
Beating the heat is a breeze when it comes to choosing what to wear when it’s too hot to deal or slathering on cooling beauty products, but our hair is a whole different story. The humidity keeps ruining our best laid hair plans and turning our sleek strands into a frizzy mess. Sure, you have the option to just wear your hair in a bun all summer long, or you can tame your tresses and take back your style. Check out these tips and helpful products designed to control your locks during unruly summer days, and show humidity who’s boss.
1. Switch to a microfiber towel. Are you still vigorously rubbing your hair with one of those terrycloth towels when you get out of the shower? All that rubbing means more breakage and more frizz — the very thing you’re trying to avoid — so you may want to switch to a microfiber towel like the Turbie Twist Microfiber Hair Towel ($13).
2. Use a diffuser. Traditional hair dryers don’t do you many favors. They dry your locks unevenly, which creates unwanted frizz. Try adding a diffuser attachment like the DevaCurl DevaFuser ($45). The hand-like attachment allows you to properly dry your strands from root to tip. The unique vents also offer 360° airflow to ensure your hair dries quickly and effectively.
3. Make a weekly date with hot oil treatments. By now, we all know that UV rays do serious damage to our skin. But what about our hair? Yup, the sun’s rays are also wreaking havoc on your mane and causing major frizz. That’s where L’Anza Keratin Healing Oil Hair Treatment ($44) comes in. Not only does it battle frizz by restoring moisture, but this sulfate- and paraben-free product also protects against UVA, UVB and UVC rays that dry out your tresses and cause frizziness.
4. Switch to a sulfate-free shampoo. Sulfates are really effective hair cleansers — a little too effective, actually. Sulfates can strip hair of its natural oils, causing dryness and frizziness. Go sulfate-free with Dermorganic Argan Oil Sulfate-Free Shampoo ($11) to keep your tresses clean and frizz-free. Plus, it’s got argan oil in it for some extra moisturizing.
5. Use a hydrating conditioner. First came dryness, then came frizz. To make sure your hair is properly moisturized and ready to beat the heat, try a hydrating conditioner like Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturizing Hair Conditioner ($7). It’s a curly-girl fave because it’s so effective at adding much-needed moisture to quickly rehydrate your strands.
6. Switch to co-washing. No matter how gentle, your shampoo is stripping your hair’s natural oils with each wash, which is a main culprit of frizz. Switch it up a bit and use Cantu Shea Butter for Natural Hair Complete Conditioning Co-Wash ($5) instead. This creamy cleanser gently removes product buildup while nourishing your hair with moisturizing Shea butter.
7. Sleep in a silk scarf. You can also battle the ultimate hairstyle ruiner while you’re sleeping. You may not realize it, but your bed linens are rubbing against your hair while you sleep, causing breakage that leads to frizz. Wrap your locks in the Echo “Ichat” Square Silk Scarf ($39) while you rest. The silk stops the harmful rubbing that’s distressing your tresses. Plus, since it’s silk and not cotton, it won’t absorb all the moisture from your hair.
8. Sleep on a satin pillowcase. If you’re an active sleeper, a silk hair scarf is probably not for you; go for the Spasilk Hair Beauty Pillowcase ($10) instead. It does the same job as a silk head scarf — preventing hair-breaking friction — without the fuss of wrapping your hair. Plus, it comes in 17 different colors, so it’ll match all of your bedding.
9. Invest in a good brush. Brushing your hair with the wrong brush can leave you with a damaged, frizzy mess. That’s where the Denman Cushion Brush ($10) comes in. It minimizes frizz-causing breakage and properly distributes product for complete hydration.
10. Try a hood dryer. So, you’ve deep conditioned, shampooed, washed and brushed your hair. But don’t forget about proper drying. Regular bonnet dryers can blow your hair around in the bonnet, which causes (you guessed it) frizz, but the Laila Ali Ionic Soft Bonnet Dryer ($45) doesn’t. Plus, the ion-infused airflow helps maintain moisture levels to keep your locks looking shiny and lush.
11. Get a new comb. A comb is just a comb, right? Wrong. The YS Park 452 Round Tooth Cutting Comb ($16) isn’t just a comb. The YS Park 452 is heat resistant up to 428°F, the holes in the handle allow for airflow for when you’re blowdrying your hair and the wider teeth on the comb better distribute product and won’t tug and break your hair. Use this to work your conditioner through your hair in the shower to make sure your locks are properly hydrated.
12. Use a leave-in conditioner. Laugh in the face of humidity with this genius product. Apply Giovanni Direct Leave-In Treatment Conditioner ($9) post wash for controlled care of your hair. A little of this product goes a long way to tame flyaways and reduce frizz. Take that, humidity.
13. Use a heat protectant. Heat styling is usually a no-no if you’re trying to avoid frizz, but thanks to Tresemmé Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray ($6), you can dust off the ol’ flat iron and get to stylin’. This product not only protects against high heat, but also prevents friction.
14. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. What’s the key to frizz-free hair? You guessed it — moisturizing. The Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie ($13) does just that. The coconut oil in this wonder product hydrates and protects your hair while also reducing breakage caused by dryness.
15. Use a hydrating styling gel. If you read the label on some hair gels on the market, you’ll notice that they contain alcohol. That’s a huge no-no for frizz control. Reach for Eco Styler Moroccan Argan Oil Styling Gel ($9) instead. The alcohol-free non-drying formula also contains nourishing oils and provides flake-free hold.
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Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures