Style

Makeup & Beauty

Keep It Simple

July 18, 2013

So far, our week in Maine has been fantastic. We’ve made turtle sand-pies at the beach, hung out at the pool, eaten way too many lobster rolls and steamed clams, and slept until after 8AM (!) each day thanks to the fact that we’re all staying in the same hotel room, which means that our son basically stands up in his crib staring at us until around 10PM, when he finally decides that the party is over and it’s time to lay down. Late-to-bed doesn't necessarily equate to late-to-rise with toddlers...but between the heat and the ocean air and THE SEAGULLS (each and every sighting results in enthusiastic-bordering-on-frantic pointing), all of us are sleeping a little longer and a little more deeply than usual.

It’s a little tricky, this staying-in-the-same-room thing. We haven't done it since we moved - a day that coincided exactly with the very first day that our son slept through the night - and it means that we more or less hold ourselves to our son's schedule. I certainly don’t mind this; I'm on vacation to sleep and to read Stephen King books, not to hit the clurrrb...but the fact that we’re limited to doing fun stuff during the hours when he’s awake also means that we don't want to spend a single second more than necessary in the room getting ready.

Which translates to keeping things simple.

Makeup & Beauty

How To Fall Back In Love With Your Hair

July 16, 2013

I’ll be honest: I haven’t always been crazy about my hair. It’s a kind of tricky mix of straight and wavy, has on occasion (the Los Angeles Years) been subjected to so much bleaching that it turned straw-like on the ends, and morphs into an actual lion’s mane the second it comes into contact with even a whisper of humidity. From time to time in the past, I even resorted to fairly extreme measures (including extremely ill-advised clip-on hair extensions and chemical straightening treatments) to try and wrest it into submission.

For years and years, whether or not my hair was healthy wasn’t a topic I gave a ton of thought to. I honestly didn’t think it really mattered; I figured my hair was my hair, and it wasn’t ever going to be anything other than “eh”, and that was that. It was only about a year ago that I started realizing that how my hair feels (and looks) is completely within my control – I just needed to start caring for it, and treating it like what it was: a part of my body. I made a few changes to my routine – using gentle products tailored to my hair type, minimizing heat styling, and generally working with (rather than against) my hair’s natural texture – and my hair started transforming from something that I fought with into something that I embrace…and actually kind of love.

I just cut off about five inches – spring felt like a good time to start from scratch – and my hair feels healthier and lighter now than it has in ages. As a great bonus, it’s worlds easier to style: I took the picture above immediately after using Dove’s Daily Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner* and spending a few minutes in the company of a 1” barrel curling iron – no additional products needed at all. It turns out that it’s true: healthy-looking hair is beautiful hair, period.