A week of sun, salt water and heat will break a routine that works fine at home, so this edit follows one Caribbean day in order. It starts on the plane. A few passes of OUAI's St. Barts mist over hair and skin is the fastest way to stop feeling like you have been sitting in a metal tube for hours. Cabin air is dry, so a rich cream like Kiehl's Ultra Facial or Tatcha's Dewy Skin mini goes on before you board, and the Tatcha mist makes you presentable again before landing.

Beach makeup should be close to nothing. Merit's tinted mineral sunscreen evens out skin while it protects, and a waterproof mascara like YSL's Lash Clash survives a swim. OUAI's leave-in goes on wet hair straight out of the ocean. The Goop Beauty body oil is for the walk back up to the room, when skin has had a lot of sun and wants something rich. If you plan to blow-dry before dinner, Moroccanoil's heat protectant goes on first, and the NARS bronzer and Bobbi Brown highlighter can wait for evening.

None of this is optional, however good the tan looks. Supergoop's Unseen is the face sunscreen that changes minds, clear and weightless with no white cast, and Glowscreen does the same job with a tint and a bit of glow. PLAY is the everyday body lotion, and the Glow Oil is the version for people who hate the feel of lotion on their legs. Reapply after every swim, and a little more often than feels necessary.

There are usually twenty minutes between the beach and the table, so dinner makeup has to be quick. NARS's concealer evens out what the sun did not, and Orgasm blush looks like color you got outside. Rare Beauty's bronzer and Hourglass's liquid highlighter warm things up without looking heavy in low light. A cream shadow stick, one coat of mascara and MAC's sheer, shiny lipstick finish it, and a spray of Maison Margiela's Beach Walk keeps the whole day going a little longer.

A Caribbean trip comes down to a few products that can take sun, salt and heat without complaint. Everything else is nice to have. If you take one thing away, pack a water-resistant sunscreen for face and body, a leave-in conditioner for what the ocean does to your hair, and one bronzer that carries you from the beach straight to dinner.