When you’re spending hours a day in the blazing sun; duck diving, carving and wiping out in a bikini. There’s an art form to keeping your skin protected with grace and decorum whilst looking like a carefree sun kissed beach goddess.
Let’s face it, any surfer girl knows the feeling of coming up from a duck dive or a wipe out with your bikini bottoms around your ankles or your bust popping out.
Here I’ll include my hot tips and tricks to keep your dignity intact and your skin protected from harsh environmental elements.
FUNCTIONAL SURF STYLE TIPS
Cenote Swimwear
This Australian swimwear brand is hands down my favourite for surf functionality and style. Their pieces are durable using high grade quality sustainable Italian Lycra made from 100% regenerated nylon and polyester. Designed with feminine cuts that enhance the body shapes.
Trestles Surf Suit
This suit is my favourite show stopping piece. It comes out when the midday sun is blaring and the waves are big and heavy. Providing great sun protection and solid for keeping the nip slips at bay. It also has an elastic free bottom panel so it sits flattering across your butt cheeks. My friends never struggle to find me in the line-up when I’m wearing this number.
Salinas Top
Being a slightly bigger busted women, I really struggle to find a surf bikini top that looks flattering but also has solid enough foundations to keep intact when a big wipe out takes you down. The underwire and the cross back feature of this top provides staying power and comfort.
Kuri Bottoms
Now these are the best surf bottoms I have ever owned. Designed with an extremely flattering Brazilian cut style and adjustable sides. When you’re hanging on the beach you can loosen them up which is great for avoiding love handles over spilling. When you’re headed out to catch waves they can be tightened nice and firmly. I’ve never ended up baring my butt cheeks in these beauties.
SKIN PROTECTION TIPS & TRICKS
Surfmud – Natural Zinc Tinted Covering Cream (sun protection)
Finding a good zinc is critical in skin protection when you’re facing the harsh environmental elements. As an Australian, where skin cancer rates are highest in the world, we know sun protection must be top priority when out in the water.
After trialing many different types of zinc over the years, I’ve finally found one that ticks all the boxes. Surfmud is a tinted covering cream designed to provide effective all-day cover from the elements. Surfmud contains 30% Zinc Oxide and is a natural skin colour that glides on smoothly and stays put. Best of all its hand made in Australia, palm oil free and not tested on animals. A must in every surfer girl’s skincare regime.
HOT TIP – Make sure you use surfmud in addition to a good base liquid face sunscreen. I use Neutrogena ultra sheer dry touch sunscreen in SPF50.
Neutrogena Beach Defence® Mist SPF50 (sun protection)
Sun screening your legs and stomach before a surf session is a well known no no. You become a slippery piece of soap once you actually hit the water making it difficult to control your board.
I’ve found Neutrogena Beach Defence Mist in SPF50 a perfect solution to combat sun protection and board slip. It provides high sun protection in an ultra-light, fast absorbing formula minimizing board slip.
HOT TIP: Ensure you apply at least 20 minutes before you hit the water to allow for full absorption.
Coconut Oil (surf rash)
If you’re surfing on the regular, surf rash can be a painful, unsightly and irritating issue. The painful, red and bumpy irritation on your skin is most often caused by exposure to salt water over a lengthy period of time. Your skin is automatically more fragile while wet, making you more prone to chaffing. For female surfers, rash prone areas are on the belly, inner thighs and the lower butt cheeks.
I use a tiny bit of organic coconut oil on my rash prone areas before hitting the water to provide lubrication. I use this after I’ve applied sunscreen. This helps ease friction and reduces your chance of getting surf rash.
HOT TIP: Less is more, if you use to much you will become slippery. Once you hit the water, like with sunscreen, the oil becomes amplified.
Thursday Plantation Tea Tree Skin Care Soap and Tea Tree Oil (blemishes/surf rash)
Wearing cheeky cut bikini briefs is the norm these days for surfer girls. But who wants to sport a cheeky cut bikini with surf rash and blemishes on your butt cheeks?
To keep my butt clear and smooth I use Thursday Plantation tea tree skin care soap. Made with 99% naturally derived ingredients, Thursday Plantation Tea Tree Soap is ideal for removing the build-up of oil and dirt. It cleanses and purifies and contains 100% Pure Australian Tea Tree Oil, an antibacterial ingredient.
In addition to the tea tree soap, I use Thursday Plantation Tea tree oil in my blemish prone areas directly after my post surf shower. This helps remove any bacteria present from sitting on your waxed up board or sweating on your motorbike seat.
Tea tree oil is well known for its natural antiseptic properties that help inhibit bacteria, cleanse the skin and protect against blemishes.
The combination of these two products keeps my butt cheeks smooth and blemish free.
HOT TIP – You can use tea tree oil on any cuts, grazes, blemishes externally on your body. It’s an essential product for any intrepid traveller to include in their toiletries bag.
Cover FX Custom Cover Drops (natural look coverage)
Want a carefree, natural, sun kissed, beach goddess look? Lets be honest 99% of of us do not have flawless skin. If you’re looking for light coverage but not a fan of wearing makeup. This stuff is AMAZING. What is it you ask?
Cover FX Custom Cover Drops contain concentrated pigments that allow you to customize any product and adjust the level of coverage you desire. The pigment transforms your favourite beauty product into the sheerest tint all the way to a total coverage, depending on how many drops you add.
Cover FX Custom Drops allows you to blend drops with any liquid—moisturizers, sunscreens, serums, oils —that are water-, oil- or silicone-based.
HOT TIP – During the day I blend my custom drops with my favourite everyday face sunscreen; Avene Sunscreen Emulsion Face SPF50+. At night for deeper coverage I blend with Stilla CC colour correcting cream. Both are great alternatives to foundations that won’t clog your pours and will gives your skin a natural healthy glow.