Summer. Bar-be-ques, baseball, bikinis, beach hair. Cheaper than submitting yourself to the faux glow of a spray tan, adding body and texture to your hair to create that wind surf tossed look is a great way to welcome the season.

Once your only option was Fakkai Summer Hair Beach Waves, or something more bougie. Now there are some great drug store brands to encourage your hair into the subtle waves of summer hair. Giving straight hair at least a volume boost, if not providing wave, and encouraging smooth waves and curls from more textured hair, these beach hair sprays can be used on damp or dry, or blown-out hair. And the best ones have a great beachy aroma to them, giving you a complete air of summer ease.

Some of the sprays will contain actual salt in them, so be sure to use an oil or conditioner, like Moroccan oil, first; but not so much that your hair is weighed down. For curly hair, use a light gel or serum that encourages friz-less curl before. If using on damp hair, spray evenly and sparingly, at least at first go. Too much spray can cause tangling. Use your fingers to create texture, and scrunch a bit, if needed. Continue to pay with your hair as it dries to give more texture and volume. If using after a blow-out, the sprays will provide some nice volume, and a bit of texture, but again, be careful not to over-do and re-wet your hair! Use your fingers to fluff through.

Being a fan of the original Fekkai, I was dubious to try another brand. Nonetheless, I ventured forth. I have found a few alternatives that work just as well, if not better and will keep you feeling beach easy with smaller price tags.

I came across Not Your Mother’s brand a few months ago at CVS, and saw their Beach Babe spray. Indeed, this is a winner at the fabulous price of 6.00! I love the texture the spray creates in blown out or air dried hair, and the light sea salt and perhaps ylang ylang scent immediately puts me in a great mood! Alterna Summer Hair Ocean Waves is a little cheaper than Fekkai at 20.00, and gives you a great sheen in addition to the texture. The aroma reminds you of every summer vacation, Coppertone tan spray, but fortunately, the aroma is more airy than it’s inspiration.

Sprays I have not yet tried, but look promising are: L’oreal Play Ball Beach Fizz, available on Amazon for 21.17; Wella Professionals Ocean Spritz, Amazon 12.00; Marc Anthony Dream Waves, ULTA 8.99.

Kate Hudson, perhaps the icon of beach waves. Complimented nicely with just a touch of sun and light make-up.

And for the shorties, Reese.

There is a culture of theater in this nation. It is believed we flock to movies for escape, but I think for many of us, we watch movies for catharsis. Something must be said for script writers, because for 90 minutes or so, we are wrapped up in what we so desperately need. The feeling that someone, somewhere understands us, has shared in some way in our story.

One of my favorite things to do is curl up on my chaise and re-watch one of the handful of movies I know by heart. There is just something about a great story. It’s not only about craving that perfect ending, either. For a moment, you can give yourself over to someone else’s heartache, heartbreak, trials, pitfalls, success, masterpiece, adventure. A good story doesn’t wash over you, it runs through you. It captures some part of you that maybe you were hiding. Perhaps this is the great magic of the chick flick.

Us ladies, we love a happy ending. Not every ending is happy, and we know this, but come on, a girl can dream, can’t she? And the best happy ending is the one that feels truly earned, something that has been struggled for. We all love these stories, because we live them. Our heartache, heartbreak, our true love, we eat it up when we get to watch it all played out, neatly wrapped up for us. Our stories are not always as nicely packaged.

Maybe this is the reason we love movies, because of the lie of a nice tidy happy ending… The happily ever after for us grown up little girls. For a moment, we can allow ourselves to feel it all; we know what is coming at the end. No matter how hopeless it may all seem, we do have that comfort that the sad can only last so long- at some point the plot twists and we are making our way towards that happy ending once more. The prince gets the princess. The mice and birdies all sing together, flowers float through the air; and we’re adults, but for that moment, there is this hope we get to have, if only for that fleeting moment in a dim theater or on our couch.

Life is so much more. It’s not wrapped into a tidy little two hour bundle. We can’t know when a plot twist is just around the corner for us. We never know when or if our happy ending is on its way. But, I guess that is the gift of real life, you don’t have to wait for someone else to tell the story, for another to write your happiness; if so much is unknown, maybe the answer is to create as many happy endings as you can out of your own story.