Now, let me describe my Dad’s hair. It’s fantastic. It’s thick, lush, dark with some super shiny grey, and full with a light wave. If he was a TV news man, you would trust him based on his hair alone. If I had his hair, his bright blue eyes, and his naturally red lips, my morning routine would take about five minutes (I don’t, and it doesn’t.)  And he’s due for a haircut, so it’s even fuller and lusher at the moment.

Of course, there is another option. We’ve talked about how much we love dry shampoo for styling, especially volumizing formulas like Neil George Refresh Dry Shampoo and Oscar Blandi Pronto Invisible Volumizing Dry Shampoo Spray.  Works great for styling, and works great for times you can’t wash your hair.

Armed with Pronto Invisible Volumizing Dry Shampoo, Lyn showed Dad what dry shampoo can do. I’ve always been impressed with what the product can do with our long hair, but I was even more impressed at how volumizing it is on short hair like Dad’s. He was left with his hair as full and shiny as it typically gets after a regular shampoo and a use of our T3 dryer.

Find Oscar Blandi Pronto Invisible Volumizing Dry Shampoo Spray at Lock & Mane.

Want to test drive red color without a long term commitment? Ask your stylist for a Sebastian Professional cellophane treatment. These ammonia-free colorizing gloss treatments last for 6-10 washes and are a great way to ease into a new hue. For the brunette bombshells out there, try a Sebastian Texture Tandem treatment and a brown cellophane to keep your locks healthy and vibrant. This silkening, re-texturizing treatment will amp up your brown while smoothing and sealing your locks.

Wanna get the fun undone beehive at home? I suggest getting a micro crimper to help achieve this look. This tiny crimp iron makes the crimping virtually undetectable and super effective when done at the roots for volume.
1. Prep wet hair with Sebastian Volupt Spray and Texturizer to help build grip, texture and volume.
2. Micro crimp hair at the roots, then pull apart and brush out. Part from ear to ear and leave out.
3. Gather hair in a light French twist and secure with bobby pins.
4. Back comb the front ear-to-ear section. Drop out the fringe and some bits on the side. Secure to the top of the French twist.
5. Finish with Sebastian Re-Shaper hairspray.

Take it away Janine!

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“Retro” is the buzzword this fall, and 90s-era inspired natural curls are one of the hottest hair trends around! But fear not, this look has been updated with a modern twist. Instead of the crispy curls of the 90s, today’s mane is soft, shiny and touchable, thanks to the more advanced hair products and styling tools available today. And with so many creative ways to wear curls, there’s no need to get locked into the long and layered look from the past. Curly girls are going short with funky asymmetrical cuts and cropped sides, or rocking middle and deep side parts with high sheen and sleek finish, as seen on the Balenciaga runway. Even the 60s are totally relevant this season, given the amazing disheveled beehives gracing the Jean Paul Gaultier runway shows.

To show off your fabulous new curls, why not also try this season’s “It” color and go red! Red is everywhere right now! Starlets such as Amy Adams and Emma Stone are making their way down red carpets in various shades of this versatile color. When picking a red tone, make sure it goes with your skin tone. A great trick for this is to look for the color flecks in your eyes. If you have warm-colored eyes or warm flecks, go with warm reds (orange and yellow-based). If you have cool-toned eyes or flecks, go with cooler reds (blue and violet-based).

Brunette bombshells are also making a big splash thanks to the lovely Middleton sisters from across the pond. If you have warm-toned eyes, choose gold and red-based browns. If you have cool-toned eyes, then you’d look best with a shade that has violet, ash or neutral undertones.

Here are a few tips and tricks for trying out three head-turning looks!

Glamour Girl Curls
Make sure you get your curly locks cut by a curl specialist. Curly hair is quite different from straight texture and it takes a curly hair pro to do it right the first time. If you’re in the LA area, Irene, Sarah and Luis are Hairroin Salon’s go-to stylists for curls. Once you have the cut, you can easily style at home.
1. Apply Sebastian Whipped Crème and Taming Elixir evenly through wet hair from roots to ends.

2. Twirl square-inch sections of hair in and scrunch to create curl clumps.

3. Use a hair dryer diffuser to blow dry. A diffuser is an attachment that fits on the end of your dryer and helps to create curl and body. You can get one at your local beauty supply store. Try not to touch your hair as you blow dry, just tilt your head and let the curl clumps gather in the diffuser until dry. Switch sides and then do the back.

4. Once hair is dry and cool, spray on a bit of Sebastian Halo Mist and gently pull curls apart. You can also shake it out with your hands laced in at the roots. Finish with Sebastian Shaper Zero Gravity hair spray for a lightweight, supple hold.

