Hot hair

Keeping cool and looking stylish can be a tricky combination in gruelling heat. Summer has officially drawn to a close but the reality is the colder weather is still weeks away, so today I’m looking at gorgeous styles for long hair that not only look lovely, but are a cool option on hot days.

Creating a braid can be a little daunting, especially if you don’t normally braid. The best thing to remember is: The messier, the better!

Step 1: Sweep all your hair to one side.

Step 2: Separate your hair into two sections for your braid, lets call it side A and side B.

Step 3: Pull a section of hair from the outside of side A and bring it over to side B.

Step 4: Pull a section of hair from the outside of side B and bring it over side A.

Step 5: Pull tight.

Step 6: Repeat steps 3-5 until your braid is done.

Step 7: Tie off the braid with an elastic to match your hair colour.

Step 8: Make it messy, starting at the top of your braid and working down, pull the outside of your braid to fatten it up. Use some hair wax/paste to create texture with any loose strands.

You can always add more texture around the face for a beachy boho look. Or if you want this look for a glam night out, use a teasing comb to create volume at the roots to give your braid some height.

Use a medium-sized heated curling wand and curl your hair in sections, starting at the base of your head and working up.

Make sure you wait for your hair to cool before brushing the curls out — this creates a beachy wave look.

Use a teasing comb to create height through the top section. Make sure you backcomb at the end of your hair so the top of your ponytail stays smooth.

Comb your hair back into a low or high ponytail.

Tie this off using a strong elastic that will hold the weight of your hair — especially if you have long hair or extensions.

Use some sea-salt spray (I like Original Mineral Surf Bomb, $24.95, stockist: originalmineral.com) to create texture and hold.

It's easy to get carried away with colour this summer.

Pastel tones are trending at the moment and if you're brave enough to give it a try, here's my advice.

The colour in the bottle is not always the colour you will get.

Pastel pinks and purples tend to work best with blonde hair. Remember that your blonde hair will give a slight yellow hue to the colour you are choosing so, for example, blue can tend to look a little bit green.

Brunettes will have a hard time getting the colour to come through, however, if you have blonde ends, you can always use this to create semi- permanent coloured ends.

Redheads also need to take this into account. For example, if you want a purple colour, apply a blue because red and blue will make purple.

If you just apply purple, your colour will tend to be on the warmer, redder side of plumb/cherry.