The Secret to Great Looking Summer Hairstyles!

Summer Hair Style

How to wear your summer hair:

It's a glorious summer here in England, we're not quite sure why but were faced with a whole lot of new hairstyle options. It's time for summer hair styling and like many of you I like to keep it simple. Owing very much to it's practicality the up-do is a timeless classic that will always increase in popularity over the summer months and that certainly isn't about to change this year. Come on ladies... Who's got time for styling when you just want to be outside in the sunshine anyway!?

Photo: Maegan Tintari

Whether you're heading to and from the beach, reading by the pool, having fun at a festival and out socialising of a balmy evening my advice to you is to keep it simple with an easy updo! I'm talking, buns, pony's, plaits and braid's. 

A loose pony is great for keeping hair up out of your face and from your neck and whats more it will accentuate your cheekbones. I prefer a pony with plenty of volume at the crown. Pulling a pony too tight puts the hair under stress by stretching the hair and in some cases snapping it, so go easy. Use No inhibition 12 wonders to ensure your hair's elasticity is at its' greatest. A fantastic hair beauty product that does what it says on the tin, it'll even help protect your colour. 12 benefits, 1 product, what's not to love!?

The fishtail is a fantastic updo that can be worn tightly woven or with some sections gently teased out for a more laid back approach. They always look very sophisticated and elegantly elaborate yet with a little practice the fishtail is relatively simple to pull off...
Have a look to see how... click here!

Photo: Maegan Tintari

Dress it up and wear it out OR wear it low and loose, pull out a few pieces around your face to soften the overall look and feel of your hair. At this point a good volumising spray always comes in handy. I personally would recommend one with UV protection, on this occasion try: Montibello volumising root spray. Or you could always try the brand new No inhibition Matt volumising powder if you want the same medium to long-lasting hold with versatile flexibility in powder form.

Wear your updo with a silk scarf covering the tops of the ears, it is a perfect look for the summer with a nod to the 60's bohemian lifestyle and the French Riviera. Click here to be amazed by these beautiful reworked antique silk saris by a talented young Indian designer that will definitely catch your eye! Or... if you're embracing the return of the nineties then you could always go for a scrunchy!? 

Dress up or dress down a simple updo this Summer whether it is a Fishtail, a Messy bun or a classic Pony... you will be bang on trend.

Extending the (hair)style: 

Once you're ready to take the ponytail or braid out, start by pulling your hair apart and gently mess the braids up with your fingers whilst enhancing the loose strands of hair with an iron. Wear them down in loose beachy waves and finish with a light to medium hold hairspray: Milkshake lifestyling Open Air Hairspray 500ml  Open Air Hairspray offers a light and manageable hold, it is good for your hair and is conscious of the environment. When pulling apart the braids, take care to avoid creating knots, easier said than done, I know. Try using Macadamia Healing oil Argan infused comb that's great for detangling and fighting frizz, which works wonders when used alongside Macadamia Healing Oil Spray to replenish the vitality and moisture lost whilst you were having fun in the sun and the sea.

Summer Hair Care Tips - Summer Shampoo

Ah, there we go...it is Summer, at last! Yes, we have been waiting a whole year for Summer and right on cue here it is. The birds are chirping, the waves are lapping and I'm sitting in the office with my hair sticking to my face and a fan blowing warm air in my direction, don't you just love it.

Well, actually I do. Summer is a great time of year, the best infact. When your not slaving away behind a computer, or whatever else you do, Summer is a fantastic time of year. There are holidays to enjoy, pools and the sea to swim in, tans to get and general relaxing to be done. But with all of this good life, must come a negative. That negative is what the Summer can do to your hair.

To put it lightly, Summer hair care can be a night-mare of epic proportions, infact it can be so bad that you spend your days wishing for the cold nights of Winter, and that is never a good thing!

Well, fear not, because in this series of handy, helpful hair care tips we will be blogging about what the Summer does to your hair and how you can counteract the negatives to keep your locks looking as bright and breezy as the weather itself, so without further ado, I introduce the 2010 Summer hair care tips!

Summer Shampoo

So, in this week's Summer hair care tip blog I am going to be looking at the foundation of any hair care routine; that is summer shampoo of course!

So, before we pick some Summer shampoo for you to use, we need to clarify exactly what the Summer season does to your hair so that we can determine the best ways to make sure that your hair doesn't get damaged.

To put it simply, as lovely as the sun is, it can be a bit cruel to your hair. The harsh Summer rays can be damaging on the hair's cuticle. This can result in your hair losing its necessary oils and moisture that keep it healthy and can result in dry and damaged hair. Another side-effect of too much sun on your hair is the most hated of hair hells...frizz! Yes, you heard me right, the sun can turn your hair into a humid frizzy mess.

The other major issue when it comes to Summer is swimming. Swimming is great, but it is important to remember what chlorine can do to your hair. If you have coloured hair then chlorine is probably your worst enemy. Chlorine can discolour hair as well as leaving it prone to breakage.

So now we know what the Summer sun can do to your hair it is time we looked into what Summer shampoo you should be using to keep your hair healthy and beautiful!

Summer Shampoo 1 - Macadamia Moisturising Repair Shampoo

Macadamia Natural Oil hair products are still a relatively new range of hair products. They are made using a natural oil, called Macadamia, as you may have guessed. Macadamia Oil is amazing stuff, and it is no wonder that they have gone all the way to the South Pacific to source it! The natural oil in this moisture repair shampoo ticks all of the right boxes to make it the perfect Summer shampoo. The number 1 plus of this Summer shampoo is that it uses natural oil that works in harmony with your hair's natural oils. It is essential in the Summer that your hair retains its natural oils, and this can mean over-washing is a big no-no but with Macadamia Natural Oil your hair will be cared for in a natural way and will stay looking and feeling healthy.

