Lice might be teeny, but they strike fear into the hearts of parents everywhere. To take away at least a little bit of the panic, I asked a lice treatment professional all of the big questions about lice that parents want to know, touching on everything from lice prevention to facts, treatment, and cleaning tips.

This post is sponsored by Lice Free Noggins.

Nothing makes a parent’s skin crawl faster than hearing the dreaded L-word: lice.

The second the letter comes home from school, parents start itching. Every time your kid so much as brushes her hair out of her face, you lunge, combing through with your fingers in an effort to find the little critters you are sure have taken up residence there.

So far, we’ve had lice once and I still have nightmares thinking about it. Both girls and I ended up with it and I spent weeks combing through our hair and cleaning every surface in our house I could think of. By the end of our ordeal, I was ready to shave our heads and move, leaving all of our belongings behind so that no little creatures could hitch a ride with us.

Figuring it doesn’t have to be that dramatic an experience, I decided to talk to a lice professional and ask her every single question I could think of about the little buggers. Lena Gorelik, founder of Lice Free Noggins, was kind enough to answer all of my neurotic questions without making me feel like an idiot.

My littlest has some very specific ideas about her hair.

1. It must be long and Rapunzel-like. Cutting is not an option, although she will tolerate a teeny trim every so often.
2. It must be braided every night to guarantee she’ll have some curls in the morning. The number of braids she requires changes on a whim.
3. She’s very opinionated on styles and generally chooses one that she’ll wear indefinitely.
4. Brushing is a dirty word.

This poses a little bit of a problem for momma. Long hair that she prefers to have flowing freely does not mesh well with a super messy wildling who emits ear-piercing shrieks when I try to brush through her tangles.

Luckily, we stumbled across what she calls “fancy piggies.”

Usually, after the Oscars I’m all about the dresses and a healthy dose of snark. And don’t get me wrong, I love both. But as my daughter inches closer and closer to tweendom and the dreaded middle school years and inevitable mean girls, making fun of other women’s looks seems more and more like what it actually is: stupid.

So instead of jumping on the fashion police bandwagon, I teamed up with Melissa Scrofani and Meredith Hayman—two of my favorite local beauty gurus—to celebrate our most loved looks of the night and show you how you can achieve them too.

First up, Melissa is talking about hair…

I know the title of this post probably has about half of you turning your noses up and doing a little shudder. I get it. The idea of ditching what is widely considered a personal hygiene staple might seem totally bizarre. I mean, I’m sure I thought it was crazy the first time I heard about the whole “No Poo” thing (that term is so gross).

But, as with most things, I was slowly pulled towards it until I finally decided to brave it. And you know what? I haven’t washed my hair with shampoo in nine months—and not once has anyone questioned my hair routine (and believe me, there are people in my life who would have no problem asking why I’m such a greaseball).

Yesterday the girls and I were getting ready to go out to lunch and see a movie with my sister and nephew. Sam walked out of her room and stopped in her tracks, looking at me intently. “Oh! You did your hair,” she said, satisfied that she realized what was different about me before continuing on her merry way. Ouch.

But she was right. It’s been so hot and humid here in New York that I’ve resorted to throwing my hair up, clipping the droopy bits, and pulling my bangs away from my face. Pieces in the back inevitably fall down. Short pieces of my bangs flop forward and within a half hour I look like a general mess. Not cool or attractive or desirable in any sense of the word.

In short, momma needs to get it together. So I decided to collect a little arsenal of ideas to keep in my back pocket for days when I’m feeling less than inspired. Each of these easy summer hairstyles can be done in a few minutes and can work for a variety of hair lengths (sorry in advance to my shorties!).