The secret to one vogue contributor’s nonstop summer beauty look

A remarkably tumultuous time in June gave Malle, who describes her hair as curly, easily oily, and hard to tame, the perfect opportunity to try the Nexxus #LockIn24 challenge—three products, seven days, 24-hour hydration. It started on a rainy night before a friend’s birthday party on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

Malle, who admits to shampooing her hair every three days, “or whenever I see my mother,” she says, made an exception. “I washed my hair with Nexxus’s Therappe Ultimate Moisture Shampoo and Humectress Ultimate Moisture Conditioner, let it air-dry, and styled it with the Humectress Encapsulate Serum,” she says. “Wearing my hair curly made sense for that casual night, but I carried the serum with me in my purse for touch-ups, just in case.”

Malle, who typically battles flyaways around her center part with brow gel, confesses she’s always on the lookout for that one hair product that can work as both a moisturizing leave-in treatment and go-to insta-fix. “I’m typically dubious of products that can be used for both dry or damp hair. But there was no residue, no goop-iness,” she says of Nexxus’s serum. “My hair felt so soft and light, I kept petting myself like a kitten.”

Later in the week, before a wedding in Brooklyn, Malle used the conditioner again, then finger-combed the serum through her moisturized strands. It’s a good combo for when hair needs a boost but not a full cleanse, she says, because “it keeps frizz in check and volumizes.” Spinning her hair into a slicked-back low bun, she wrapped a satin bow around the base. “I feel like hair accessories are a good way to get around having inherently messy hair,” she says. “It makes frizzy curls look more thought through.”

The next day there were morning showers, and Malle was to attend the Public Theater’s Annual Gala for Shakespeare in the Park (fittingly entitled Hair to Hamilton) later that evening. She didn’t rinse out her look from the night before, and instead simply touched up her still highly-moisturized tresses with a curling iron for a more “Apollic look,” she says. This time, she let her lengths lay loose in a low ponytail, that satin ribbon still in play.

By the end of the week, a proper wash was in order, and Malle, still in awe of her soft and hydrated tendrils, was pleasantly surprised once more: “I love that I can replicate that fresh smell that I’m always excited about at hair-washing stations in salons,” she says of her new collection of Nexxus products. “Somehow, the scent makes my shower and routine feel more professional.”