Oh my god—I had way too much fun with this: InStyle Magazine has a “Hollywood Makeover” feature that allows you to try on all sorts of hairstyles of the stars… And I couldn’t help myself and tried on just about all of them.

If you’re like me and always wonder what you’d look like with the January Jones/Kate Moss/Drew Barrymore choppy bob would look like on you (even though you’re hair’s been the same for years and you probably won’t ever change it), this is an awesome activity in playing dress up. Although I stuck to the stars’ ‘dos as they were, the program also lets you play with the color, highlights, and lowlights too… A great feature if you’re looking to see what the cut/style looks like with your own color. There’s also a makeup feature, but that’s for another post… (Although I couldn’t totally help myself and did go for the Taylor Momsen “complete makeover”).

Take a look at some of my favorites and let me know which you like the best in the comments… Or try it yourself and post your best pic!

Bangs are an inconvenience in the summer—they stick you your forehead, flip up on the sides, and when you want them off your face, it often requires a complex system of bobby-pins and barrettes. Now that the hottest heat of the summer has passed, bangs are appealing again. And because the average person’s hair grows six inches a year, you can enjoy your bangs this winter and still let them start growing back out in late February and they’ll still be tucked behind your ears by the first trip to the beach.

So now that you’ve decided you want bangs, what style will you go with? Blunt and rounded? Wispy and side-swept? Thick and choppy? Whatever the style, bring a picture with you to your stylist and keep your face-shape and hair’s texture and natural curl/wave (or lack thereof) in mind. If you’re going to have to blow them dry or flat-iron them after each shower, think about whether or not you’ll really stick to that or if it’s too high maintenance for you. Unsure what will work best on you? Ask your stylist—they know what they’re talking about.

And now, enjoy (and get inspired by) some of my favorite bang finds from Flickr:

A couple of months ago, I had to renew my passport. On the form they ask for hair color. Without hesitation, I checked the box for blonde.

When I was 15 or 16, my mother, a hair stylist, had some extra color left over from a family friend whose highlights she had just finished and on what I’m sure was a whim, asked if I’d like her to put a few foils in my hair. I nodded enthusiastically and the rest is history. Or, rather, hairstory.

Except for a year and a half between spring semester senior year in high school and freshman year in college when I reverted not quite to my natural chestnut, but more of an almost-black espresso, I’ve had blonde hair. It’s been pixied, it’s been shagged. It’s been long, it’s been bobbed. It’s had bangs, it’s had layers. And it’s been bleached within an inch of its life.

What does it take to maintain bleached blonde hair? A lot of work and a lot of money. Here’s how it breaks down:

• My hair grows faster than average, so I need to have my regrowth (fancy word for roots) touched up every 6 weeks. At $140 to $220 a pop, that’s about $1500 a year. Luckily my mom’s still a hair stylist, so when I can make it up to Massachusetts for a touch up, that saves me a bit of dough.
• Bleached hair is damaged hair, so is much more susceptible to split, damaged ends.  Which means it needs to be trimmed much more often than healthy hair. Add another $700 to the blonde bill.
• Wet hair is weaker hair, so I have to limit the number of times a week I wash my hair to avoid damage. When I do wash it, it requires ultra-rich, ultra-moisturizing shampoo and conditioner that I comb through and leave in for five minutes. After the shower, I am careful not to rub my hair for fear of damaging the cuticles and I put it up to dry in an ultra-absorbent turban for accelerated drying.
• And it better help the drying, because god forbid I have to spend too much time blow drying it, as that’s no good for damaged hair either.
• In addition to the special shampoo and conditioner I use, once a week I deep condition.
• After my shower, once the turban comes off, I use a wide-toothed comb to get out all the tangles, then apply an ultra-nourishing leave-in conditioner and then an anti-frizz, moisturizing oil to the ends to smooth it out as it dries.
• When out in the sun, I wear a hat to avoid the sun further bleaching my hair and damaging the color. When I go swimming in the ocean or pool, I have to first drench my hair with fresh water and comb through conditioner before submerging to ensure that my hair soaks that up rather than the damaging chlorinated or salty water.

Like I said, it’s a lot of work. So why do I do it? Why not just go brunette and save myself time, energy, money, and a whole lot of trouble? I know it sounds idiotic, but I’m not a brunette—it’s just not me. I’m a blonde. Just check my passport.

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.

I’ve always been jealous of women with perfectly tied scarves in their hair. It’s a cute look, but tough to pull off if you don’t know what you’re doing, which I have experienced often in front of the mirror, when I end up looking like a pirate, then ditching the scarf altogether. Now that I have a convertible and keeping hair out of my face is a matter of public safety, I have realized that I need to learn.

Hermes, the king of scarves, has my favorite scarf tying tutorials, which you can view as super-cute PDFs on their site. I’m so excited that I now know how to look like a bona fide movie star… 20 different ways! Join me by checking out Hermes’ “Playtime With Scarves” Parts One and Two:

The Sun, in honor of SATC2, produced a video (supplemented heavily by clips from the movie) showing you how to make a scarf into a turban, which sounds strange, but is actually a pretty cute look:

How do you tie your scarf? I need more tips. Please share!

I consider myself to be a good shopper. I do my research. I try things on. I carefully consider each purchase and ask myself if I really need whatever it is that’s caught my eye. If a pair of jeans or shoes is amazingly flattering and comfy, I buy several pairs. In return, I have cute stuff that I really love and people are always asking me for shopping advice. So today I’m sharing my latest finds here with you:

If you have longish hair and you subscribe to our simple-yet-stylish mantra, hair sticks should really be a part of your life.  I carry a pair with me in my bag so I always have the option of putting my hair up (especially helpful on hot days, bad hair days, at the beach, on in my convertible).  They make a simple bun more elegant and they don’t leave you with that awful hair elastic ridge when you take it out later.

OMFG Tip: Put your damp hair up in a low bun held in place by hair sticks.  Go about your day.  Later, when your hair is dry, remove the sticks for Blake Lively waves minus the damage and frustration that can be caused by curling irons.

Step-by-step instructions on making a hair stick bun and some cute hair stick options from Etsy:

I’m not a black-tie kind of girl.  If I can get away with jeans, a tee, minimal makeup, and flats, I will.  The same philosophy goes for my hair.  And as a hair-down girl on the day-to-day, dress-up means hair-up to me.  But I’m not spending my time on some fussy up-do, I’m rocking a ponytail.  A “formal” ponytail…

• Add a little mousse to the roots, flip your head over, and hit them with the blow dryer
• Pull the hair into a ponytail–high or low, with bangs loose or smoothed back (depending on their length)–and secure with an elastic that matches your hair color
• Grab a tendril from the underside of the ponytail and wrap it around the elastic, securing with one or two bobby pins
• Hit your whole head with a few spritzes of a workable hairspray and you’ve got a ponytail fit for the boardroom, the red carpet, or a glamorous jaunt to the grocery (in under five minutes)

(walking around while seemingly topless is optional)