Aloha nui loa, girls! 🙂 Greetings from the island of Oahu. The day is young, but, as I’m sure you know, it’s never too early to think about sunscreen. On the agenda for this morning: a trip to downtown Honolulu (the biggest city on the island), to watch the 92nd annual Kamehameha Day Floral Parade. My camera is locked and loaded!
Even though it’s early in the morning here, I’m glad I brought along my can of Neutrogena Fresh Cooling Mist Sunblock SPF 30 ($9). The sun here feels stronger than it feels back in San Francisco. Even through partly cloudy skies it can cause bad sunburns, even on someone with brown skin. An aerosol, spray-on sunblock, Fresh Cooling Mist Sunblock SPF 30 is one of my favorite sunblocks. It’s lightweight and portable, waterproof and non-comedogenic.
Stepping off the plane yesterday was like stepping into a steam room. It was 88 degrees and humid outside, and today should be about the same. Knowing what to expect upon touchdown, I ducked into the bathroom on the plane shortly before landing to spray Fresh Cooling Mist Sunblock onto my arms and legs. The formula leaves a cooling sensation on my skin, which also helps to wake me up after a flight through different time zones.
While I often bring this sunblock with me on sightseeing trips, I won’t rely on it if I’ll be spending an entire day at the beach. I use it to supplement lotion sunblocks. If I were going to be out in the sun and water all day long I would go through a can of Fresh Cooling Mist in no time. It may be waterproof, but it doesn’t have the staying power that most lotion SPFs have. But when you’re stepping outside the door and want quick sun protection on your exposed parts in 10 seconds or less, you can’t go wrong with a small bottle of Fresh Cooling Mist.
Snag Neutrogena Fresh Cooling Sunblock SPF 30 at your favorite drugstore or find it online.
Neutrogena Fresh Cooling Body Mist Sunblock SPF 30
Price: $9
Use: For quick sun protection in a cooling spray
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A
From the airport yesterday I ended up at the legendary Duke’s restaurant in Waikiki, named after a giant of the surfing world, for a quick drink on the beach. Like everything in the Waikiki neighborhood of downtown Honolulu, Dukes caters to tourists. Be that as it may, they’ve got one hell of a view.
Some highlights of Duke Kahanamoku’s remarkable life 1890-1968
1890 Born in Honolulu on August 24 to Duke and Julia, full-blooded Hawaiians and descendants of royalty.
1912 Won 2 Olympic Medals in Stockholm — a Gold while setting the world record for the 100 meter freestyle and a Silver with the U.S. freestyle relay team.
1920 Won 2 more Gold Medals for Swimming in the Antwerp Olympics for the 100 meter freestyle and on the U.S. freestyle relay team. Recommended surfing as an Olympic event.
1922-30 Lived in Los Angeles and played parts in 28 Hollywood movies.
1925 Heroic board rescue of eight drowning men at Newport Beach, CA.
1929 Rode a monster wave for more than a mile at Waikiki beach (likely the longest ride in modern times).
1966 Inducted in the Surfing Hall of Fame, becoming the first person to be inducted into both the Swimming and Surfing Halls of Fame.
1968 Died in Honolulu on January 22, followed by a Waikiki Beachboy funeral.
I had to dip my feet in the water…
Most large cities showcase talented street performers, and Waikiki is no exception. I made friends with a Japanese drum group (I loved their outfits!) in town for the annual Pan-Pacific Festival, which celebrates the strong relationship between Hawaii and the Pan-Pacific region. Waikiki was vibrant with the sites and sounds of celebration — drums, dance, pageantry and parades. Thousands of musicians, artists and dancers from Pacific Rim countries will visit Oahu over the next few days to perform and showcase Pan-Pacific entertainment, music, traditions and food.
Happy Saturday, girls! We made it through another week. I hope your weekend got off to a good start. I’ll be in Crackberry contact throughout the day, on the lookout for beauty in the strangest places. Let me know how you’re doing in the comments.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Bridget says
June 7th, 2008 at 11:27 amGreat pictures!! Love that sunblock, too. The video is hilarious.hahah Sneaky waves!
Very jealous, it looks gorgeous out there. It’s in the upper 90’s today in New York. I hope this isn’t an indication of the summer to come.haha Wish our pool was open! 🙂
Bridgets last blog post..My Own Personal Forks.
Karen B says
June 7th, 2008 at 11:53 amThat video is priceless. That pink dress looks killer on you 🙂
I’ll look into that sunblock.
Karen Bs last blog post..Happy Birthday Lisa! ♥
Daya says
June 7th, 2008 at 12:46 pmI was just reading about that sunblock before getting on here! Glad to hear of the good reviews!
