Summer mornings are slow and flexible — which is exactly what makes them hard to go back from. When September arrives and the alarm goes off an hour earlier, kids who haven't been in any kind of routine take weeks to adjust. Hair is usually one of the first things to fall apart.
Building the routine now, while there's no pressure, is one of the most practical things you can do before school starts.
Why Summer Is the Best Time to Establish Hair Habits
During the school year, establishing new habits has stakes. A morning that goes sideways because of a hair battle means someone is late to school, someone is frustrated, and the day starts badly. In summer, a slow morning is just a slow morning.
Use that space to practice. Same time, same products, same order — so that by the time school starts, the routine is just automatic.
Build the Routine Around Products That Make It Fast
A school-year morning hair routine needs to be completable in under five minutes. That requires products that do their job quickly and reliably. Our core routine:
- Taming & Detangling Spray first, to make brushing painless
- Taming Cream on damp hair to smooth and moisturize
- Taming Gel Wand to finish edges and flyaways in seconds
Three products, one order, under five minutes.
Let Kids Practice Their Own Style
Kids who can do parts of their own hair — pulling back a ponytail, clipping a section, brushing their own ends — are faster to get ready and more invested in the result. Summer is a low-stakes environment to practice that independence.
Start by having them do the last step. Then the last two. By September, some kids can do the whole thing themselves with light supervision.
Stock Up Before August
The last thing you want in week one of school is to be out of the product that makes mornings run. Get the routine set, figure out what gets used fastest, and make sure you're stocked before school starts.