Hair Care Tips

Heat, humidity, drying chlorine and salt water can all wreak havoc on your hair -- and your style. The right hair care tips will keep your hair looking and feeling great.

So, to get you through the warm-weather months, try these tricks -- and tools -- for summer tresses.

Use hair clips. "Run your fingers through your hair like a comb, and then pull your hair back at the nape of the neck into hair clips or a loose ponytail," suggests Penny James, a stylist at the Avon Centre Salon in New York. Leave a few loose tendrils around your face to help frame your look. (Try hair clips from Frederic Fekkai, $45-$50; 888-F-FEKKAI.)

Use hair bands. Wide hair bands are a perfect way to hold back short, layered hair or longer straight or curly hair. "The beauty is they work well for day or night," says Ching. (Get banded with the Bumble and bumble Ultra Band, $25; bumbleandbumble.com; or the Silk Shantung Vuille Scarf head wrap by Ann Vuille, $35.)

Embrace braided hair. Instead of a French braid, try putting your tresses into low pigtails, then loosely braiding the tails and twisting them together at the nape of your neck, suggests Shirley Ching, a stylist at Bumble and bumble Salon in New York. To help make weaving easier, add a styling product like L'Oreal Studio Line FX Toss Lotion ($3.30; lorealparis.com). You can twist your braided hair up with ponytail holders like Crochet Daisy Ponies by Ann Vuille, $15; 203-853-2251.

A final hair care tip: protect it. If you're heading to the beach, first apply a sun-protector spray like Avon Centre Sunsheen Conditioning Mist ($17; avoncentre.com).