The Easiest Tips and Tricks for Summer Beauty

        Frizzy hair has not been a part of my vocabulary since I moved to Los Angeles, but I am from jacksonville, Florida which is a swamp city and frizzy hair is part of life. I picked up a trick in high school that is so simple, cheap and I’m going to share it with you. If you are a sun goddess, you know how important it is to protect the sensitive skin on your lips. There is nothing sexy about dry, burnt lips. If you don’t already carry a Chapstick with you, run to the store and pick up something with at least an SPF 15. It’s super cheap, protects your lips and now does a third job! Take your chapstick, rub a little between your palms, warming it up and smooth over frizzies and flyaways! Not only does the weight of the Chapstick hold those pesky hairs in place, the SPF will also protect you hair from sun damage! It’s so simple and cheap that you have no excuse not to try this! 

       Any beach babe knows that all makeup is a potential beach disaster. From racoon eyes to dripping foundation, beach and makeup were not meant to be together. If you want to enjoy your beach time, you are forced to leave your makeup behind. The mission: Looking glamorous at the beach without having a makeup meltdown. I recently discovered a product called, “Suntan Boulevard” by Bath and Body Works. It is an SPF 30 bronze facial sunscreen. I place it strategically over my cheekbones and nose (which happen to be the places that I burn) to get a sexy, bronze glow that hides imperfections and protects my skin. Add a lip stain and you have the easiest, most practical and pretty, beach-friendly makeup!

       This one is for the brunettes. I hate seeing brunettes botched with bleached highlights that went orange on them. We want the contrast of color to make our hair appear more voluminous and “sun-kissed” but salons are expensive and can damage already fragile, beach hair. I began using lemon juice to highlight my hair in high school. It’s so simple, almost free and will never turn your hair orange. Cut up a lemon or two and squeeze the juice in to a small bowl. Tie hair into a ponytail. dab lemon juice from your forehead, straight back. Follow this process around your face, framing it with subtle highlights. Take the remaining juice and run through the tips of your ponytail for a surfer-girl look. Then, go outside! Garden, play volleyball, read a book, whatever you want to do as long as it’s in the sun. The sun’s rays will accelerate the lemon juice to give you natural looking, sun-kissed (literally) hair. The more times you repeat this, the more noticeable your highlights will be! 

       A refreshing way to keep from smelling like summer sweat is to buy a cheap bottle of body mist (like Dove) and put it in your refrigerator door. You don’t want to waste expensive perfumes when you’ll be washing it off in the pool anyways. The cold mist will instantly revitalize your body and lift your spirits as well as cool you down from the sweltering summer temperatures. 

       Summer time is the perfect season for showing off your skin. There are so many lotions and oils to keep your skin soft and shimmery but my absolute favorite is something that you’ll find in the baking isle at the grocery store. It’s coconut oil! It looks like a solid but it will quickly melt into your skin, it has the perfect summer scent and it will keep the mosquitos off of you. That’s right, coconut oil is a natural bug repellent so slather it all over to accentuate your beautiful summer skin!

       My favorite summertime trick is naked nails. A lot of people cover their nails with festive summer colors and that can be fun too, but what’s the point in paying for a mani/pedi when the sand naturally exfoliates your tootsies while the sun will bleach your nail tips bright white! It looks like you have french tips but you don’t have to worry about chipping! Also, sun exposure turns any nail polish color yellow, even clear polish and nobody wants nails that look like they have yellow fungus on them! Plus, whether your swimming at a pool or surfing on a beach, water is not polish-friendly. I avoid it polish whenever I can, so take advantage of being able to bare your toes and fingers in the sunshine. Let them soak up some sun and the only tool you’ll need for nails all summer will be a file!        

        I hope these tips keep all of you supermodels super glam all summer!