you try to aim won't seem as healthy anymore when you suffer from permanent or serious damage.
5. Try to stay out of the sun during the sunniest hours of the day. 

I hope these tips helped you and inspired you to start wearing more sunscreen and taking extra steps to protect your skin. Follow me on instagram @eliselemans and on twitter @lemanadee and comment down below it would mean a lot.

XoXo, 

Lemanade<3

Review: Maybelline Color Ink Eyeshadow

I just tried the Maybelline New York Color Ink eyeshadow and I'm impressed. I love cream eyeshadows for an everyday look. I particularly like neutral colors that I chose. Them being BE-1, a champagne vanilla-y color, and PK-1, a shimmery pastel pink color. These eyeshadows were purchased in japan while I was on vacation so the packaging may be different in other countries. I know that in america for example, it is called the Maybelline color tattoo 24 hr metal.

I like to apply the eyeshadows first with my finger and then I blend it out with a domed shadow brush. The BE-1 color looks great all over with a gold or copper color in the crease/outer corner, a thin stripe of black eyeliner, and a good coat of mascara.
When I run out of this, I will definitely repurchase this to keep in my collection.

I hope you like this short little review and follow me on instagram @eliselemans and comment below if you have any suggestions for me to review or anything else you want to talk to me about!
XoXo,
Lemanade<3

Purikura

If you've ever been to Japan and into one of their arcades, you may have seen a Purikura station/kiosk/game/photo booth-idk. In case you don't know, it is a sort of photo booth where your face is photoshopped to have bigger eyes, perfect skin, makeup, an "ideal" face shape. Depending no the particular machine, your body may be warped to have longer legs, smaller waist, and glowing skin.

My reaction/opinion to these photo booths?
Well, although I find myself playing around with them whenever I visit Japan, I don't agree with them AT ALL. Yeah I love how they make me look but I despise how they make me feel. After I use it I always find myself wishing I looked like that...at least to some degree. I'm not gorgeous, I'm not really skinny, and I definitely don't have great skin. Usually, I am perfectly happy with how I look accepting my flaws and trying to accentuate (what I find to be) my best features but when I see myself looking great in these pictures, it makes me a bit insecure.

My advice:
Be careful. Its okay to play around with them but please don't feel put down by them! Love yourself for who you are and be confident.

Here's an image i got off of google,

If you like the message behind this and feel the same way about these machines, make sure to follow me on instagram @eliselemans and please, please, please, comment below:)
XoXo,
~lemanade

Infused Water Recipe

Being that may has just begun, summer is just around the corner! One of my favorite things to drink on these scorching hot summer days is an infused water. It is guilt-free, super healthy, and it looks so fun and pretty. If you're like me and drink a lot of water but sometimes gets bored of it, but you're still too lazy to try anything crazy this idea will be perfect for you.

All you have to do is grab a jar or cup, add some fruit, citrus, and herbs, and fill it up with water and drink right away or, for more flavor, put it in the fridge and wait at least two hours. 

For this particular on above, I sliced 2 medium strawberries, 2 slices of lemon, and a little mint.

Here are some of my favorite combinations:

strawberry, mint, lemon

orange, cucumber, lime

ginger, blueberry(smash them for more flavor)

honeydew, mint

strawberry, blackberry, basil

watermelon, mint, lime

You can also add an herbal or green tea bag for extra flavor. I love adding camomile tea or peppermint the most.

I hope you guys like this recipe and find it helpful. I love how refreshing and easy it is. Share with your friends, comment below your favorite combinations, and follow me on my instagrams @lemanadee @eliselemans it would make me so happy!

~lemanade<3