My Current Personality Traits: Andrea's 2026 Summer Staples
I love a summer favorites list as much as the next person, but let’s be real: most of them feel like an elaborate plot to sell you a serum that costs more than your first car and somehow still requires a payment plan. And I can say that with zero judgment because I have absolutely been that person 🙄
This isn’t that kind of list.
These are the habits, products, and completely random items that have survived the chaos of my actual life. They’ve been tossed into beach bags, survived the heat of the car, traveled through various airports, and have generally earned their keep through repeat purchases and sheer reliability.
Some are beauty products. Some are not, but all of them have officially taken up residency in my routine (at least until Labor Day).
The Thing I Spray On Literally Everyone
Magic Molecule® | Antimicrobial Skin Spray
I’m so obsessed with this spray that even if it turned out to be just fancy tap water, I’d likely keep paying for it. It’s been a permanent fixture for years now and works overtime during the summer months.
Life at our place right now is a chaotic blend of SPF, lake days, itchy bites, random scrapes, and roughly 37 daily requests to "come look at this".
The boys get doused in it (or at least I make a valiant effort to) following swim sessions, sports, and those backyard adventures that somehow inevitably involve minor injuries.
I use it religiously too.
It's become one of those products that quietly migrated from "interesting" to "where is it and why isn't it within arm's reach?"
The SPF I Won't Shut Up About
I have melasma. Or, more accurately, it has me. At this point, it’s hard to say.
I've spent years trying to get it under control and during the summer is when our relationship becomes particularly toxic.
Teenie-bopper Andrea spent plenty of time tanning with blatant disregard for future consequences, and then pregnancy hormones arrived to finish the job.
Now, at thirty-eight, I apply SPF like I'm prepping for battle and still check my forehead every time I pass a reflective surface.
HydraTint has become my mandatory summer uniform. It offers just enough coverage while ensuring I'm fully protected from the sun.
Alongside that chemical shield is a very necessary physical one: the baseball hat. It's ironic, because I spent most of my adult life convinced I wasn’t a "hat person."
Turns out, I am. Or I had to become one. I was just one satellite-looking melasma patch away from discovering it.
My Summer Makeup Trick
Every summer I commit a tiny act of rebellion against my Fold Out Face® & pop out one of my foundation powders and replace it with bronzer.
Between sunscreen, humidity, natural dewiness and the fact that my face generally behaves better in the summer…I need less coverage and more warmth.
Five seconds later I look slightly more alive. That's the kind of efficiency I'm after these days.
The Hair Products My Hairstylist Made Me Buy
Jack Winn Pro | LumiGloss Frost Toning Mask
Jack Winn Pro | LumiGloss Clear Toning Mask
My hair is always in panic mode, usually feels like it's survived a minor natural disaster.
Sun. Chlorine. Lake water. Heat styling.
The Frost mask keeps my blonde from looking like it has unresolved feelings. The Clear version is great if you just need hydration without the toning.
Either way, highly recommend apologizing to your hair periodically (during summer especially).
The Emotional Support Water Bottle
I resisted giant water bottles for years. Mostly because I didn't want to become the kind of person emotionally attached to a water bottle. But really it’s because I thought it looks so ridiculous.
Anyway.
Now if I leave the house without this thing I feel like I've forgotten a child.
The Thing I Wear More Than Actual Clothes
This looks like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat went on vacation and got really into coastal living.
I wear it after swimming.I wear it over pajamas. I wear it while making coffee.I wear it when I have no good reason to wear it.
Zero regrets.
The Fragrance That Lives In Every Bag
Woosh Beauty® | Solid Fragrance with Rosestone
I like smelling nice.
This sounds obvious until you have children. You leave the house intending to run one errand and somehow end up at a baseball game, dinner, and then somehow someone else's backyard.
The Rosestone lives in my bag because it's easy, portable, and makes me feel slightly more pulled together than I actually am.
My favorite summer scents right now are Pink Sand and Sterling Light.
The Thing That Slows Me Down
We almost always have one spread out somewhere during the summer. Near an open window, ideally.
Usually while the house smells faintly like sunscreen, campfire, and whatever snack someone forgot to put away.
They're beautiful, frustrating, addictive, and one of the few things that can pull all of us away from screens for an hour.
Which is probably why I keep buying them.
The Sandals I Keep Coming Back To
Every year I become convinced I've found an awesome sandal. Every year I come crawling back.
They're comfortable. They go with everything. They disappear into every outfit.
At this point I'm no longer trying to replace them. Future plantar fasciitis Andrea can handle her own problems.
The Supplement That Simplified My Life
For a while my nighttime supplement routine looked less like wellness and more like… an issue maybe?
At some point I realized I couldn't actually remember what half of them were supposed to be doing.
I've been taking IM8 because I wanted something simpler. So far, I love it.
Now and then I have a brief panic that I'm definitely deficient in something important and should immediately return to swallowing fourteen capsules before bed.
Then I remember how much I hated doing that.
Growth. Maybe. We'll see.
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So that's the list.
A few beauty products. A few summer essentials. A few completely random things I've become emotionally dependent on.
If you've found something that's earning its keep this summer, send it my way.
I clearly have room for at least one more obsession ☺
xoxo Andrea
