Get These Beach Waves! Plus, A Bit Of Polish

There are really only a few secrets to getting the perfect waves. The first bit of advice I have is to do as little as possible to your hair after washing. The more you touch it, brush it and fuss with it, the frizzier it gets. As you mess around with your hair, you rough up the cuticle and allow the hair to start to pouffe out. The first secret to beachy waves is to keep your hair defined and separated - this is what happens if you swim in the ocean. Think about it: the salt makes your hair stick together so it dries in chunky sections, you don't really brush your hair at the beach so you aren't frizzing it out, and any natural wave you might have is encouraged by the lack of styling. Now, that might be a cute look for the beach, but it is actually kind of messy, and to be honest, salt water is extremely drying for your hair. Tip: cover your hair in a deep conditioning mask before going to the beach. The heat from the sun will help it sink it, and it will protect your hair somewhat from the salt.

So, you are at home, and want beachy waves. If you have long-ish hair, ideally, you should wash your hair in the evening, let it air dry, and, yes, sleep on it. Do NOT leave it in a towel for a long time, as again, you are encouraging frizz. If you have a nice big old cotton t shirt around, wrap your hair in that when you step out of the shower. You will be amazed at the difference a smooth textured wrap has on your hair vs. a rough towel. Plus, you don't want it drying out too quickly- again, frizz. 

When you take it out of your wrap, use some leave in conditioner. Either a spray in one of your choice ( I love I.C.O.N. Cure) or, and this is something I do all the time, use a small dollop of your favourite conditioner on the ends of your hair. Next you need a wide tooth comb. Gently part your hair, and comb the product through once. Then, add your styling cream. I always prefer a cream, as it keeps hair soft and touchable, is never crispy or crunchy (ew) and if it can hold the weight of my hair, it can hold nay hair. I.C.O.N. Mesh is my favourite- it smells like sweet and woodsy, and holds my hair perfectly, Using your wide tooth comb, gently pull it through to distribute the cream. Do NOT overbrush. A wide tooth comb is a must have. 

I then do some twisting. I separate my hair into a bunch of small sections (bigger than the width of my thumb) and twist them away from my face. Sounds complicated but really just takes a couple of minutes. Then, I gently (again, stressing the word GENTLE to avoid frizz) "scrunch" my hair. I grab a handful, at the ends, and push it upwards and squeeze to coax out the waves. Then, leave it be until it is dry. 

You can stop right here, and enjoy the soft gentle beach waves that are kind of carefree and casual.  I  gently comb it  and add a bit more styling cream when it is dry. That is basically what I do every time I wash my hair. I think a blowdryer touches my hair 3 or 4 times a year, max. I'm simply too lazy. Refresh your waves with a few spritzes of water if you need some more waves, or, as, I did in the above photo, bust out the curling iron. I take around 5 or 6 sections on the crown and curl them with the iron. It adds some volume and polish. Beach waves alone are lovely, but can look a wee bit messy and casual. If you want to glam it up a bit, with minimal effort, take the iron, grab sections on the very top of your hair, including the bangs area, and curl them away from the face. Let them cool, then using a wide tooth comb, gently comb them out and they will blend in perfectly with your naturally coaxed waves. Ta-da!

I use the Tigi Curl Stick and love it so much, I would never go back to a regular curling iron. It seems daunting, but once you get the hang of it, its amazing. It gets super hot, and needs like 5-7 seconds per section on full heat. I did my daughter's entire head in less than 10 minutes, and it usually takes her over 30 minutes with a regular curling iron. It is this:

The key here, if you haven't already noticed, is doing as little as possible to the hair. Trust me when I say I am lazy, and this look is easy and quick. I seriously can do this and go days and days without doing anything except a light combing to the hair. As long as you have Batiste dry shampoo, your style will actually look even better the next day.  Hair needs to be a bit "dirty" (not the ideal word but...) to look wavy and section-y, as it needs texture. If it is too silky and clean, it will just fall flat. And can we all agree flat ironed hair that is dead straight just doesn't look good on anyone? Unless you were born with it, hair without even a hint of natural motion and wave looks dead. Stop it. Embrace your natural hair.

Thinking of doing a video tutorial on this style if there is demand. Let me know if you would like to see this!

InStyle Magazine or Daly Beauty. We've Got The Scoop

Oh my gosh Daly Beauty told me I needed it!

