In the winter, beauty consists of jewel-toned scarves, bundling them around our necks to set off the pale, snow white glory of our winter skin. Our hair is heavier somehow, and styled when we can be bothered. We declare Christmas Season to begin in early October because it means baked goods and oven smells and putting liquor into eggnog. We don’t care if our skin is pale and creamy and carrying a little extra cookie padding, because it’s hidden under warm, squashy, cozy winter clothes. Winter is the season of cuddling.
Summer, though, is a very different beast indeed. In summer, we’re out reveling in the sun. We soak up all the vitamin D that we can, entire meals are made from garden-fresh veggies, refreshing cocktails are sipped on patios, and everything feels…well…golden and shimmery. Summer beauty is all about playing up that golden shimmer, and protecting yourself from the damage of the sun while still taking time to enjoy the warmth and look like a bronze beach goddess with shiny mermaid hair. Thanks to the combined miracles of science, nature, and…let’s be real…women’s ingenuity, there’s a great product for almost every summer beauty challenge!
Challenge #1: You have dry, damaged hair that’s already taken a beating from these first days at the pool
Hair feeling dead? Try this defibrillator in a bottle.
Solution: If you’re already feeling the damage from the early sun rays, a repairing shampoo, conditioner, and leave-in conditioner will get your hair feeling like new again. We recommend Matrix Total Results “Repair” shampoo, conditioner, and “Break Fix” leave-in elixer. The promise is to leave hair “Reconstructed, Super Strong, Resilient, and Lustrous,” and after using them once on my own hair, I am a believer.
*Bonus: If you’ve had a baby, you may notice the “fuzz” that happens when half of your hair falls out post-partum, and then starts to grow back and stick out through your other hairs. This product tames that in a seemingly miraculous way. You can hardly tell that I almost went bald after baby just a year ago!
Challenge #2: Your hair is soft, supple, and streaked with expensive highlights, but you’ve got big beach plans and want to protect those luscious tresses without running around in a sombrero all summer.
Don't hide your light under a giant hat this summer. Use your invisible force field!
Solution: If you and your stylist have toiled to make sure that your hair has the exact ratio of honey to caramel highlights, and the cost for this perfection is close to the GDP of a small European nation, you need to protect that investment! Biolage Color Care line is a must in your overnight beach bag. The UV and Orchid complex protects color from damaging sun, heat, dryness, and chlorine, and the accompanying Shine Shake and Color Bloom Mask are designed specifically to boost those highlights and protect from UV damage. Think of it like sunscreen for your hair, only instead of smelling like zinc and artificial coconut, it smells clean, feminine, and fresh.
*Bonus: The detangling effect is so wondrous that you can get directly out of the shower, towel dry your hair, and walk to the beach. No styling or rough combing necessary.
Challenge #3: You want that summer glow, but right now your legs are so pale that they glow in the dark.
A brisk wipe with a wet towelette is the key to an even tan. Who knew??
Solution: You don’t have to submit yourself to wrinkles, sun spots, skin that looks like turkey jerky, or cancerous moles to be bronzed and beautiful this summer. If, when you think of self-tanner, you’re thinking of the orange, oompa loompa look of the cast of the Jersey Shore, I’ve got great news for you! Welcome to the future! Kate Somerville, the self-tanner to the stars, is responsible for the natural-looking, sexy skin tone of stars like Lauren Conrad and Molly Sims. Her Tanning Towelettes look and feel just like the cleanup towelettes that come with great BBQ, but these are soaked in a fantastic tanning solution. Just wipe down your body, wait a couple of hours, and BAM. You are giving new meaning to the term “Golden Girls.”
*Bonus: If spray tanning and tanning creams create a tattle-tale cloud of stink around you, you’ll be pleased to know that Kate Somerville Tanning Towelettes smell great and the smell evaporates quickly. Oh how she glows, and nobody knows.
Even bronze babes need a little coverage now and again
Solution: Summer is all about light makeup and letting your natural self shine through. Summer is ALSO all about wearing sunscreen every moment of every day. Philosophy has perfected this combination with The Supernatural. This tinted, SPF 15 facial primer leaves your skin protected, natural and flawless all at once. Your skin deserves the best of the best if you want to stay young-looking and vibrant for years to come. Protect it and polish it and it will thank you later.
Hit me with your best shot, ozone hole! I'm protected from head to toe.
I’m very interested in those tanning towelettes. I do not tan. As in, even at my darkest, I’m lily white. I use Jergens Natural Glow, and I like it, but the smell just does NOT go away!! Even after two showers, I can smell it.