Thanks for posting Duke’s! Have you had your Lava Flow yet?? 🙂
vivien says
June 7th, 2008 at 1:04 pmOMG it looks soooooo pretty there, I’m quite jealous! You should make more videos! I’d love to see you do a makeup tutorial! I hope you have a great trip, bring me back a tan, please. Hehe!
Chitra says
June 7th, 2008 at 4:35 pmHi Karen,
Lovely post and reminds me of our holiday at Honolulu last year.
Cheers & Have loads of fun,
Glosslizard says
June 7th, 2008 at 5:12 pmWow. Just wow. I wanna be there too!!! I don’t know if there’s anything I love more than going somewhere and stumbling onto a festival of some sort! It’s so lively and… festive! 🙂
I just got back from visiting my grandparents in Palo Alto, a nice afternoon! The boys were beautifully behaved, and it was nice to see my grandma and granddaddy!
Hope you’re having as wonderful a time as it looks like you’re having! You’re definitely in my thoughts… I keep bugging Hubby about going to Hawaii! 😉
Rachel says
June 7th, 2008 at 7:45 pmDude, I was at Duke’s a couple months ago! Best 15 dollar virgin pina colada i’ve ever had. 🙂
Thanks for the tip about the sunscreen. I was gonna bring that very one on a huge backpacking trip, but now I guess I shall be taking a real, greasy, sunscreen lotion. *pout*
Rachels last blog post..shoes!
Diana says
June 7th, 2008 at 9:28 pmmmm beach… 🙂 thanks for the writeup on the Neutrogena Cooling Mist – I was looking into that for my upcoming trip to the beach (in addition to their Dry Touch sunblock)…I’ll definitely have to pick this up for going sightseeing around town!
your dress is such a lovely shade of pink on you! and your video was too funny
Dianas last blog post..Pardon the Haphazard Post Right Now
Lilan says
June 7th, 2008 at 10:34 pmHey Karen,
It looks like you’re having a fabulous time on your vacation so far! I’m totally diggin’ the sights; it’s absolutely gorgeous! I’ve never been to Hawaii, so I’m relying on you to be my tour guide. The pink dress is totally hot too!
Hope you’re having a fab time – I’m totally jealous, even in gorgeous SF weather this weekend 🙂
Karen says
June 8th, 2008 at 12:06 amHi Bridget,
Nice! I’ve only been to NY once, and it was during Thanksgiving and it was cold like I’d never felt before. I’d love to go there some day when the weather is warm. Hope you are staying cool, though!
Karen says
June 8th, 2008 at 12:06 amHi Karen B.,
LOL, yeah, that was sort of unexpected. The whole back part of my dress got soaked. 🙂 You’ll love that sunblock! I used it when I ran today in the afternoon. The cooling effect felt fab in the heat!
Karen says
June 8th, 2008 at 12:07 amHi Daya,
I think that the Lava Flow has vodka? Vodka and I have a very sketchy relationship, LOL.
Yes, this sunblock is fab. I carried it in my purse all day and the cooling felt so refreshing in the heat.:)
Karen says
June 8th, 2008 at 12:07 amHi Vivien,
Sure enough! I’ll bring you back a tan with enough to share with a few more people. 🙂
Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Karen says
June 8th, 2008 at 12:08 amHi Chitra,
Thank ya! How long were you on Oahu when you visited?
Karen says
June 8th, 2008 at 12:08 amHi Glosslizard,
You guys should totally go back, and then take the Imps to have surf lessons! Little surf babies are the best. 🙂
Sounds like you had a lovely afternoon with the family. You’re so lucky to have both your grandparents nearby.
Have a good night and talk to ya soon!
Karen says
June 8th, 2008 at 12:08 amHi Rachel,
Yeah, it’s a good sunscreen, but I’ve noticed it tends to go fast. If you do want to bring it with then take at least a few cans. The cooling sensation is to die for, though, when it’s hella hot out.
Where are you going backpacking?
Karen says
June 8th, 2008 at 12:08 amHi Diana,
Aw, thanks! Those sneaky waves!
I have Dry Touch, too, and I love it… especially for my neck. I can’t stand it when sunscreens leave that sticky neck feeling.
Hope you’re having a good weekend!
Karen says
June 8th, 2008 at 12:08 amHi Lilan,
Thanks! I went to Waikiki today for a parade and then hung out at the Elks Club with my fam. I’ll put up some pics in tomorrow. It’s only 9:00 here but I’m still jet lagged and on Hawaii time.
Karen B says
June 8th, 2008 at 12:11 amOoh sunblock with a cooling effect…. Is it sticky as a lotion? Or less so?
Karen Bs last blog post..We all float
Karen says
June 8th, 2008 at 12:23 amHi Karen B.,
It’s totally not sticky at all. That’s one really great thing about it.