Great advice, Janine! We’ll be posting her advice on how to style an undone beehive and testing out red tones during the week!

OK, let me back up. I’ve only tested three of their products so far, but I think the above statement holds up. I have a pantheon of fabulous hair products in my closet, and Neil George products still excite me this much.

Let’s start with Neil George Refresh Dry Shampoo Triple Botanical Complex. It’s really a fantastic dry shampoo. A lot of dry shampoos do a decent enough job refreshing your hair and scalp, but until now I haven’t found one that really makes my scalp feel like I washed my hair. Neil George Dry Shampoo leaves the scalp feeling like you just stepped out of the shower.

What really impresses me, though, is the styling power of this dry shampoo. As you know I’m always on the hunt for a great volumizer, and Refresh Dry Shampoo both freshens hair and volumizes it like crazy, in no time flat. I’m particularly impressed with how easy it is to create bombshell hair out of summer frizz with this dry shampoo – divide hair into a few sections, flip head over, spray at the root, wait 30 seconds, massage the scalp, flip hair over, put a little extra in the front sections and you are good to go. It’s kind of a polished version of bed head. And hair is left soooo shiny after use – definitely no product residue, even on really dark hair.

The scent is subtle, which I like. A lot of dry shampoos have a pretty heady (no pun intended) scent, which isn’t really what I’m looking for if I’m using a dry shampoo. Refresh Dry Shampoo just smells like, well, freshly shampooed hair.

The fantastic Neil George Refresh Dry Shampoo Triple Botanical Complex is available the Neil George Salon website for $18.

Eugenia Kim Eden Feathered Headband

We’ve previously spoken with slight nerdy enthusiasm about our love for the Eugenia Kim Eden Feathered Headband. Now is the time to get your hands on it – it is on sale at Lock & Mane for $29.99.

Now, if you regularly keep up with trims, it will be business as usual. But if you are sporadic with trims (which can happen if you are trying to grow your hair out), you may have more to cut off than you’d like.

Here’s the thing – split ends won’t disappear on their own. Ends that are thinner than the rest of your mane won’t either. There are some fantastic products to revive hair, but sometimes your ends are just beyond repair and need to go. If it’s several inches, you may not want to do it. While it might seem like a small matter to part with a few inches, it does indeed become an emotional issue – hair is such a part of self-image. Last summer about three inches of my longest layer needed to come off, and when I did it all at once, it just didn’t feel like my look for a few weeks, despite my hair being long enough that three inches less doesn’t really make a difference.

If that describes you, and you have the knack for trimming your hair yourself, try this: trim off an inch. Wait a couple of days. Then trim about half of what still needs to come off. Wait a couple of days. As you notice your hair looking better, bouncier, flippier and flirtier, and all around healthier, getting rid of the last bit will be a snap. This sort of “week-long trim” takes away the shock factor of cutting it all at once.

Happy trimming!

Find it at Lock & Mane for $22.

So in the month of July, we’re embarking on a “Low Blow Dry July” – looking for ways to minimize using heat tools and letting our hair get some rest! We’ll be talking about products with which to style hair without blow drying, dry shampoos, and hair styles conducive to easy summer style.

If you want to join Lyn and I for Low Blow Dry July, feel free to leave us a comment below and check back letting us know what you’re doing with your hair this July!

1) Wash and condition your hair. There is a lot of wear and tear on your locks over the summer – the sun, surf, and air conditioning can all do a job on your hair and/or color. Keeping up with conditioning and conditioning hair masks is crutial.

2) Use a volumizing product on wet hair that gives volume yet keeps hair soft. We love Oscar Blandi Hair Lift Instant Thickening & Strengthening Serum. It will immediately thicken your hair yet won’t feel like you have any product on your hair.

3) Let your hair mostly air dry. What makes this style elegant yet casual is that it sort of looks like you didn’t spend all morning under the blow drier. That’s because you don’t have to. It’s hot enough already – the last thing you’ll feel like doing when it’s 95 degrees out is blasting hot air at your head. Let your hair air dry most of the way, and then while it’s still damp, just dry it a bit to activate your volumizing product and style it. And if your hair is still slightly damp, let it be – it will dry fast enough on its own.

4) Keep up with your layers. Even easy summer hair has upkeep. Make sure that the layers around your face don’t get too long or this look won’t work. And absolutely keep the ends trimmed – your hair should be thick all the way to the ends.

Angelina Jolie for Louis Vuitton, WWD.com