Woman in Real Life

Photo: Sterling Williams

Sun, sand and surf - summer is synonymous with outdoor fun. But summer fun also means perspiration, chlorine and harsh UV rays, and it isn’t always kind to your hair. Don’t sweat it! Colour specialist Sterling Williams, an artistic educator for Matrix Canada, offers up these fixes for four common summer hair woes.

1. Damaged, Dry Hair

Time spent in the blazing sun can lead to dry, brittle hair, split ends and frizziness. To minimize damage, allow your hair to air-dry rather than using hair dryers and other hot styling tools. “Embrace your natural texture,” Williams advises. The less-is-more approach applies to washing hair too. “I don’t feel like anybody needs to wash their hair every day,” she says. “It’s not necessary and it’s not good for your hair.” Wash your hair two to three times per week. Apply a leave-in conditioner or primer to towel-dried hair. “Look for a product that adds both moisture and UV protection,” Williams says. Use a hydrating hair treatment once a week to replenish lost moisture. Use silk scrunchies and a silk pillowcase to reduce friction and minimize breakage of hair strands.

Hair Helper: Maurizio’s Hydrating Hair Mask helps restore moisture and shine to damaged hair.

Although I'm looking forward to the warm weather of late spring and summer, with heat comes humidity. And, if you have naturally curly hair like mine, along with humidity comes frizz. Lots and lots of frizz. I have only uncovered one way of dealing with said frizz and that is straightening my hair. But that solution doesn't work so well if I'm planning to hit the pool or the beach.

With these problems in mind, I dropped by the Beauty Supply Outlet recently to seek some professional styling aids and advice. I fear my dollar store hair brushes just aren't effective enough to get the job done.

Have I told you lately that I love you? Make fun of me if you want (mom), but you guys are awesome. I started this blog to help me appreciate the beauty in each and every day. Even if sometimes I'm grumpy...really grumpy.  I need reminders of how great life is even more on those days.

I wasn't sure anyone would ever actually read my musings. But I'm happy to say I have almost 400 GFC followers now, over 100 Bloglovin' followers and about 16,000 page views a month. I'm no celebrity, sure, but it's kinda cool that people take the time out of their busy schedules to visit my blog. So thanks. A lot.

It's Friday...and I'm about to share a bunch of seemingly random photos. They are united under the "Insta-Friday" theme...sharing simple family cell phone photos from the past week.

Last weekend, I went to get my hair cut. I hadn't been to the salon for, oh, something like 10 months. My hair was ragged. Here's my little gal all decked out for a cold day in the city of Toronto.