Like your passion for red wine, sunsets, and Netflix binges, loving the beach is not a unique quality that defines you as an individual but rather almost a given as part of being a human in this world — not necessarily something you need to write in your Instagram bio, if you know what I mean. People love the beach; dogs do, too. It’s the most lovable thing in the world. That’s why people pay premiums to live on the ocean, or even just to look at it roaring below from the relative safety of the window of their 25th-floor beachfront condo. It’s beautiful! It’s majestic!
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And I’m the one who should have to come right out and say it, to put it in writing as full disclosure for all the world to see and judge, harshly: The beach, in my opinion, is fine. I like the smell of it, the seashells, the sounds, and the part where the water meets the shore and you can actually walk comfortably without getting shinsplints from hell, but I do not like sitting in sand for long periods of time and I certainly do not like to swim, two activities that are hallmarks of #beachlife.
My favorite thing about the beach, the one that makes me most wish I actually liked being there, is the idea of beachy hair. Sexy, tousled, windswept waves, like a mermaid who came upon hard times and decided to try something new and make her way to land — you know, live where the people are. So how does a person get some semblance of beachy hair when they barely tolerate the beach, and also it's mid-January and you live in New York City and you dread even washing your hair because you know how cold it'll be once you get out of the scalding-hot shower? As of today, that'll be easy: with Sailor by Captain Blankenship's Sea Salt Refresh Spray, now available in Target stores and online, along with the rest of the retailer-exclusive collection.
The fundamental difference between this sea-salt spray and other sea-salt sprays that makes this sea-salt spray worth trying is that this one also doubles as a dry shampoo. It doesn't coat hair or leave it sticky; in fact, it does quite the opposite, absorbing oil at the roots with a strong dose of Dead Sea salt and refreshing my frazzled third-day lengths and ends with witch hazel, chamomile, and aloe vera, to soft, wavy, well-formed result. The bright herbal blend of lemongrass, pine, and rosemary also smells like a crisp breeze coming off a particularly fragrant sea, without the subtle base note of dead horseshoe crab sitting out in the sun that you'd get at the real (yeah, real gross) beach.
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At $14.99, it's also a lot more affordable than a first-class flight to some faraway island where the water is bright blue and crystal clear and the sand is white with grains so fine they won't even scratch your skin and there's a margarita in your hand (with salt on the rim) and a lounge chair to lounge on — which, in my opinion, is really the only way to enjoy the beach.
Sailor by Captain Blankenship Sea Salt Refresh Spray, $14.99, available at Target starting January 21.