hair, nails, summer, summer time

Summer Beauty Swaps

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This a post from last summer (as you’ll quickly surmise when you see my stomach ;) But I wanted to bring it to you again because all of these products are still relevant, and will help make your summer beauty routine a lot easier. Enjoy!

Now that it is consistently hotter than a cole miners arm pit outside, it’s a good time to summer-ize our beauty routine.

This time of year we need protection from the sun, tools to combat humidity, and products that will help us not feel like we want to melt into the concrete.

If you didn’t get a chance to watch yesterday’s segment, just press play!

Here is a list of all the products I talked about…

Aveeno body lotion with SPF: If you’re not already applying lotion everyday/every time you get out of the shower, you should be! Add this to your routine and you’ll not only get moisturized, but you’ll also get protection from the sun!

Pond’s BB Cream: One thing I forgot to mention on the show, is this only comes in two shades. I picked up the medium to go with my tan, and it seems to blend in well. It does come out a lot darker then what it ends up looking like on your face, so don’t get freaked out.

Maybelline Color Show in Pink Embrace: light pastel colors are great for your manicure if you don’t want to touch it up a lot. These lighter colors won’t show nicks and chips as badly.

Urban Decay Makeup Setting Spray: I don’t know why my face starts to feel gross by 3pm, but I do know how to fix it – this makeup setting spray does the trick every time. Spray it on your face after doing your makeup to keep it in place, then do what I do and use it as an afternoon refresher.

Sea Salt Spray by Organix: Get that soft beach-babe look in your hair without all the driving and that sand thing, with this great sea salt spray. It smells fantastic and will give your hair some texture to make it easier to put up.

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Beauty, beauty products, hair, hair spray, Videos, wbir

Where to Save and Splurge with Hair Products

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I was going to start this by saying I could REALLY blow a budget when it comes to hair products, but then I thought about it for a second and realized, I could easily blow a lot of money on just about anything I put on my body…just ask my husband ;)

But just as there are ways to save and splurge with beauty products, there are strategic ways to spend when it comes to how you do your hair.

hair products, beauty blog, knoxville beauty blogger, straightener, hair dryer, hair spray, heat protectant spray, mousse, brush

Hair tools: Splurge

Because these are things you use on a regular basis and because they really play a big role in the health of your strands, it’s important to spend a little bit more to get quality hair tools.

A straightener especially can make a difference. The higher quality tools (like Chi) will have things in place to protect your hair (like real ceramic) and a way for you to see the temperature. You may think that’s just a luxury to see how hot your tool is, but it can be the difference from you frying off strands because you can see how hot you’ve gotten it.

A blow dryer is another good example. The good ones are high powered which means you spend less time underneath them = less chance of you doing any more heat damage to your hair.

And while this might be a surprise to you, a hair brush is another great tool to spend a little bit more on. This brush acts just like a straightener leaving your strands super soft and frizz free.

Let me point out, investing in great hair tools is money well spent because they’re going to last a long time and really make the investment worth it in the long run – especially in the life of your hair!

Speaking of saving…. Since you’ve bought some expensive tools, let’s save when it comes to certain hair products. Not all products are worth skimping on but these three are…

Hair products: Save {on certain ones}

Hair Spray – if you want to read all my thoughts on this spray, you can do so here. It works great, doesn’t leave your hair sticky and truly holds your style.

Heat Protectant spray – again, for a full review click here. I love the way it sprays and that it really coats my hair which is important with something that’s protecting your strands.

Mousse – honestly, Sauve is a favorite of mine. My biggest requirement for a mousse is to not leave my hair crunchy. I want it to control frizz and let my natural wave do its thaang. I’ve not tried a ton of expensive versions, but I have gone through all the drugstore possibilities and this one always comes out on top.

Now Sephora and Ulta are filled to the brim with hair products we can all easily splurge on, and I’m not saying never do that. But you can cut some corners with these three products which will allow you to spend a little more on others.

