When the temperature climbs I tweak my routine to cope with Toronto's hot, humid climate that turns my hair into a frizzy mess and makes my skin feel like it's covered in sidewalk grime. My musts: With all the sunscreen I load on my face I want a cleanser that will take it off and refresh my skin; I want my hair to stay smooth if I take time to blow it out; and I want my skin too look moisturized if I am going to be baring my legs all the time. These products fit the bill.



1. Benefit launched their new b.right skincare collection this past May and I'm especially loving the Foamingly Clean Facial Wash which cuts through the sunscreen and sweat, and leaves my skin feeling  clean and refreshed.

2. Korres is a Greek beauty company whose formulas are based on homeopathic remedies. Their products smell amazing, have natural ingredients and are very reasonably priced (most are under C$50.00). Their Guava Body Butter is my new favourite lotion. It smells amazing, and is very rich, but with a texture that's light enough that it doesn't sit on the top layer of your skin making you feel like you're sweating when you're not.

3. My shameful summer secret is that I get horrible blisters no matter what shoes I wear. A week or so ago I was wearing some new sandals that, despite having paid to get stretched and softened, still caused blisters on the back of my heels the size of a bar of soap (and not the hotel size). Luckily I was with Janine Falcon of Beautygeeks, who recommended La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Epidermal Repair Accelerator, a skin-healing ointment she's recommended to plenty of others for all manner of skin traumas, and it really did do wonders. I put it on and covered with a plaster and by end of day the skin felt soft and baby-like. The swelling (and, ew, fluid) had diminished almost completely. By day three I was wearing slingbacks again and it didn't peel or go hard, just looked a bit red and felt super smooth.

4. Joe Fresh Cream Lipstick in Grapefruit is quenching my need to wear a bold lip in the summer, but feeling like the poppy red and powdery fuchsia I gravitated to in the winter were too sombre. It's fun and bright!

5. John Frieda 3-Days Straight is the best product I've tried in the last month. Come summer, my hair goes on a trip to Ponytailtown (Population: my frizzy hair) and I wait until the humid weather abates in October before venturing elsewhere. I've been consistently using this spray before I blow dry and flat iron and my hair hasn't been doing a mass-expansion. So long Ponytailtown!

Have you tried any of these? What do you look for in summer beauty products?