My Main Essentials For A Hot & Sunny Day Out

I am absolutely not the kind of person who would stroll out under the hot, sharp ray of the afternoon sun on an almost cloudless day, but that's exactly what I did last month. Like the cool geeks that Shah and I are (hew hew) we went to check out the gathering of Beetle cars in Malaysia and their owners, to commemorate the "end of an era" of when Volkswagen is no longer producing the iconic Beetle, starting from this year.

But the fact that we would have to be there by 2pm to participate in the festivities got me going back and forth between "HECK no, sunburn much?" and "But I really REALLY want to see those old-school Beetles!".  Eventually, as someone whose dream car is an old-school classic Beetle, the latter won.

(PS: I never did manage to convince my husband to recondition a super old Beetle for me, ah well.)

I came facing the hot, HOT afternoon as prepared as I could though, with the help of these top sunny essentials:

1. Straw Hat

One annoying thing about wearing the hijab: the tan line formed from your hijab line — ugh, not as cute as a bikini tan line at all, OK?

I experienced my first forehead tan line when I was living in Europe and I had to learn how to prevent it fast, and what I learned fast (and easy): straw hats are the best way to go. Also, the wider the better! My favourite straw hat ever was my "Venice" one (see end of post) but sadly, it has seen better days.

2. Sunglasses

Aside from making us look cooler than we really are, sunglasses serve to protect your eyes from sun damage, as well as preventing any frustrating headache that is occasionally induced from the sun's glare.

3. Sunscreen

You've got to shield your skin from those dang UVA and UVB rays, gurl! My go-to sunscreen currently is Eucerin's ProACNE Solution Day Mat Whitening, which works well on my acne-prone oily skin.

4. Full-on Face Makeup

Putting a full-on foundation on my face actually offers another layer of protection that prevents my skin from getting further tanned, thus almost eliminating that pesky hijab tan line! It helps to concentrate the foundation on the highest points of my face that get tanned or even sunburned the fastest, which are my forehead and nose.

5. Breezy flowy thin maxi dress

Forget about them jeans! I do like palazzo pants and wide culottes for a hot day out but nothing beats the breeze a maxi dress gives a hijabi, amirite?
Bonus: A cooling white or lighter-hued dress would have been much better if you own one.

•     •     •     •     •     •     •

Chunky platform sneakers on a sunny afternoon out are not one of my recommendations, but these incredibly cute platform sneakers are my latest shoe addition that I am utterly so obsessed with to the point I was absolutely willing to forgo my usual cooler mules.


But don't worry, they're actually misleadingly comfy and were seriously not at all as heaty as you'd expect. Would I re-wear this out in the hot afternoon again? Um, yes, I totally would — but feel free to stick to your options of footwear, ladies!

What are your tips and essentials for a hot sunny day out?

Wearing: H&M floral ruffle dress  |  Zara platform sneakers  |  Zara backpack  |  Zalora sunglasses

Click on each image to see the previous times I wore a straw hat on other super sunny and hot days out: