Good morning! And sorry for my delayed blogging. My husband and I took a trip to Mexico for some fun and relaxation in the sun last week and I’ve been looking forward to writing this post ever since! Today I’m going to share my Mexico beauty kit, from sunscreen to haircare. We had a wonderful trip. Mexico is such a different climate from Colorado. When we came home, it was 25 degrees and we’d just left the beach and almost 90 degrees! Ahhh!

Here’s a picture of most of the speciality beauty products I took (shampoo, makeup etc not included as those are used at home too):

From left to right:

1. Clarins SPF 50+ spray sunscreen, $38

2. Alba Botanica SPF 45 sunscreen, $9

3. Kevin Murphy Young Again hair treatment, $40

4. Alterna hair heat protectant spray, $24

5. Fresh Sugar Acai Age-Delay Body Lotion, $65

6. Shiseido SPF 38 Sunscreen, $32

7. Burt’s Bees After Sun Soother, $10

8. First Aid Beauty Aloe Sun treatment, $18

Yes, I know. I took quite a few things. One of the reasons I took so many sunscreens, lotions and after-sun products is that I was interested to see how a $40 sunscreen compared to a $10 sunscreen or how Burt’s Bees compared to First Aid Beauty. Does the price matter? Well, the definitive answer to that is yes…and no. It depends.

Without a doubt, no contest, the worst sunscreen was the most expensive. The Clarins SPF 50 is not remotely waterproof and it tends to run and spread when you spray it. Moral of the story is that if you spray it on your face, it will run in your eyes. The best sunscreen? Well, for your face, you can’t beat the Shiseido. It’s very runny (even more so than Clarins) and spreads so easily, absorbs into the skin with ZERO greasy feeling and does not remotely clog your pores. And those are the reasons a more expensive sunscreen is worth it’s weight in gold. Plus, it’s extremely water resistant and stood up easily to the Mexican sun.

We also loved the Alba SPF 45. It’s thick, creamy and smells amazing (it has green tea extract) but not girly and my husband really liked the scent, perfect for the tropical beach. It also absorbs easily and spreads easily. The bottle runs out more quickly than Shiseido, even though they are the same size, just because the consistency of the Alba sunscreen is so much thicker. We also found it to be very water resistant (equally to the Shiseido). For the money, Alba is a really fantastic option.

Now onto the after-sun options. It’s such a tie and honestly, it depends on what you like. Scent or no scent? The Burt’s Bees scent is really nice, it’s soothing, natural and herb-like. The First Aid Beauty Aloe has no scent at all. One is a cream (Burt’s Bees) one is a gel (First Aid). Truly, if I could only take one next year, I’d take Burt’s Bees. I love how it can be my full body lotion after a day in the sun. You really should only use the First Aid Aloe gel as a sunburn spot treatment because aloe can be so drying.

What is in your beach beauty kit? Add it to the comments!