::making waves::

It's no secret that Houston summers can turn the most well-coiffed women into walking frizzballs. 

Heat and humidity + working mom who gives herself 30 minutes to shower and get ready =

hair that looks like this on most days.

source

You know I like fashion and I try to dress professional-yet-chic for work. Although I work in a very conservative environment, this messy chignon is no excuse for Monday through Friday hair.

I tried the Brazilian blow out last year and I liked it but thanks to the steep price {dollars and health risks} once was enough for me.

At the beginning of the summer I found a few tools to help get me out of the wet-hair-in-a-low-bun rut that I've been in for the past few years.  

Now on days when I can convince myself to just stop doing 'one more thing' around the house and actually get ready for work, if I use this brush (Olivia Garden Ceramic Ion brush) while drying my hair,

then wrap a few large sections of hair around this (HAI elite ceramic curling wand),

I'll get waves like this.

The wand gets super hot very quickly so it doesn't take long at all.  The best part is that the curl actually lasts all day. Prior to the wand I would use my flat iron with rounded edges to get nice waves, but as soon as I stepped outside they went flat! 

I feel like such a goof taking photos of myself but here's a side by side of my hair at 8am and at 3pm, after having my hair pulled into a pony during a one hour yoga class.

Another great thing about the wand is that you can just wrap the middle sections of hair and avoid damaging the ends.

I've battled with my thick, course hair my whole life but I finally feel like I have a good combination of products and tools. Now if I could just snap my fingers and 'poof' ~ my hair is magically dried and styled in the blink of an eye! Guess there's no tool for that out there. But I will say using a high powered Elchim hair dryer with the Olivia Garden round brush works quicker than anything else I've used. 

 

It feels good to no longer experiment with buying expensive salon stuff only to find that it doesn't even work for me. Organic shampoo, conditioner (sulfate free to protect colored hair) and styling serum from Whole Foods is the right recipe for me these days, with one small splurge from my salon (see links below).

 

I've also learned not to purchase the tools directly from the salon as you can get them for much less online {curling wand is $200 direct from the site but I only paid $69 and my blow dryer was $130 in the salon and I paid $65, both on amazon}.

My favorites with links:

Aubrey organics honeysuckle rose shampoo and conditioner 

Organix Moroccan Argan oil

Shu Uemura Extreme Urushi (splurge but a little goes a long way)

HAI Elite Ceramic Ionic Tourmaline Rod

Elchim hair dryer
Olivia Garden Ceramic & Ion Thermal Brush 

 So now I'm leaving the house with the frizzy wet bun on my head 2 days per week instead of 5.  ☺

Any other secret weapons for managing loads of crazy hair?  What keeps you sane and chic during the dreadful hair months of summer?

xo~

Tricia