My summer beauty tip is my year round beauty tip. Drink a lot of water.
I love this!
I use a mosturizer with SPF – important all year, but especially in the summer. And when I know it’s going to be hot and icky in the morning, I put it in the fridge overnight for a nice cold pick-me-up
love bronzer in the summertime!
We all forget our lips! I make sure to keep a balm containing SPF on my lips to make sure they don’t get burned because they can and it stings!
I love summer! I hate the way sunscreen makes my skin feel, so I’d love to try the one you mentioned.
My summer tip is whenever possible- wear a hat!
My favorite moisturizer to use on my legs in the summer is either olive oil or coconut oil. It leaves my legs soft and has a nice subtle sheen that makes my legs looking great.
I use St Ives Apricot scrub to exfoliate my legs before shaving. It helps make the shave last longer and my legs are free of ingrown hairs.
Hrm…I think my best summer tip is to never, ever leave off the sunscreen. It’s just not worth it.
I love Origins for a tinted moisturizer, but I would try Philosophy.
I really don’t have a summer beauty tip, that is why I just read all of yours.
I like the light makeup in the summer tip, I try to keep my makeup as neutral as possible.
Sunscreen & body moisturizer. I hate it when my legs are scaly looking in the summer so I make that a priority.
Sunscreen sunscreen sunscreen!! I’m fair-skinned as are my two red-headed sons so we lather up constantly!
My summer beauty tip is to add a clear coat of polish to your pedicured toes each day to keep the color lasting longer and to keep it from chipping.
I am definitely going to be trying out Matrix repair set – much needed for my poor, poor summer hair.
Definitely giving the clear polish a try. My last pedicure chipped after one day at the beach!
I use the Jergen’s Natural Glow too – it does smell a little bit, but not as much as other sunless tanners, so it doesn’t bother me too much. I only use it on my legs, as they are lily white, but my arms tend to get a little color as they are exposed more often.
My big tip is…when you are applying the Jergens (or any other tanning cream) to your legs, put it on below the knee first, and then your thighs…that way you don’t end up getting the lotion on your shirt (or your boobs), which always happens to me when I would do my thighs first. It is…sort of embarrassing that it took me a while to figure this solution out.
I use the same tanner, I’ve tried both the light to medium and the medium to dark. Love the way it turns out, but I really think it has to be done two or three times to come out looking right. Also, make sure to exfoliate and shave first!
Oh yes – exfoliation is key! I use apricot scrub on my ankles before I use the lotion, as that is one spot that always gets a little splotchy. Generally, my loofa-type scrubber-thingy that I use with body wash does the trick for the rest of my legs, but my ankles and feet need a little extra scrubbin’!
Wow! All of those products look fantastic! I’m especially into the Biolage product for colored hair. I’ve grown my hair out, it’s definitely colored and all the tangles after a day at the bay are no fun. Also, the queen of self tanner over here!
Let’s see, my number one thing for summer and always is protect your eyes! Sunglasses all the time and sunblock, sunblock, sunblock!
If I can be honest, I don’t have any summer beauty tips. I have always been a tomboy (nobody ever even taught me how to put on makeup!) so I’m gradually learning beauty as I get older. This article taught me a lot! I would LOVE to win the kit!
I love to mist any product that produces beach waves in my hair before bedtime. I wake up, finger comb and I’m ready to go!
Summer is usually when I discover new beauty tips and routines! At the most basic level, I wear sunscreen and sunglasses at all times.
Atralin and Josie Maran Argan Cleansing Oil have left my face looking flawless! Due to freckles, I still rely on foundation to even out my skin tone. There is also no way I could live without bronzer – it takes my pale skin from looking sickly to alive in seconds. I am going to have to look into those tanning towelettes.
Ooo, I hate the stinky self-tanner smells. Unfortunately, I have to resort to it to keep from being reflective all year round. I agree with the other ladies about using a great scrub before tanning- I like to stick with some yummy sugar scrubs from Etsy.
I also love giving my hair a break from styling during the summer and letting it go wavy. A good frizz-free styling cream is great for that.
Yes, well, since I live in Austin, my summer is basically spent going as quickly as possible from one air conditioned location to another. So, i guess my summer tip is “avoid going outside if at all possible.”
Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen! Skin, hair and lips for me and my kids always need to be covered, skin cancer runs in my family and I am adamant to protect myself and kids. However I am also soo white! I would love to try the towelettes, they sound awesome!
