What to Pack for a Texas Hill Country Swimming Hole (+ Where to Go)
Everything you actually need for a Texas Hill Country swimming-hole day — water shoes, a dry bag, a cooler, and the gear that keeps a river day perfect.
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The Best Self-Tanner for Pale Skin: A No-Orange Guide
The best self tanner for pale skin, no orange: a tested guide to cool-toned formulas, how to apply self tanner without streaks, and what actually works on fair skin.
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The Texas Hill Country Bucket List (From a Local)
I live in the Hill Country, and every summer I am reminded that people fly across the world for what is in my backyard. Spring-fed rivers, peach stands, lavender fields, dance halls, some of the best food in Texas. Here is the list I actually run people through when they ask what to do —…
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How to Even Out Tan Lines (Without Baking in More Sun)
Tan lines are the one souvenir from summer nobody wants. And the instinct — go back out and “tan them away” — is exactly how you make it worse. All that does is deepen the skin that is already dark and burn it, while the pale strips barely move. Fair skin like mine just turns…
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Sweat-Proof Makeup: You Really Just Need One Good Setting Spray
Every summer the internet sells you a twelve-step “sweat-proof makeup” routine — special primer, special foundation, special powder, special everything. I have tried the long version. Here is the honest truth: in Texas humidity, the thing that actually keeps your makeup on your face is one good setting spray. That is basically the whole secret….
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The Best Sunscreen for Pale Skin That Burns Easily
If you’re pale, you know the difference between “a little fair” and the kind that goes pink in about twenty minutes of Texas sun. So sunscreen is not optional for me, it is the entire plan. I fake my tan instead (more on that in my sun-soaked glow post), which means I never feel like…
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Where to Eat in Fredericksburg, TX: A Local’s Honest List
Fredericksburg is maybe forty minutes from me, and it has quietly turned into one of the best food towns in Texas. I am there constantly, still working through the new places, but these are the ones I actually send people to. A quick honest note before the list: I am picky, I am always trying…
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How to Get a Sun-Soaked Glow Without Wrecking Your Skin
I love a tan. I do not love what the sun does to my skin in a Texas summer. So a few years ago I stopped chasing the real thing and started faking it — and honestly, the fake version looks better and lasts longer. Here is the whole routine I use to look sun-soaked…
