If you’re anything like me, spending more than fifteen minutes in a humid bathroom is just short of torture on an August day when outside temps are reaching up into the high 90’s. If fact, my poor blow dryer hardly gets any attention during the months of say, May through August. (I’ll admit, I did find a coating of dust on it last time I picked it up. *cough* *cough*)
You’re probably thinking, “She must be one of those lucky girls who have naturally silky, straight hair. Gag.” Wrong! So very wrong! My hair has never been particularly thick or thin, curly or straight. It’s just plain Jane, middle-of-the-road wavy. I’ve accepted that texture and, for the last few years, I’ve been working with what I’ve got.
In the summer, I try to let my hair air dry as much as possible. I’ve noticed that doing so has made my hair feel and look much healthier, especially if I’m going lighter in color during the warmer months.
After washing with a salon-quality shampoo and conditioner - I’ve found a lot of success with the Redken products - I lightly coat my hair with an Argan oil serum and finger comb a bit of mousse through the ends.
I’m a huge fan of Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Curl Boosting Mousse ; you really can’t go wrong with this drugstore find, as it retails under $4. I scrunch the ends of my hair (VERY gently) with a towel two or three times, and then - this is key - do NOT touch until dry. Once dry, I throw a few curls in with a large-barreled curling iron, spritz with Bumble and bumble Surf Spray, and I’m good to go. It’s a great tousled, wavy look.
Another dilemma: I’m so hard on my nails in the summer. Whether I’m at the beach or just in open-toed shoes, it seems like my manicures and pedicures last only a few days, if that! Also given the fact that I can never seem to keep my hands out of use while my nails are drying, great nails were totally lost on me.
I’ve found the Sephora by OPI gelshine At-Home Gel Colour System to be a Godsend. Granted, the process of basecoat, cure, color, cure, color, cure, topcoat, cure will take you a bit of time, but the manicure was instantly hard as nails (pun intended) and lasted almost a solid two weeks on my hands and nearly three weeks on my toes. If you make sure you follow all of the steps completely (including the prep steps), you should have great success with this product too.
These are just a few of my favorite summer beauty products. Do you have any that you can’t live without in these sultry months?