New York Fashion Week is a total whirlwind! After two years of attending under my belt, I knew what things were important and what things I could spend less energy on while there. One of the main lessons I learned this year: I will not want to wash and style my hair everyday because sleep is a rarity and a necessity during the craziness of NYFW. And let’s be honest – sleep is a priority when getting up and ready any day, let alone during the week of NYFW!

PACKING THE ESSENTIAL PRODUCTS

For packing for my trip to NYFW this year, I wanted to focus on the products that would minimize my styling time, hold my style, and help me speed up my getting ready routine. I’ve been a long-time fan of Living Proof and their Full Dry Volume Blast because it gives my hair a little extra oopmh of volume and texture that I can only seem to get from a salon visit. I knew I would be packing this product in my bag but also wanted to try some of the new Living Proof Style Lab products because they recently re-launched. I took the new T.B.D. Multi-Tasking Styler and Blowout spray through a trial-run a few days before leaving for my trip.

I love the way effortless waves look but wanted to focus on getting some extra volume and sleekness (that only my stylists can seem to achieve), so I started with damp hair and applied about a quarter-sized amount of the T.B.D. Multi-Tasking Styler to my hair with my hands and then brushed it through.  I can’t place a finger on the scent of the Living Proof products but I looove it. It kind of reminds me of a Marni perfume I love! The Multi-Tasking Styler really does it all – you can use it on wet and dry hair and it tames, it smoothes + polishes, it helps you get those piece-y waves… Done!

PREPPING YOUR HAIR

I don’t typically do blowouts on my hair anymore, as I find that the extra heat can be damaging. I have a lot of hair and unless I’m going for a super sleek look I try not to give extra heat to my hair with a blow dryer (but now on the days that I DO want a sleek look, I can use Living Proof’s Blowout for a faster salon-worthy blowout knowing my hair is protected because it has built-in heat protection). But for this effortless waves look, I air dried my hair until it was about 80% dry and then used my hairdryer on the cool setting to get it all the way dry. My focus on the last 20% of drying time was to get the extra smoothing benefit of the T.B.D. Multi-Tasking Styler and to tame my ends.

My next step was to create some loose, effortless waves with a curling iron – but first, I wanted to give my hair a bit of heat protection prior so I used a few spritzes of the Living Proof Style Lab Blowout spray since it offers heat protection up to 450º and can help lock in your style. I focused my spritzes mid-way through my hair since that’s where I would be doing the styling and wrapped small sections of hair once or twice around the curling iron. I like switching up the number of times I wrap my hair around the barrel and curling both towards my face and away from my face for a mixture of different wave patterns.

Once I’m done adding piece-y waves throughout my hair, I use my ol’ favorite: Living Proof Full Dry Volume Blast! Give it a good shake, spray and tousle for some volume, and I’m all set with that New York Fashion Week ‘effortless waves’ hair!

Have you used the new T.B.D. Multi-Tasking Styler or Blowout yet? Would love to hear what you think and how you use them!

This post was created in partnership with Living Proof.