The heat and humidity have officially arrived in NYC—along with frizzy hair, sweaty skin and sunburns! While it’s not always easy to stay cute and fresh when you’re slogging through 100-degree days, the right products can help. Here are five of my favorite beauty buys for moms this summer.
A beach spray for summer hair. Bumble and Bumble basically invented the beach spray for hair (you spray on their “Surf Spray” to get beachy, textured waves in your hair even when not at the beach) but there are lots of other brands out there now, too. I like this new cool set from Ouidad called the Wave Create Collection ($23). I also like to use Aveda’s Volume Tonic ($17), which is terrific for adding volume to limp hair. You can also be crafty and make you own beach spray with water, salt and some essential oils. Spray it on damp hair, scrunch up and go for sexy, beachy, wavy hair in the city!
Lip balm with sun protection. EOS SPF 15 Lip Balm in Lemon Drop ($2.99) is my absolute favorite SPF lip balm. It tastes exactly like a sugary lemon drop–so much so that when my son was a baby he ate one! Now that he is three, he still loves it and steals it away when he can and calls it his “lemony.”
Wipes for mom—not baby. When it is above 80 degrees and sticky outside, I like to use “mom wipes” to freshen up. I like these from Herban Essentials ($16 for a 20-pack). I use them for everything: sticky hands, wiping my face and neck after a sweaty commute, or even wiping my dirty city feet after wearing sandals. You can buy a big bag at Whole Foods, and they come individually wrapped so that they’re easy to toss in your purse or diaper bag. My favorite scents are Lavender, Lemon and Peppermint (which is especially amazing for summer because it causes a cooling sensation). They’re also kid-safe so you can use them on your little ones, too.
A double-duty sunscreen. You already know that I am a total sunscreen maniac. Now, to add to my collection I recently got Kiss My Face Face Factor 30 ($9.70). I have been a fan of KMF products for years–since I was a pre-teen and my mom would order their products via our food co-op. This sunscreen is no exception to KMF’s excellence. The product is very natural and the best part is that it works double duty to protect your skin: besides being a basic sunscreen, it contains antioxidants to further prevent sun damage.
Face bronzer to fake it, not bake it. Even though I am not into tanning, I still like to look bronzey and goddessy in the summer. But I like to fake it, not bake it, with the magic of bronzer! I use less makeup in summer, but strategically adding a touch of bronzer can do wonders. Still, bronzer can be a little tricky for people to apply correctly and sometimes can make you look too orange. But you can’t go wrong with my two favorites: Nars Laguna ($36) and Tarte Park Avenue Princess ($29). I also just got this terrific three-in-one bronzer, blush and highlight from Sephora called Micro Smooth Baked Sculpting Trio ($20). It is so easy to use and cuts my makeup routine in half! Add a little highlighter and blush along with it, and I am out the door to face the heat!