Those self tanner towlettes have me all in twitter-patted! My summer beauty tip is to always have bobby pins in my bag. So when I jump out of the pool or ocean I just bobby pin my bangs back and do a little scrunch of the locks and I am good to go. Summer is best for that no-frills look. 3 cheers for summer!
My summer tip is to deep condition your hair! There are some great treatments at most salons for very affordable prices. LOVE them!
My favorite summer tip is so simple it’s embarrassing. I hate having my hair in a pony tail all the time so I generally start the Princess Leia buns somewhere around Memorial Day. It keeps my hair off my neck during the day and produces sexy waves for the evening.
My go to tip is pretty old school, but I hate paying to get my hair highlighted, so I always just spray some lemon juice on.
I’ll definitely need to check out those tanning towelettes. My beauty tip is to shower with C.O. Bigelow Mentha Body Wash. It has a cooling affect on the skin and will really wake you up in the morning and/or leave you feeling energized post workout. Love that stuff.
My favorite summer beauty tip is wear a floppy sun hat for these reasons:
1. other people will look at you and think “damn, I wish I wore my floppy sun hat, she looks so chic!”
2. it protects your face and neck from the sun because you know you never put on enough sunscreen
3. it protects your colored hair from turning brassy from the sun
4. it keeps you from squinting and thus generating premature crow’s feet
And I have a floppy sun hat, but every time I go to put it on I think I look kind of silly. Not anymore!
My summer tip would be much the same of the ones before me. Moisturize constantly, lip balm every minute, keep cool – tough but try as much as I can, and I haven’t tried the self tanner wipes – but I believe I will this year!! Great article!!! Thanks!!
My summer tip is to moisturize your legs with a slightly watered down skin so soft (Avon). It helps to shave, keeps you feeling and smelling great and added bonus, helps keep the mosquitos away. (and no, I don’t sell for Avon and this is the only product of theirs I use.)
I always apply the less is more philosophy to makeup all year round but in the summer (especially on the extra hot days) if I’m going to a cookout I make sure I have my pair of gigantic sun glasses! It covers all and you look cute too.
My tip is to wet your hair and saturate it with leave-in conditioner before going in the ocean or pool. Chlorine and salt water kill the processing you just paid to get done to your hair! This is especially important if you had a keratin straightening treatment done to your hair.
For blondes or highlights, too! Make sure to wet your head, I like to use an oil based product. Helps to keep the tangles out, too!
I just bought an SPF powder. Now, after walking to work, or generally just being outside, I can use a thin layer of powder to both stop the shininess and provide SPF coverage.
A product I like a lot during the summer is Burt’s Bees Avocado Butter Pre-Shampoo Hair Treatment. It’s basically a heavy duty conditioner you put in before the shampoo and then wash out, and it smells AMAZING. The tube suggests leaving in for 15 minutes, which is inconvenient during a shower, but in the summer I can take advantage of the grease to braid my hair firmly and let it soak in with the heat of sun.
I’ve also found henna to have a surprisingly strong conditioning effect, and I look good with red hair, so I use the traditional bright color, but some brands make a neutral henna product just for conditioning.
Lip balm, sunglasses and a hat. I’m a sun goddess…love the heat!
SPF as high as I can find it, even if the experts say anything over 50 is pointless!
Actually, just a little bit of sun can be really healthy. Blocking all the UV rays created a deficit in Vit D (for me, who knows what it does for you!) and then trying to replace it with supplements made me nauseous! My doctor actually prescribed SUN! Now, that said, I will be outside maybe 10-15 minutes before the sun screen goes right on. I feel energized!
Mixing some baking soda into your normal shampoo does wonders for getting chlorine out of your hair!
I’m really just one big recessive gene (red hair, fair skin, blue eyes), so my biggest tip is to use a really good quality sunscreen. I can’t use anything below SPF 50 without looking like a tomato after a few minutes. I use a different one for my face than the rest of my body. Moisturize and protect, ladies!
I also forgot, during the summer with the added product on your body (SPF) and additional damage to your skin by sun, wind, etc., your skin can take a beating. I use baby shampoo (just the basic Johnson & Johnson kind) as face wash. It’s inexpensive, gentle, and won’t dry out your skin!
I definitely want to try the matrix line in challenge # 1, have been to the beach twice and the pool a handful of times and it is already reeking havoc on my hair. Thanks for the fun giveaway!
Comments on this entry are closed.