I've been blonde for 3 years now and I have to admit it's a lot of work keeping it healthy. Between heat styling, bleach and the sun, it dries out very easily. I get my hair trimmed often and moisturize and seal my hair every evening following this routine. Then additionally I follow this video routine for my color treated hair. If you don't feel like watching the long video here's the gist of it:

I use Infusium 23 as my leave in conditioner. I put it in a small spray bottle because it's so thin it's just a mess coming out the original bottle. Then I combined the other products into a larger spray bottle with 40% Rosewater, 40% Aloe Vera Juice, 20% Vegetable Glycerin and a few drops of Vitamin E oil. The oil is just a preservative for the Aloe Vera Juice which would otherwise have to be refrigerated. You can read here the benefits of aloe vera and rosewater. That mixture I spray onto my hair every evening.

What I didn't realize is how much the sun damages my hair, in just the past two months it has lightened my hair to a Gwen Stefani blonde, not the wheat blonde you see in my picture. I thought fading color was something only colored red heads had to worry about. So I researched various products that claim to be hair sunscreen but they all had bad reviews. So I finally settled on the natural route of aloe vera, Sesame Seed oil and vitamin E as my hair sunscreen as they moisturize my hair and block sun rays. I've added them all to my large spray bottle that I talked about above. They also help with split ends and rejuvenating my hair. Aloe vera's properties allow it to penetrate deep into my hair shaft to moisturize while sesame oil coats my hair with a protectant layer and makes it a little darker. The Vitamin E helps to absorb the UV energy. I spray this onto my hair daily along with my anti-humidity products.

Photo Credit: Chalene Johnson

I love me some colorful sneakers as evident by my last shoe purchase and am totally envious of this suitcase full of pretty sneakers and louboutins! However since I'm not leading fitness classes, I don't need to travel with a whole collection of them. I usually just pack two pairs of shoes and make sure all my outfits go with them. I consider myself a smart packer, I don't overpack and can travel with just one suitcase. The way I do this is I write up an itinerary of what I'm going to wear everyday when I travel. Every morning while on vacation I just refer to my list to see what I'm scheduled to wear that day. I take care in packing the perfect dress for this background or shorts for the day I'm taking a bike ride.

The key is to know what colors look good on you. You won't ever find me in a black dress, I find it boring, but to each their own. I like for my outfits to be bright and stand out since I'll be posing in front of beautiful backgrounds. In preparation for every trip I try on every outfit to see how it fits me and what jewelry goes with it. You want to pack pieces that are simple and classic. That way when you're looking at your pictures years down the line the focus won't be on your clothing choice. When I was younger my mom always had a "travel uniform". lol It was a casual brown strip suit with lots of pockets, I hated that outfit! lol My travel outfit tends to be a cute velour sweatsuit from Bebe. It's comfortable and keeps me warm on long international flights.

Check out my other posts on travel essentials and packing tips.

I had to stop by the Lululemon store while I was in Santa Monica. I picked up some more colors of my favorite running tank - Cool Racerback. It's simple, streamlined, a long length and great for working on your tan line while running. It's light cool fabric that resists sweat and super soft to the touch. I'm loving their new camo pattern!

With a summer tan I like to wear pale pinks on my nails. Right now my favorite color is OPI's Step Right Up on my fingers and Essie Bazooka's on my toes which is a vibrant orange. Check out my post on my 5 favorite summer pinks.