Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty
—The Lovin’ Spoonful
Summertime means hot, hot heat and frizzy, frizzy hair. Hair which looks cute when you eave the house, but quickly becomes sweaty and stuck to you. As much as I love to wear my hair down, these days that is not how it’s at it cutest and hell, my neck need to breathe! I don’t want to look like I’m on the way to the gym with my hair tossed up into a boring old ponytail, so I’ve been experimenting with various pulled-back ‘dos. Variety is key to making summer hair styles feel cute and on-purpose rather than just lazy.
Two of my favorite off-the-neck summer hair styles are the dressed-up ponytail and the hair stick bun, both of which I’ve written about before, so click the links to visit those tutorials.
And speaking of the bun, it’s a no-fail summer option that can be done in about a gazillion different ways. Try it loose, tight, messy, or polished. Try it low at the nape of your neck, or maybe a little to one side, or hell, try it smack dab on top of your head. Braid it before you twist. Secure it with an elastic or secure it with some pins.
A low, nape-of-the-neck basic braid is an easy and cute look in the summer, but if you’re like me and have layered hair, you’ve experienced the fall-out pieces that take your hair from on-purpose messy to just plain messy. This is why I’ve been sporting the french braid lately. And not only during the day—it’s my bedtime ‘do for keeping my hair off my neck and creating cute waves for the next day (if it’s not too hot to wear my hair down!). If you’re a bit rusty on the french braid, here’s a tutorial (feel free to skip the “decorative hair band” instructions and use an elastic the same color as your hair):
Click the image to watch the video.
The Fish Tail Braid is something I recently decided to teach myself (via online tutorials like this one) for some variety in tied-back summer hair. Fortunately, this is a style that looks good “messy”, so don’t worry if it’s not perfect… I certainly don’t!
Click the image to watch the video.
So now that you have a few easy, quick ideas for getting your hair off your neck, try a new one each day to stay cool and look your frizz-less best.
