In the summer I like everything to be very minimal and fuss free, and that applies to my hair routine too. I recently got the chop - hooray - so now I'm determined to keep my hair looking healthy and nourished, but without using a million different products that may clog it up. I was never one to invest in my hair, but lately I've realised the importance of using certain products to make my hair easier to maintain and to generally improve the look and feel of it. I tend to wash my hair every 3 days, give or take a day depending on what I'm doing. It's crucial to try and leave your hair as long as possible between washes so your hair can produce it's own natural oils. If you do get oily roots, like me, just use a dry shampoo to keep it fresh! 

To start off with I'll go in with a shampoo and conditioner, and I've been obsessed with the new L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Clay Shampoo which is designed for those who have dry ends and oily roots. Finally a range that sums up my hair and caters for a mix of hair types!! The first time I used this I managed to go about 5 days without washing my hair...revolutionary! I can't believe how well this worked and how soft my hair felt at the ends. The matching clay conditioner is a really nice lightweight cream which makes your hair soft, smooth, and easy to brush though. I don't apply my conditioner to my roots, just through the mids and ends of my hair. This new range also comes with a mask which you can apply from root to tip before you hop in the shower. This is great for restoring the hair and in the summer when I'm on holiday I always find myself using a mask like this when I'm back in England. This Clay Mask Pre-shampoo is meant to be applied before you go in the shower, then you wash it off with the shampoo and then follow with your conditioner and whatever else you use. I really like that you can apply this to the roots and it doesn't make them oily, there definitely needs to be more masks like this!

Post shower, sometimes I dry my hair and sometimes I don't, it depends what I'm doing. If I am blow drying it I will apply the Redken Satinwear Blow-dry Lotion which has a heat guard complex to help protect your hair from heat damage. This is a really nice lightweight lotion which doesn't weigh the hair down and makes your ends soft and smooth and quicker to blow dry. I will slightly towel dry my hair, apply this, and go in with a hair dryer. This is such a nice product to have if you blow-dry you hair often!

For leave-in treatments, I use a couple. The first is the Dove Leave in Conditioner which I love for detangling and nourishing the hair. If you have hard to comb hair, leave in conditioners are a great thing to invest in. This one has a bi-phase formula which you need to shake up, then spray onto your hair. This is really lovely in the summer as, again, it doesn't weigh your hair down or feel like you have product in. If I need a more intense treatment to treat breakage I will always reach for the Living Proof Restore Instant Repair which is a cream formula. This is a bit thicker then other creams I use in my hair, but it's so good at repairing split-ends and brining moisture back into your hair. Since I've had mine cut I try to use this every other time I wash my hair just to make sure it's as healthy as can be and to prevent any damage.

For a little finish touch I love to use the Aveda Shine Spray which is a nice product to help make your hair appear shinier. You don't need this, it's a bit of a princess product, but it does make your hair smell lovely and look a bit more put together and sleek. I can get frizzy hair in the summer, and this is also good at smoothing everything out once it's dry, so I guess it is necessary right?...