I hope this helps! It’s always good to have the peace of mind that you’re putting your money in the right place!

Watch yesterday’s segment to see where to save/splurge on beauty products!

 

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Beauty, hair

How to Wash Your Hair Less Often

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hair, beauty, beauty blog, knoxville beauty blog, hair wash, how to wash your hair less often

If you’re jealous when I say I only wash my hair once a week, I’ve got good news for you…it’s possible for you to get to that point as well.

It doesn’t matter how much hair you have on your head, once a week washes can be yours too!

I’ll get to the bad news about it in a minute. First, let me explain the science behind it…

You know how with your face if you scrub it too much, you start to break out? That’s because you’re disrupting the natural oil your skin produces, and when you scrub it off all the time, it signals to your body to make more and more and more and pretty soon you’ve got zits (yippee). The same is true for your scalp.

The more you scrub off that natural oil your scalp produces, the more it will make. So when you thought to yourself at the beginning of this post, “She’s so wrong, I HAVE to wash my hair everyday or it will get too greasy, but I’m going to keep reading any way because she’s such an engaging writer.”

You’re right, I am an engaging writer. Also, you’re right about your scalp ;) You do have to wash your hair everyday, because you are. If you were to stop, your scalp would quit over-producing oil and you could live the life of luxury in the mornings.

Here’s the bad news…the adjustment period is a little tricky. It would take your scalp about 2-3 weeks to balance out and quit producing excess oil. Which means you’d have to do a lot of buns/hats/ponytails/accessories on your head while your hair got used to your new routine. I would suggest trying this in the middle of summer when it feels good to have your hair up anyway.

Think about how great it would be to only wash your hair once a week. I can tell you, it’s like living in a dream ;)

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Beauty, hair, hair spray

A Hair Product That Works in the Real World

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hair protective spray, tresemme, hair product review, drug store product review, drug store brand hair product, hair product, beauty blog, product review

A lot of television and movies require a willingness to check reality at the door. Actually, so do most reality shows.

Other things that make that list? Video hair tutorials where you’re shown how to create the “perfect wave” or an “easy up-do” using drugstore brand tools. These types of videos mesmerize me.  I’m such a sucker for them because I think that since they’re using drugstore brands, I can totally achieve the same look! Wrong.

For one thing, the hair styles are being created by professionals. It’s never the model doing her own hair in a messy bathroom, 15 minutes before she’s supposed to walk out the door. Video tape THAT.

Another thing…there always seems to be strategic edits to the video which completely glamorizes the actual time it would take to try that hair style. Oh, the video was only 4 minutes? That must be how long it takes to achieve the perfect side-swept bun! Wrong.

But they make those videos for suckers like me, who still go out and try the product any way. Which is what lead me to picking up this TRESemme Heat Protective Spray a couple weeks ago.

You should be using some kind of heat protective on your hair, even if all you do is use a hair dryer. It’s good to have an extra layer between all of that heat and your hair. This spray is nice for a number of reasons…

First, it sprays out a fine, wide mist of product. Let me get a “What What” for those of you that understand the spraying mechanism can really make or break a product. I hate it when it sprays a straight concentrated stream into one part of my hair, soaking it and then drying into one crunchy chunk. This spray completely avoids that and really allows you to cover a great amount of hair and also doesn’t soak it down.

Second, it smells fantastic. Another big pet peeve of mine is smelly hair products. It takes a lot of effort for me to wake up early, wash my hair and then dry it, I don’t want all of that hard work to come to get flushed down the drain because what I’m spraying on my hair smells like dusty funeral parlor. TRESemme heat protective spray smells clean and fresh. In fact I would consider spraying it in my hair everyday just to give it a smell-boost.

I’ve also noticed my hair is a little shinier since using this spray. And it gives me peace of mind when I go straight from the hair dryer to the curling iron.

All of which, adds up to the fact that I don’t have to check reality at my bathroom door – I actually walk away with hair I’m happy with.

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