How to Style Perfect Waves on a Humid Day

Anyone else have hair that frizzes and puffs out while completely losing the beautiful loose waves that you just styled within 15 minutes of stepping outside??? I know I'm not alone here, and it just so happens that we are heading into a weeklong stretch of high humidity as I type this.

Read on for my best tips for styling waves that will hold up. They key here is changing your products and adjusting your technique a bit.

First of all- let's ditch the texture spray and the flexible hairspray that we love 3/4 of the year. What we need now is a STRONG HOLD hair spray. I prefer Kenra's 25 Volume spray with "super hold".

Like usual, we will approach our styling broken into manageable sections like usual- but the difference here is that we are really going to blast our hair with this strong hold spray.

Then take a moment to brush the hair so that the spray is evenly distributed. This also gives the spray the 3 seconds it needs to dry. We don't want to hear a "sizzle" when we put your hair in the iron in a moment!

When we use our iron, we want to clamp down on the hair (for added smoothness & reinforcement with heat) and take our iron all of the way to the scalp. Even if we don't want to wave the hair that high- we still want to slide the hair through- just like you would with a flat iron.

Then I like to blast the hair with my strong hold spray again once curled, and work up to the top with my Spray, curl, spray routine.

Then I spray it again when finished. Your waves should feel stiff and crunchy. This is your "set". Meaning; not the desired end result- but an over compensated- more intense version of your style. We can leave your hair hang out in this state for awhile if you have time.

If my plans involve being outside for hours, I will leave my hair exactly like this. It only takes a little while outside for this crunch look to soften.

If I am taking an Uber somewhere and spending minimal time out doors, I will break it up just a bit with my wide tooth comb so I don't look crazy when I arrive at my destination.

But don't be afraid to leave your hair waved a little tighter that your desired look.

The idea here to expect your hair to still loosen a bit when you're outside.

And even with some frizz activating you will still have a loose wave that looks intentional because of your strong set in the beginning!

I hope you found this helpful! Enjoy this beautiful weather, Ladies!

xoxo,

Ann

Skip the Reception

Have you ever imagined just bailing on your formal reception and instead wandering around Wicker Park alone (with your partner of course), and maybe grabbing some good ramen and hanging out in an arcade???⁠ Basically doing whatever you want...

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This was the inspiration for our recent project with Lionhearted Events and photographer Mari Trancoso.⁠

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I'm sure there's at least a few fellow introverts who can relate. And besides- for many couples, reality looked a lot like this over the past year... so why not make the best of it!⁠

Plus- the non traditional event makes the perfect setting to wear whatever you want- like a belted bridal pantsuit, hat & boots!

Contributors;

Photography- Mari Trancoso⁠

Production- Lionhearted Events⁠

Hair & Makeup- Beauty by Ann Krause⁠

Bridal attire- Honey Bridal⁠

Groom model- Broderick

Bride model- Jasmine

How to Eat for Better Skin

Did you notice the theme happening here? If not, check out my prior post where I talk about the foods that help with hair health.

When it comes to healthy skin, I will admit that I haven't always placed enough importance on the matter. I spent much of my early-mid 20's using tanning beds to try and build a "healthy base tan". My use of an actual skin care routine at the same time could be called sporadic at best. I used to think that I would like to age naturally and thought that I would never do any of those anti-aging procedures that women older than me did. Clearly, that was before I noticed my first wrinkle.

⁠⁠Today, in addition to utilizing the help of an esthetician/dermatologist and using a handful of quality skin care products daily, I also like to remind myself of the foods that promote healthy skin every once in awhile to make sure that I am incorporating some of these items in my meals regularly.⁠⁠

Here we go!⁠⁠

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The Healthy skin list;⁠⁠

Fatty Fish⁠⁠

Avocados⁠⁠

Walnuts⁠⁠

Sunflower seeds⁠⁠

Sweet Potatoes⁠⁠

Red or Yellow Bell Peppers⁠⁠

Broccolli⁠⁠

Tomatoes⁠⁠

Soy⁠⁠

Dark Chocolate⁠⁠

Green tea⁠⁠

Red grapes⁠⁠

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Funny how much overlap there is between this and the healthy hair list, right?⁠⁠

Happy grocery shopping!