I’m headed to Florida for a few days to see my family and defrost my kids.

I actually grew up in Miami. But to be honest, I never liked the weather. I always felt like a creature out of my natural habitat with my big frizzy hair and pale skin. Don’t get me wrong, I like warm weather, I just like a more arid heat. It must be genetic or something. Because my people are from very cold places. Humidity makes all my five senses cringe. It puts me in a bad mood and my hair in a spiral.

Not this time.

This time I’m glossed and ready. Here’s my defense, head to toe.

Hair
I got a gloss and a blowout the day before my trip. Anyone can get a gloss, a subtle color gloss or a clear one. A gloss adds major shine and really clamps down the cuticle, which is key for blocking moisture.

Before my blowout, my stylist used this anti-frizz Kerastase spray I’ve heard great things about.

Body
I went in for a full-body St. Tropez self-tanning treatment the day before I left. I swear the layer of color gives me an added boost of sun protection under my SPF. Plus, I am less apt to scare people at the pool.

Face
I intend to use Bare Mineral makeup exclusively because I find it “sweats” well. Plus, it absorbs oil. Win-win since I tend to be both sweaty and oily in humidity.

At the end of the day, if all my defenses fail in the dampening powers of the weather, I’ll have my new favorite hat from Lola.

Valery Joseph, the brilliant hair stylist behind Barney’s B3 Blow Bar, with eponymous salons in New York City and the Hamptons, recently launched a hair care line.

I’m in love.

The entire line is sulfate-free but lathers incredibly well. It also contains Joseph’s signature “smart keratin” which nourishes and softens hair like nothing I’ve ever tried. Organic ingredients like baobab oil, artichoke-leaf extract, rhubarb extract, and rice protein fortify hair further, boosting hair’s overall strength—the key to achieving and maintaining length, whatever yours might be. The formula also helps maintain color and protects hair from damage.

I’ve been using the Nourish line for dry hair, but there are a range of products to suit different hair needs, from Preserve (for colored hair) to Amplify (volume) to Heal (damaged). I also love the Brilliance Oil, which smooths, softens and tames with the most beautiful scent.

What’s especially nice about this pricier line is that a little really does go a long way. And the bottles are 10oz as opposed to the usual 8oz.

If you’re in New York City, you can check out the line at Barney’s and at the Valery Joseph salons. The products may also be purchased at online at Barney’s,  Net-A-Porter and at Fred Segal on the West Coast.

P.S. I’ve been getting my hair cut by Nir at the Valery Joseph salon for years. Truly, no one does long layers as artfully as the Valery Joseph team.

This Argan oil just might trump them all. It’s light, dries in quickly and can be used head to toe. I’ve been using it like crazy—on my cuticles, on my kids and lightly on my dry hair. My favorite part, though, is that it’s fairly traded and produced by an inspirational women’s cooperative in Morocco.

I really heart Neal’s Yard. Their products are organic, beautifully packaged and well priced. Find them here or at your local Whole Foods.

P.S. I also love their White Tea Facial Mist and organic body scrub.

I’ll be the first to admit I am a sucker for good marketing. If a product’s packaging catches my eye and the messaging hits my radar, I’ll bite. My husband often makes fun of me at the site of a new toothpaste in our bathroom or an exotic chocolate bar in our kitchen because he knows I fell prey shopping somewhere that day. These impulse purchases fill me with hope and excitement but don’t usually lead to brand loyalty.

Except when they do. As in the case of Alterna Haircare, which lured me in with gorgeous photos of its new partner, Katie Holmes, who I’ll always love for 2003’s Pieces of April alone. Katie and her lustrous locks are new co-owners of the luxury brand, which is pure and natural, free of parabens, sulfates, phthalates and other unnatural, unnecessary additives. With Ric Pepino (hair stylist extraordinaire and Heidi Klum’s ex) on board, Alterna is poised to give my other favorite hair care brand a run for its money.

So far, I’ve tried Alterna’s Caviar Anti-Aging Replenishing Moisture Shampoo and conditioner, which are the best sulfate-free duo I’ve tried yet. The shampoo actually achieves a nice lather, which you don’t often find when you go sulfate-free. I also really like the Caviar Anti-Aging Replenishing Moisture Milk spray for an extra conditioning boost.

John Barrett’s new Be Healed Styling Masque  has been steadily transforming my hair the past few weeks.

I use it on wet hair before styling, as well as on dry hair to smooth and shine. It’s actually kind of miraculous. You see results instantly. What I love about it is that beyond the immediate results you see, the reparative properties just keep on giving. It’s like a protein Rx for hair, with super high concentrations of keratin, beeswax, wheat germ and exotic oils. It’s a non-greasy cream that acts as both a treatment and a smoothing, softening styling aid. Suitable for all hair types and particularly effective on hair that’s on the dry side, either from the environment or from processing.

It’s not too often that I discover a product that becomes a mainstay in my hair care routine, but this one has become top drawer.

P.S. More of my favorite hair care and tools.

I’ll admit, after my first daughter was weaned and before I was pregnant with my second baby, when my body was mine and mine alone, there was a window of time when I engaged in some toxic beauty treatments. A little bit of Botox, some prescription Retin A—and Keratin hair treatments. I thought the Botox would be the poisonous addiction I’d develop, but honestly, the hair-smoothing, time-saving, frizz-fighting Keratin was the most life-changing.

I’ve been off the hair treatment wagon for a few years now, especially since the big Keratin bust of 2011, when it was revealed that most Keratin treatments had wildly high levels of formaldehyde. I just didn’t even want to go near it. But I was thrilled recently to learn about Trissola from the pros at the Serge Normant at John Frieda Salon where I get my color done in New York City. I’m a few weeks in and my hair is smoother and more manageable and more humidity-proof, which is really all I can ever hope for. (Plus, I can nuzzle my girls without worrying about chemical vapors.) The results rival Keratin but the integrity of your hair is more intact. In fact, the healing vitamins and oils in Trissola are touted as an anti-aging formula for hair. The treatment is actually nourishing, unlike traditional Keratins, which, I can attest, are ultimately are very drying.

Here’s the lowdown:

Most Notable: There are no formaldehyde derivitates, lye or cyseteine.

Key Ingredients: Powered by peptides. Hair is infused with panthenol, keratin, antioxidants and coconut oil to increase strength and elasticity and seal cuticles.

The Process: A two hour process that closely resembles a Keratin treatment: product is applied, hair is dried then flat-ironed. However, there are no restrictions—hair can be washed immediately.

The Results: Moderate, though meaningful: smoother hair, sealed cuticles, blow-dry time cut in half. Humidity resistant. Lasts up to twelve weeks.

Trissola is safe for all hair-types and the treatment is tweaked accordingly—left on longer or shorter depending on hair porosity and texture. I highly recommend it. The one caveat is that my colored hair was stripped a bit. This was easily remedied with a glossing treatment, but bear it mind that Trissola must be done ten days before of after color. For what it’s worth, Keratin treatments mucked with my color, too.

If you’re in New York City and want to learn more about Trissola, call the talented Renee Cohen at Serge Normant at John Freida. (The great Steven Amendola does my color there, FYI.)