Funny....I was leafing through the March 2012 edition (the one with the gorgeous Jennifer Aniston on the cover) of my Beauty Bible, aka In Style magazine, the other day and noticed something. Several of their beauty tips were things I had written about on Daly Beauty over the past few months. So, either In Style is looking to Daly Beauty for beauty tips (wishful thinking) or great minds think alike. Here are some of the fun scoops that my readers got here first:

Candy Pink Nails: InStyle says on page 357 that bright fuchsia nails are the best antidote to the winter blues. Really? So did Daly Beauty in July of 2011 when I showed you how gorgeous Deborah Lippmann Between The Sheets is...

Eyebrow Wows: InStyle has a 4 page editorial on how thick healthy eyebrows are in & thin & bleached out brows are weird. Hm. I believe I scooped this in December of 2011 when I told you that you would thank me for these brow tips...

Big Wavy Hair: On page 380 InStyle tells you how to bust out the big hair and get lovely bouncy waves. I knew this was the hair-DO for me before Christmas & posted my bouncin' & behavin' waves on Instagram here & in February I told you my styling secret to soft touchable wavy hair...

Sweet Kissable Hot Pink Lips: Well this is almost embarrassing! On page 384 in InStyle's Beauty Editor's Picks, their senior beauty editor Angelique Serrano suggests the best sheer pink lip for the colour shy....really Angelique! Clearly great beauty minds think alike, as I suggested the exact same Clinique one...last month.

Rosy Pink Cheeks: Oh gosh...on page 394 InStyle suggests a gentle pink rosy blush for sweet pinched cheeks that don't look clownish. I must say I wholeheartedly agree, as in January I shared my most beloved soft rose blush by Benefit...

So there you have it. If you are like me, you look forward every month to diving into the delicious beauty & fashion-o-rama of InStyle magazine. And now you know, you can tune into Daly Beauty for a preview of the fabulous trends that are coming....

I.C.O.N. Mesh Styling Cream & My Hair- Oh Behave!

It always surprises me to find what I consider to be some of the most incredible beauty products out there are a) completely unknown to my friends (one of the reasons I started this blog) and b) not reviewed by anyone, anywhere. ICON Mesh Styling Cream is one of them. This is probably the best hair styling product I have ever used. Ever. And I've meant to write about forevah but get distracted by all the sparkly shiny things that come my way *oh glitter nail polish*....but I digress. I have coarse wavy hair that whips the butt of pretty much every styling product out there. For something to actually hold and calm my hair, it usually has to have the texture of thick glue or lacquer. I.C.O.N. Mesh teaches my hair to behave.

My amazing hair-whisperer/stylist/artist Katarina introduced me to ICON line years ago. She carries a different main line in her family salons, but is committed 100% to ICON Mesh Styling and ICON Cure (that's another post...) and once I tried it on my hair, I became a believer. Its a light weight gently scented styling cream, perfect for wavy, curly hair, or just for controlling hair. It works well on short hair as well as long hair. I use it on damp hair pre-styling and also on dry hair after styling to refresh my style the next day. I use a quarter sized dollop and emulsify it between my hands then evenly distribute it on my hair. For my long hair it works best to concentrate Mesh on the lower half of my hair.

...because we all don't have Warren to do our hair for us...

It is described as "A styling cream that creates structure and flexible style". That is exactly what it does. It does not build up in hair and its almost impossible to tell there is product in the hair. It doesn't flake off and actually seems to have a conditioning effect. It does have the tiniest bit of silicone in it (way down the ingredient list, near fragrance) which adds slip but there isn't enough to build up in the hair. I am silicone phobic as all it really does is mask issues in the hair and coat it so conditioners can't work & my silicone detector has not gone off with Mesh. The scent is very soft and gentle and seems to dissipate as your hair dries. I actually love the smell- it's very soft & sort of a sweet floral woody scent. If I want tons of hold ( like for a fancy party- otherwise that is just not my lifestyle...) I use hairspray. But for everyday control and polish, Mesh is simply perfect.

3rd day waves....hair for the lazy...

I get my ICON products from my stylist. They have a store/salon search engine on their site so hopefully you can find some near you! It is also available for sale on Amazon. I buy the giant 250ml bottle and it lasts at least 6 months. I also got the travel size bottle and refill it for, well, travel.