Summer Care

Oh, baby, I love summer! Not so much the hot part or the beach part, but mostly the not -having –to- bust- it- to- get- the- kids- to- school- on- time- in- the- morn part…oh, and the relaxed summer beauty part.
Summer means chilling out a bit on hair, make-up, clothes, and even chores (well, at least in my house it does…). But while we are enjoying these lazy days, we want to make sure we are caring for the essentials of outer and inner beauty so that when we greet that August Autumn Season, we greet it with a kiss, and not a contract for a remodel. Give these summer beauty care tips a shot, and you will be rejuvenated when it’s time to kick it up.

• For hair that looks like you spent the day on the beach having more fun than everyone else (even if you really spent it on the couch watching the whole season of “The New Girl”), try using a sea salt spray on wet hair. It saves your hair from the heat of a dryer or iron, and looks very fresh and fun! Here’s a DIY recipe for ya:   1 tsp sea salt, ½ tsp your fav conditioner, ½ tsp your fave styling gel, 8 oz distilled water. Combine in sterilized spray bottle, shaking well to distribute ingredients. Spray on damp hair, from roots to ends, scrunching and twisting hair as you go. *keep in mind this recipe has no preservatives, so use it immediately before bacteria start throwing a party in the bottle. They LOVE the summer, too!
• Before swimming, lightly coat hair in conditioner, and comb through to ends. It will reduce the amount of chlorine damage to the hair, as well as use the sun’s heat to give your locks a deep conditioning! If you’ve got wavy, curly or kinky locks,  Beautiful Curls will keep your hair soft and healthy.
• Use this time to treat your face to a natural spa month. Purpose daily to cleanse, exfoliate, tone, and moisturize your skin, being certain to use pure ingredients that your skin actually knows how to use. The fake stuff confuses the brain and causes chaos on the face.
• Skip the foundation and use a nice, REAL, natural sunscreen on the face, like Celtic Complexion’s organic sunscreen along with a bit of REAL lip gloss. Try Nessa’s Naturals for lip glosses- she uses real ingredients, and her color palates are gorgeous! 
• Total-body exfoliation during the summer is essential for glowing skin- sunscreens and self-tanners can build up on the skin, leaving your skin tone looking dull. A gentle, daily exfoliation with either a sisal or loofah sponge will remove the surface layer of dead skin, and a sugar or salt scrub will do the same PLUS moisturize new cellular turnover (and sugar naturally converts to glycolic acid in the scrubbing process, giving you a free, natural, alphahydroxy acid treatment!) I always recommend our Raw Sugar Scrubs for this reason.

(Another note on the scrubs- they are PERFECT for removing that last layer of sunless tan, just before it starts to look like leprosy)

• Instead of slathering on the sunscreen hours-on-end, try covering in light, breathable clothes and a hat during the hottest parts of the day (noon to 4), and stay in the shade. If  clothing and shade is not an option (swimming, sports, etc), make certain that you use a sunscreen with REAL sun protection- studies are rapidly proving that mainstream sunscreens that contain synthetic active ingredients, like avobenzone and oxybenzone (added to protect the skin against UVA rays),  are hormone disruptors. AND most commercial sunscreens also contain vitamin A (retinol), which, in combination with direct sunlight, actually promotes melanoma. Nice. (Watch HBP for our upcoming article on understanding sunscreens)
• I said it before, and I’ll say it again: Eat (and drink) LOTS of veggies- especially the green ones. They are loaded with antioxidants, giving you super, natural protection against free radical cellular damage. It’s actually one of the VERY BEST ways to get your sun protection, not to mention what it does for your digestive health.

And for internal summer beauty treatments, use this time to relax, breathe deeply, read a good book, meditate, and focus on the good things. You have my permission. It’s Summer…Chill out!