My Summer Beauty + Accessories Picks

Buongiorno amici!

It’s been a couple months but I’m excited to be back here and sharing my summer essentials with you. I’ve been finding a lot of great things recently from jewelry and clothing accessories to natural beauty products. Quite by accident, I’ve found myself collecting some gorgeous new hair accessories that I’m excited to show you and talk about, and I’ve made a skincare breakthrough that won’t cost you more than $10 (!).

Hair Accessories

Along with many of you beauties out there, I am quite into hair accessories at the moment. I’ve been sporting pearl barrettes for several months (but I feel like they’re just everywhere now), so I found this other set of colorful acrylic barrettes that I’m loving. I originally saw these exact clips in a SoHo boutique on my recent trip to NYC and they were selling for $10 each. I knew I could find a cheaper alternative on Amazon, and low and behold, I found a set of 14 different colors and styles of clips for $12.99. I’m pretty sure they’re the exact same thing I saw in that store and this isn’t the first time I’ve seen this happen. A lot of stores (physical and online) use the same manufacturers and many of those manufacturers are on Amazon now shipping direct to customers who can find them. The same thing happened with the pearled big hair clip in the photo above. I saw it on an upscale online boutique and thought to search for it on Amazon and found the exact same clip for a whopping $1.89.

>> Find the colorful acrylic hair clips here
>> Find the big pearl hair clip here
>> Find my original set of pearl and gold hair clips here

>> Also for the acrylic organizer I use to store my hair accessories and makeup, click here.

The other fun hair accessory in here I actually did not find on Amazon (though I’m sure there are options like it on there!) and picked up at & Other Stories in New York. It is so ruffly and thick and made of this gorgeous dusty rose silky material. It was about $9 and I’ve been wearing it around low and high buns and just on my wrist for days.

>> Find my scrunchie here

Clothing/Jewelry Accessories

I am so so so here for the seashell jewelry trend this season. I’m in Florida and LOVE seashells so much, so this trend just makes me happy. I have my eye on a few “fancier” versions of the trend that aren’t made with string. However, I love this cowrie shell anklet and wear it every day. I keep it on through everything (yoga, swimming, beach, shower) and it’s resilient and adorable. Love a beachy ankle to go with any outfit and shoe! I found mine at a local beach shop but theses identical versions are on Amazon.

>> Find my cowrie shell anklet here

On to my tropical new sneaks. I recently worked with this brand, Taos Footwear, and was so impressed by the sneakers, I’ve elevated them to *favorite* status. I chose this tropical print, but there are tons of styles and colors to choose from. The best part about them is how comfortable and supportive the insole is. There is so much arch support, they are built for lots of walking and days spent on your feet.

>> Find my Taos sneakers here and get free shipping!

Next up are my new skinny sunnies. Another inexpensive Amazon find, I was looking for a pair of this shape that wouldn’t cost a lot. I have to say, I love the way they look but I don’t think they are polarized well, so they aren’t great when it’s very sunny out. I use them on hazy days and while hanging around at the pool. More for fashion than function but for $12.99 that’s ok with me.

>> Find my sunglasses here

Lastly in the accessories category, I have this woven tote bag that’s perfect for a beach or pool day. I love this look and again, saw the exact same bag for around $50 on a pricey online boutique’s site and hunted it down on Amazon from the manufacturer for $16.99. Exact same bag, for a reasonable price. I toss a book, water bottle and sunscreen in here for the beach and I love the style and function of it.

>> Find my woven tote bag here

Skincare/Beauty

Now for my skincare breakthrough! I’m so excited about this because it’s the best/ most effective product I’ve used in a very long time, it’s incredibly cheap and also 100% natural. It’s just Vitamin E oil! When I was little, my mom always had Vitamin E capsules to pop open and apply to my cuts, scrapes or burns. I never ever thought to use the oil on my face regularly until I actually saw an unsponsored post by Sofia Richie on Instagram and I thought that was genius. (Also if it’s good enough for her perfect skin, it’s worth a try!) I’ve been using expensive, luxury clean skincare products for the last two years, and while many of them feel great, I was still dealing with severe breakouts and no product I tried could address that.

Since moving to Florida full time over two months ago, my skin has completely healed itself — which is HUGE for me — and I no longer wear any concealer or foundation (unless I’m feeling fancy). I’ve mostly attributed this transformation to two things: the sun and my Vitamin E oil. The sun has helped tremendously, and I don’t mean with laying out because I don’t even do that any more. It’s just the 10-15 minutes of sun I get daily when I walk Leo or spend any time outside. I sleep in my Vitamin E oil and wake up with soft, clear and hydrated skin. It’s really something. It makes a lot of sense to me that the best face oil wouldn’t be a product formulated with a bunch of other ingredients, but rather a pure product from nature with all the properties you need for healing skin. This one is from Trader Joe’s (you can also buy from Amazon) and set me back $9. The best $9 I’ve spent in a long time.

>> Find my Vitamin E Oil here

With the fancy zero makeup looks I’ve been sporting lately (I’m feeling far to lazy and I’m always unmotivated to do my makeup in the summer), I am finding it fun and easy to swipe a little light color onto my lips. I’ve actually had this lipstick in two shades for a while and never tried them. This one is Nudus in shade “27 kisses” (I also have “halo“). It’s a somewhat deep, natural pink color that just intensifies my natural lip shade. Nudus is an organic, Australian lipstick brand and it feels so lovely on. It’s such a natural and hydrating feel, that I can swipe it on without a mirror and go. Also the packaging is maybe the most beautiful I’ve ever seen in a lipstick. It’s a little pricier, $42 each, but gorgeous if you’re looking for an organic and soft lipstick.

>> Find my Nudus lipstick here

That’s it for now for things I’m loving and using every single day this summer. I’m sure I’ll uncover a few more in the next couple months but I’m so happy with all of these discoveries so far and curious to know what you think. Let me know if you’ve tried any of these things and how you like or don’t like them below!

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A presto,
Amanda ❤️