You’re like, OMG Kara, what IS that? It looks like some weird granola bar, but it’s not. It’s soap. African Black Soap to be exact, and it is the greatest skincare discovery in the history of my life. The soap, which I purchased via Amazon and paid about $15 for a huge pound of, has changed my skin. I’m not kidding. I use it day and night (occasionally with the Clarisonic) and wake up glowing. I have terrible skin, but the African Black Soap is turning it around like an angel from heaven. Essential.

In addition, I started using Mario Badescu’s Cucumber Cleansing Lotion (which is actually a toner) post-soap up. This, too, has made a difference in my skin tone, texture and clarity. My face feels clean without feeling tight, dry or flaky.

Another summertime skincare favorite is a good detox mask, and I found one I quite liked in the EmerginC Skincare’s Phytocell Detox Mask. I don’t always care about my products being paraben-free, all-natural, etc., but EmerginC strives to be as natural as possible. After just one use, my skin was brighter, more radiant and a lot softer. (TheirKombucha Cleanser was pretty legit as well.)

Of course, I AM a tanning fanatic. I’m sorry, I can’t help it. I love to bake in the sun and I know it’s bad for me, but nothing makes me feel as good as bronze skin. Don’t lecture. The greatest tanning aid, and I’ve tried a lot of them, is this:

Maui Babe Browning Lotion, available at Ulta for about $12 a bottle. My aunt in Arizona used to use it to speed up the tanning process and got the rest of us hooked on it too. If you want to get real tan real fast, look no further than Maui Babe, a concoction of mineral oil, vitamins, coffee and some other magical ingredients. If you’re a tanning beginner, I’d advise you to wear sunscreen underneath it because it works like lightning. I don’t lay out without it.