Inside My Beach Bag ft. Chrissie Manby, Emma Hannigan, Sarah Maine and Gill Paul

Continuing the Bookends Beach Party – we’re letting you take another peek into our authors beach bags!

Chrissie Manby, author of The Worst Case Scenario Kitchen 

Books, of course! Also, my foldable Ray-Bans.  They’re the only pair of sunglasses I haven’t wrecked in a single season. I’ve had them five years and counting now.

Inevitably, my beach bag also contains my laptop. My partner’s availability to take holidays always seems to coincide with my deadlines!

Emma Hannigan, author of The Wedding Promise

As I’m so pale I naturally have a slightly blue tinge to my skin. I haven’t ventured near a beach in a decade without having applied fake tan first. But underneath this sun-kissed glow hides my fair (pasty) skin. So number one on my priority list must be sun protection factor. I always use P20 as a base and bring along a spray of factor 50 cream to top up – especially for areas like shoulders that burn easily. Tesco’s own brand sprays are excellent and have won copious awards and aren’t expensive.

I suffer with cold sores (I’m not really selling myself here am I?) so lip balm with a high factor is a must. Currently I’m loving Guinot Baume Protecteur (£20 seems pricey but lasts SO long) and has SPF 20.

Frozen water! Pop your bottle of water in the freezer the night before, as it melts in the heat you have super cool water!

A hat/baseball cap. As a trained beauty therapist I’m a skin nerd. I never allow the sun on my face. It only causes damage which equals wrinkles or worse, skin cancer. Makeup or tinted moisturiser will give that glow minus the damage or danger.

A book! Needless to say I’m always reading so I don’t leave home without a book. If I’m travelling I use an e-reader to save on weight but where possible I prefer the feel and smell of a new book!

My sunglasses are my friend for most of the year but when I’m at the beach I seem to get utterly blinded without them. As I’ve matured (that’s a much nicer way of alluding to the fact that I’m getting old!) I find cheapy ones useless. I’d rather invest in a decent pair and look after them. That’s horribly sensible, but my latest ones are leopard print to ensure I’m not too sane looking.

Lastly, I’ll have lots of music loaded onto my phone. There’s nothing quite like lying back and listening to pumping music in the sunshine. As long as I remember not to sing out loud, nobody needs to suffer!

Sarah Maine, author of Beyond the Wild River

I’m not very good at sitting on a beach, unless it is an empty one with big open views and then the contents include a book, a sketch book, a camera, binoculars, and a bag to collect all the astonishing  things which turn up on the high tide line.

Gill Paul, author of Another Woman’s Husband

There are grains of sand from several beaches all mingled together, because I’ve used the same bag for years. There’s a piece of green seaglass and a stone that had beautiful coloured stripes when it lay in a rock pool but now looks rather ordinary. There’s an ink stain on the lining of the bag where I had a Biro explosion. And I will take with me: a notebook, a clutch of pens, sun block, my multi-coloured towel with ice cream cones on it; a bottle of water; and a paperback with pages warped by sea water. Can’t wait!

Want to delve into some more beach bags? Read more…

Inside My Beach Bag ft. Jo Thomas, Emily Giffin, Katie Marsh and Ruth Hogan

Inside my Beach Bag ft. Guinevere Glasfurd, Elin Hilderbrand, Kathryn Flett and Daniela Sacerdoti

Photo by cellier S on Unsplash