Buy Macadamia Summer Shampoo - £15.17

Summer Shampoo 2 - Milkshake Colour Maintainer Shampoo

As we mentioned above, Summer can be a bit troublesome if you have coloured hair. Not only will the sun damage your hair colour but the chlorine in swimming pools can cause real problems with hair colour. So, with that in mind we needed a shampoo that is specially designed to care for coloured hair. Milkshake Colour Maintainer Shampoo is without a doubt one of the best shampoos for the job. It is made using natural ingredients and it is gentle to hair that has been coloured. Milkshake Colour Maintainer Shampoo will protect the colour of your hair and gently cleanse your hair to keep it clean, healthy and moisturised. For those of you with coloured hair, this is a must have Summer shampoo.

Buy Milksahke Colour Maintainer Shampoo - £9.89

Summer Shampoo 3 - Urban Tribe Flexibility Shampoo

The third pillar of the Summer shampoo world is a beautiful Summer shampoo that is designed for use on that is dry and damaged. Urban Tribe Flexibility Shampoo is part of an amazing range of hair products that are made by Urban Tribe and Flexibility Shampoo is the one that can repair dry and damaged hair. As we have already said, the Summer can be hell for hair and for many that means dry and damaged hair, so that makes this Summer shampoo choice a no brainer! Urban Tribe Flexibilty Shampoo will restore moisture and nourish your hair so that any cuticle damage caused by the sun will be repaired and your hair's natural beauty restored.

Buy Urban Tribe Flexibility Shampoo - £8.99

So, now you have no excuse, no matter what type of hair you have, there is a Summer shampoo for you. Now, go and enjoy the sun! Next week I am going to reveal the secrets of Summer conditioning! Bye x

Picture by: Richard0 on Flickr, used under a Creative Commons Lisence

On Trend Hair Style - The Wet Look

So summer is here and all you want to do is enjoy the sunshine, so do we (becasue you don't know how long it is going to last!). So, with that in mind, we in the Specialist Hair office have decided it is worth finding out how some great summer hair ideas in order to make your hair look great without having to spend hours and hours doing it.

With a trawl around our favourite magazines, websites, and even having a chat amongst outselves, we came across this wonderful little article from Hello Magazine! So impressed, we were, by all of the wonderful advice from, Hello that we have decided to talk you through each step with a guide to the products that will work best for the wet look hairstyle.

The Wet Look Hair Style

So, summer is a time when you are in the sun, you are in and out of the sea/swimming pool and on the beach as much as possible. With all of this sun worshiping going on, your hair can be left looking a little lost for ideas. Well, that is why the wet look is so good for this time of year. Not only will your hair look great, but to maintain it is easier than you may think. This is also a versatile style that works equally as well on long hair and short hair styles.

Washing Your Hair

Normally the first thing we would do when going through a new hair care tip is tell you what to use to wash your hair. Well, as Hello Magazine rightly say, this is one of the only times where it is probably better not to wash your hair to achieve the desired effect.

Having said that, all hair has its limits, and so when you do wash, make sure you use something that is going to gently rinse away any build up but leave your hair in a good natural condition. A shampoo made using natural oils is easily the best option for the summer wet look hair style and so we would recommend you use Macadamia Hair Products; Rejuvenating Shampoo. The Rejuvenating Shampoo is made using natural Macadamia Oil, found in the South Pacific. The girls in our office (and some of the men!) have been converted to Macadamia shampoo ever since it arrived, and because it is natural it cleanses your hair gently, perfect for restoring your hair's natural beauty after a long day in the sun.

*Hair Care Tip* Just use a little of the Macadamia Natural Moisturising Shampoo every few days and you will be cleansing your hair, but leaving it ready for the wet look hair styling method.

Smoothing Time!

Hello Magazine say dampen your hair, so, if you haven't done so already, do that now! Now is the time to apply a smoothing gel to your hair. Now, don't worry, we aren't going to tell you to go and get one of those awful tubs of 'wet style gel' you find in the supermarkets, we wouldn't even dream of it!

Thankfully, there a much, much better products out there for achieving a beautiful smooth, wet hair style. When it comes to hair styling, there is one special range of hair products that we like to put in our 'best kept secrets' folder, as a wonderful range that only the salon experts know about.

That range of amazing hair styling products is called Urban Tribe Hair Products. Part of the Z:One concept range of hair products, and regular contributor to our hair care blogs, Urban Tribe have a wonderful array of hair styling products that not only smell beautiful, but work wonders!

For the wet look, we recommend you use Montibello HDs Wet effect Gel. Montibello Wet Effect is an amazing quality hair smoothing gel that will apply easily to your hair and won't make it feel sticky or dirty. Simply apply it from root to tip and then comb through your hair with a fine tooth comb, using your other hand to smooth and flatten the hair, you can use a few invisible clips to hold your hair down if you need to, and you can even apply a touch more gel to set your hair in place! The Wet effect Gel contains a UVA-UVB filter that offers protection from the damaging effect of the Sun's radiation whilst moisturising and strengthening the hair.

That's It!

Yes, I can't believe it either, possibly one of the most simple hair styling guides I have ever written. All you need to do is put some hair gel in! But wait, never underestimate the power of your hair products. The reason this hair style will look so great is because of the quality of the hair products that make it. The Montibello gel contains the ingredients to make your hair style shine, and the Macadamia shampoo will keep your hair healthy, even in the most harsh summer conditions! So, go on and have a go at this super easy hair style and please send us in some summer hair pictures, we would love to see how you get on! Why not subscribe to our newsletter, because it's great!

See you again next time hair lovers!