Q. The summer humidity is wreaking havoc on my curly hair! Any suggestions for keeping the frizz under control? I feel like I've tried everything!
A.Summer is such a fun season, don't you agree? Lazy afternoons by the pool, beach or lake. Fun nights with friends barbecuing and sipping fruity cocktails, good times right? Everything's peachy, couldn't be better until... humidity and intense sun rear their ugly and equally evil heads. My color gets zapped and fades into oblivion days ahead of when it should, leaving strands of gray poking out everywhere and the volume normally visible in my tresses goes limp because I counter the humidity with so much hair products that my scalp short circuits and can't process another ounce of smoothing serum or volumizing spray and conditioner. It's a B.H.D. (Bad Hair Day) but it doesn't end up being just one day...it ends up being most of July straight through to Labor Day, and baseball caps become more then just a sporty, hip accessory, rather they become an extension of my head.
So, I've temporarily turned into Nancy Drew super sleuth and I'm on the hunt for a new crop of products, the best and brightest that hair care has to offer that will turn this hamster wheel around for all of us! One easy D.I.Y. replenishing treatment I experimented with last night was mixing 2 tablespoons of mayo with 10 drops of your favorite essential oil (mine is orange), placing a shower cap over my hair and leaving it on mask-style for 15 minutes. The oils and egg in the mayo are the elements that go in and recondition dry, frizzy hair. And I must admit for the pennies it costs, the results I'm being left with today are positive and my hair is shinier than it's been in weeks. So this effort is getting my thumbs-up seal of approval.
However, for all the beauty junkies who prefer to stay out of the kitchen and head straight to the drugstore, take a peek at the spread below for a crop of products that promise to support you and your tresses through the duration of the dog days of summer. Cool thing is, the emotional high you receive from healthy looking hair comes at no extra charge and that, as the credit card commercial on TV will tell you, is PRICELESS!
Stacy's Summer Hair RX
Problem: Dry, Frizzy & Color Faded Tresses
1. COLOR RX = Clairol Nice & Easy Color Blend Foam. This is the first home color system I've been successful with because the foam means no mess and no dripping so I can multi-task around the house while it goes to work on my sun faded color. I tried "Medium Brown" and it put some pop back in my locks!
2. BUILDUP RX = Nioxin which I always thought was geared for hair thinning, shedding and breakage (which it is) created a new 3 step system for 6 different problematic hair categories focused on replenishing your scalp so you don't need to use as much product to create the volume in the first place.
3. QUICK FIX RX = Alterna Summer Hair After Sun Hair Quench is a hydrating gel mask enriched with antioxidants to protect from environmental damage while enhancing shine and vibrancy.
4. TOOL RX = I've been using the Goody Styling Therapy Copper Paddle Brush and the Paves Tourmaline Cermramic Styling Iron since April and have become big fans of both for controlling frizz and leaving my hair sleek and smooth. The brush literally feels like a scalp massage.
5. EMERGENCY RX = No time, in a rush...opt for either a simple chic bun or grab a stylish fedora and hit the ground running!
image: hotbeautyhealth.com
