If – like me – you accidentally ‘forgot’ to book your European summer vacation, the least you can do to ease the pain is to try to replicate that feeling at home. It may be rainy and cold outside, but I will be damned if I don’t have salty curls…

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Comparing my days in rainy, wintery Perth, to the seemingly perfect European summer days on everyone’s Instagram feeds, near on killed me. Suffering terribly with seasonal affective disorder (so aptly initialled S.A.D), the FOMO has been, and still is very, very real. What I would have done to escape the winter weather on a summer vacay!

In an attempt to recreate what I was missing – the sunshine, salty hair and glowing skin – I rounded up some beauty products that always give me that summer vacay feel (even if it is miserable outside)…

Swisse Sea Salt Body Polish

Filled with coarse sea salt and tiny bits of coconut shell, the Swisse sea salt body polish is tropical far North Queensland in a bottle. A good scrub with this and my legs are shiny and smooth, just like the natural exfoliation of the ocean. And, I am left smell faintly of native lemon myrtle. Yum!

Keune Blend Salt Mousse

Who doesn’t want beach hair all year round?! My curls behave their best when the air is humid, and my locks are salty. I can’t rig the humidity in the middle of winter, but I can sure as hell fake the salt! The Keune Blend salt mousse is a God send. Unlike a regular sea salt spray, the mousse gives definition and hold to the curls and texture that the salt encourages.

Reef Deep Sun Tan Oil

Reef sun tan oil is the official scent of summer. As long as I can remember, we have had Reef in our bathroom drawers. The SPF6 isn’t going to do much against the harsh Aussie sun in the thick of summer, but it does make the most amazing winter moisturiser. I like to rub some in to my skin before bed and let it soak in over night. Going to sleep with the familiar smell of summer is so uplifting!

Lush ‘Big’ Sea Salt Shampoo

Gorgeous beach curls finish with a sea salt spray, but start with Lush’s BIG sea salt shampoo. This stuff is amazing. You can literally feel the sea salt in the shampoo. Unlike your regular shampoo, it cleans without too much foaming, or leaving your hair feeling too slippery clean. It literally feels like you have just dunked your head in the ocean (well, a little cleaner and less tangly than that!). If you are after that textured ‘just-been-swimming-in-the-ocean’ look, then this is the shampoo you need! Top it up with some sea salt mousse and people will be wondering when you got back from Ibiza.

Lush ‘Ocean Salt’ Face and Body Polish

Another killer sea salt product from Lush. Another sea salt product from Lush that actually has real sea salt all throughout. Warning: This is quite coarse, so only a gentle circular motion is needed, and one scrub a month. For that super fresh faced feel – yes, like you just got out of the ocean – and clear as clear skin, this is your product!

Feel Good Inc Coconut Sunscreen

If you are going to be soaking up the winter sunshine when it comes out to play, the Feel Good Inc Coconut Sunscreen is your best friend. Technically, this is a summer product, but you can never be too blasé about sun protection. Plus, it doesn’t smell like sunscreen, it smells coconutty like summer. Any extra help we can get with sun kissed skin is most welcome!

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