Mara Hoffman Dress

When it comes to my hair, I’m lazy. Blow drying and straightening it is about as fancy as I get these days and even that only happens maybe once a week. So, to keep things easier, I typically opt for air drying.

I have naturally wavy hair, which I love, but I have a bad habit of washing it at night and going to be with it wet. That typically results in crazy hair that looks like some sort of small animal has been nesting in it. During the winter, I don’t end up air drying it as much because I get so cold!

Now that it’s summer, it’s the perfect time to give my hair a break and let it do it’s thing.

Why You Should Air Dry

Heat can be extremely damaging to our hair, especially when we’re assaulting it with blow dryers, straighteners, curling irons on the regular. It makes it more fragile and more likely to break, resulting in frizzy pieces and dried, split ends.

Color treating hair can also make it more fragile, so if you color, try to not do it too often. I opt for balayage which doesn’t go all the way to my roots which means I can go much longer between treatments because you can never tell a sharp distinction from the color and your natural hair.

How to Air Dry your Hair

First thing’s first! Start with freshly washed, clean hair. I don’t do anything special in the shower—just use shampoo and conditioner. I’ve been using this shampoo and this conditioner from AG Hair. I like them, but alternate with this dpHue shampoo and conditioner once a week to boost my blonde.

Lightly Dry

After I get out of the shower, I very lightly towel dry my hair. This is SO important! Rubbing it dry or trying to get it really dry is a big no-no when it comes to air-drying. When I put it up in a towel and leave it for even 5-10 minutes, it soaks up too much water and ends up looking terrible. So, just take your towel and squeeze out the excess water and call it a day.

Condition & Comb—sorta

I’ll spray a little detangling spray in like this one. Next, I brush it, but like, barely! I just make sure the major knots are out. Sometimes, I forgo the brush all together and just use my fingers. Too much brushing can end up making your hair frizzy. If you can get away with just finger-combing, amazing! Lately, my hair has been really tangled, so I have to brush it a bit—I’m blaming post-baby hair!

Use a Sea Salt Spray

The trick to getting those carefree beach waves? Putting just a little bit of effort in! I use Beautycounter’s Sea Salt Spray—guys, it is so good, but more on that in a second! I spritz it throughout my hair and curl the front pieces around my finger. For some reason, my front pieces never get as wavy as the back, so this helps! You can also scrunch your hair in your hands for extra wave, but I find that I get plenty of wave without doing that!

Boom, you’re done!

So, why this sea salt spray? The short answer—it’s the best one I’ve ever used. I’ve tried so many different sea salt sprays over the years and most of them left my hair feeling dry and crunchy. This one adds texture, but doesn’t give me that stiff, just out of the ocean feeling that some do! Of course, if you spray too much in, that can still happen, so don’t go overboard.

Air Drying Hacks

As your hair is drying, don’t run your fingers through it or try brushing it. It might be tempting, but seriously, don’t do it! It ends up making your hair super frizzy!

Try to stay inside if you can! Whenever I go outside before my hair is fully dry, it ends up getting frizzy or tangled from the wind or humidity.

Don’t go to bed on your hair wet! As I mentioned at the very beginning of this post, this is a cardinal mistake of air-drying. If you do this, chances are you will regret it in the morning. Try it once and you’ll know what I mean!

Styling After It’s Dry

Often, I don’t need to do much more after it’s dry. Probably because I’m lazy, but it usually pasts my “looks good to me” test. Occasionally, I’ll spritz a little more sea salt spray in to give it more texture.

Lastly, I sometimes still have some frizzy areas—thank you postpartum hair (insert eye roll), so I’ll use a very little bit of this smoothing lotion to tame those and I’m set!

Do you prefer air drying or styling your hair? What tips do you have?

Also! This is the last week to get a free full-size sunscreen with any Beautycounter orders over $150. This is the perfect opportunity to try out some safe beauty products if you’ve been wanting to and get my favorite sunscreen as a little bonus! This sunscreen is the one that both Rob and I use and what we use on Owen too (though this stick sunscreen is easier on him since he’s so wiggly)! If you’re not sure where to start here are 5 of my favorite products:

1. Tint Skin Hydrating Foundation: I’ve tried so many clean foundations, but keep coming back to this one! For reference, I use the Honey shade, but could have probably gone a little lighter with Sand (I was hopeful that I’d be tanner this summer, ha!).
2. Cleansing Balm: This makeup remover/facial cleanser is amazing! It gets rid of all your makeup and leaves your skin feeling super soft!
3. Baby All-Over Wash: We use this on Owen and it doesn’t cause any irritation and leaves him clean!
4. Balancing Charcoal Face Mask: If you have breakout prone skin, this mask is amazing! It has a nice fresh minty smell and always leaves my skin so soft! It helps break up blackheads too and overtime my skin has gotten much clearer.
5. Lip Sheer & Color Intense Lipstick: I used to never wear lipstick because it left my lips so incredibly dried out and crusty, gross, I know! But, Beautycounter’s Lip Sheers don’t. They’re hydrating and the colors are perfect! If you like a bolder color, I definitely recommend the Color Intense Lipstick. My favorite colors are Currant, Scarlet and 9 to 5.

BTW, toxic skincare ingredients to avoid, and the quickest way to brighten your eyes.