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Simone’s Five Favorite Summer Essentials

The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Cal State Chico chapter.

1. Colorscience Tinted Face Sunscreen

I have been on a journey to find the perfect tinted facial sunscreen for summer. My skin type is pretty dry and I always struggle to find a sunscreen that is moisturizing, good for my skin, and provides coverage. I’ve made it a priority to apply sunscreen on my face every day and to try and use as little makeup as possible in hopes of bettering my skin. I don’t like how oily some sunscreens feel, like Supergoop’s Glowscreen, and EltaMD’s Tinted Sunscreen faded much too quickly for me. After running out of my final bottle of sunscreen, I decided to splurge a little and try something new. I did my research and found that Colorscience’s Flex SPF 50 was trending for a few reasons. First, it provides a fuller amount of coverage than most tinted sunscreens. Secondly, it’s a mineral sunscreen so it lacks a lot of the harmful chemicals that most brands contain. Lastly, its SPF content is so much higher than options you’d normally find (meaning it’s actually protecting your skin against UVA/UVB rays). Colorscience’s Flex SPF 50 is my new favorite everyday wear.

2. Tend Skin

Razor burn no more! I discovered Tend Skin a few years back when I went to visit my friend, Karina, in Florida for summer break. She lives in Pensacola, just five minutes from the ocean, so we spent almost every day soaking up the sun on the beach. Because I was wearing a swimsuit all day for weeks on end, I ended up having to shave constantly. I’ve never been one that’s prone to razor burn, but my skin was totally irritated after about a week of this. Karina ended up saving my skin that summer. She gave me a bottle of Tend Skin and told me to apply it straight out of the shower onto my skin wherever I had shaved. It was a literal miracle. I don’t know how, but all of my razor burns disappeared after that. Since then, I’ve recommended Tend Skin to a ton of my friends who struggle with razor burn or went through a similar situation as me. Now it’s essential for all of us during summer!

3. Yuka App

I recently downloaded this app when it was recommended to me by a doctor. The Yuka app allows you to scan the barcode on any makeup, skin care products, and even food, and rate its health impact. The rating is based on a scale from 0% (containing unhealthy chemicals and carcinogens) to 100% (having the cleanest ingredients). It then goes on to list the toxic and clean ingredients that the product contains and gives a short description of each. I’ve basically become addicted to using this app and have gone through and scanned at least half of my products. Yuka is going to be my go-to for researching all my new summer products.

4. Strawberry Milk Mob Swimwear

Tried and true. Strawberry Milk Mob is officially my new favorite swimwear company. I ordered my first two-piece swimsuit (the Lemon Vine bikini) from them back in August and fell in love with the brand. It has since blown up on TikTok and gotten the recognition it deserves. The creator of Strawberry Milk Mob, Georgia Costella, does an amazing job at designing swimsuits that are both trendy and comfortable. Her swimsuits are unique to her own style and pretty affordable compared to most swimsuit brands circulating social media right now. I cannot wait to get my hands on another one of these for summer vacation.

5. Glow Recipe Niacinamide Sun Glow Drops

I am an advocate for Glow Recipe’s original niacinamide drops. It adds the perfect glow under all my makeup and doubles as a lightweight primer. As soon as I saw Glow Recipe released a tinted version of this serum, I put the funds aside to buy a bottle. This product is similar to Drunk Elephant’s Bronzing Drops, except it’s much lighter and leaves my face feeling cleaner. In my opinion, the tint itself is enough alone to achieve that ‘bronzy clean girl’ look without having to put a thick, heavier coverage product on your face. I’ve been using them under my makeup and sunscreen for about a week now and so far it hasn’t broken me out or left me with oily/dry skin. Just make sure to layer on that SPF over any products containing niacinamide before you go out in the sun!

Simone Bryant

Cal State Chico '26

Simone is a second-year student at Chico State University and the VP of Event Management for Alpha Delta Pi Sorority. She is majoring in Business Administration with a minor in English and a pathway minor in Diversity Studies. Simone grew up in Sacramento, CA, where she visits often to see friends and family. She attended Rio Americano High School up until her Sophomore year, then Del Oro High School where she graduated from in 2022. Simone played lacrosse and soccer throughout high school and volunteered at an animal health center outside of her hometown. On her free time Simone loves traveling and spending time with her friends and family. She plans to study abroad in Europe with her roommates the fall semester of her Senior year. Aside from this, she also has avid interest in topics such as wellness, fashion and interior design. Simone loves showcasing her creativity and personality through her writing. She's been passionate about writing for as long as she can remember. She is so excited to be a part of the Her Campus team and enhance her skills even further.