Totally off topic, but I went for an amazing run this afternoon. It was kind of hard because of the humidity (the air felt really thick in my lungs and most of the run was uphill, which made it hard), but the views were beautiful. On the way up the hill I saw the Koolau Mountains (here are some pics) and on the way down I saw the ocean.
Glosslizard says
June 8th, 2008 at 8:22 amOMG, my boys would take to surfing like nobody’s business! I’d be creating an addiction!
It is really nice to have my family here (pretty much all my relatives are centrally located around the Bay Area), but sometimes I wish I had some relatives in some faraway places (like Britain or…. Hawaii!) so I’d have an excuse to visit! 🙂
Karen says
June 8th, 2008 at 10:28 amHi Glosslizard,
How cute would your two surfer babies be! AWWW! That’s it, I’ll just have to be cool Aunt Karen and take them out on their first surfing adventure.
Dao says
June 8th, 2008 at 10:36 amKamehameha sounds like something from Dragon Ball, my childhood cartoon 🙂 88 degrees plus humidity sounds like Florida in May, now we’re in the upper 90s so I really want those 80-something days back.
Now you make me want to take a dip in the cool water at our local Wakulla Spring. Have fun girl!
Karen B says
June 8th, 2008 at 12:35 pmOh great! That looks a-ma-zing! I’d love to go for a run with THAT kind of views.
My mum always says that if you can run in humid warm air, you can run anywhere. And she’s right of course 😉
Karen Bs last blog post..We all float
Glosslizard says
June 8th, 2008 at 6:54 pmHa! I’m all for it! I’ll come and learn to surf too! 🙂
Karen says
June 8th, 2008 at 10:45 pmHi Dao,
Oh boy, upper 90s and humid? Just thinking about that makes me feel sweaty. I bet my hair would frizz like crazy if I left it to it’s own devices in that weather, LOL.
BTW, my childhood cartoon was Jem and the Holograms!
A dip in the local spring sounds refreshing. I wish I could come! I’d bring the snacks and the sunscreen. 🙂
Karen says
June 8th, 2008 at 10:46 pmHi Karen B.,
Your mom is a wise sage. I hope that running in the humidity makes me a bit stronger when I get back home. I didn’t run today though… spend the day at the beach swimming.
How was your day?
Karen says
June 8th, 2008 at 10:48 pmHi Glosslizard,
That would be too cool. One of my goals in life is to be a surfer mommy! It’s kinda hard to do in the cold NorCal water, though (*brrr*)!
Chitra says
June 8th, 2008 at 11:35 pmHi Karen,
We were there for one week. My brother used to work in Honolulu (he has moved to LA now). Truly a paradise on earth.
Have loads of fun
Chitra
Karen B says
June 9th, 2008 at 3:01 amSwimming makes you stronger as well 😉
My mum is amazing. My ex-boyfriend dubbed her super-mum! Lol.
Karen Bs last blog post..We all float
Glosslizard says
June 9th, 2008 at 7:41 amYes, I’ll limit my water exposure at the expense of my surfing skills! I’d like to be the “periodically attempts to surf mom” rather than “hypothermic mom”! 😉
Elle says
June 9th, 2008 at 7:49 amAwesome pictures! Makes me wish I was there and not here in rainy Chicago. I also love that sunblock…just got another bottle at Target yesterday. 🙂 Your pictures at Duke’s also made me think of my trip to Cali last month–we went to the one at Huntington Beach. Enjoy the rest of your trip!
Megan says
June 9th, 2008 at 11:01 amThose pictures make me jealous for sure!!! One of my friends swears by this sunscreen, but to me it runs out too fast…you only get a few good uses out of the bottle and it’s gone. 🙁
Karen says
June 10th, 2008 at 8:04 pmHi Chitra,
Oh, lucky him! It’s not a bad place to live and work. 🙂 I guess now that he’s in LA you’ll have to visit him there. I have a lil’ brother — I would love for him to move out here so I could have the excuse to go and see him. 🙂
Hope you’re having a good week!
Karen says
June 10th, 2008 at 8:04 pmHi Karen B.,
That’s so true! I used to swim a few times a week and I definitely noticed a difference in my cardio strength.
Your mum sounds like she’s in amazing shape! I want to work out with her and have her give me some tough love!
Karen says
June 10th, 2008 at 8:05 pmHi Glosslizard,
Okay! Nobody wants to be hypothermic mom. 🙂 That’s it, you’ll just have to come out here to make the transformation to surfing mom and boys complete!
Karen says
June 10th, 2008 at 8:05 pmHi Elle,
Thanks! So I’ve never been to Chicago! When is the best time to visit your town?
Karen says
June 10th, 2008 at 8:05 pmHi Megan,
Yeah, it goes by quick if that’s the only sunscreen in your SPF arsenal. Having it around for touchups is very handy, though!
Glosslizard says
June 10th, 2008 at 9:33 pmIn my dreams, I’m already there!