The Big Bangs Theory

Last year I caught the bangs bug and within two weeks I had a freshly cut fringe across my very narrow forehead. I hardly every get sudden urges to make drastic changes to my hair, but after about three years of the standard “just a trim, I’m trying to grow it out” request at the hair salon, I felt a need to change up my look a bit. And change it up they certainly did! It always takes a couple of days for me to settle into a new haircut, but with the bangs it took a good two weeks for me to recognize myself in the mirror again, and when I did I felt like a slightly new, more face framed me.  I’m extremely low maintenance about my hair and highly regard the ability to pull my hair up into a pony tail and have everything out of my face. Obviously with bangs this required a few extra bobby pins and headbands, so within a couple of months I knew the bangs wouldn’t be a permanent change for me and decided to let them grow out. Even though I won’t be a perma-fringe girl, I’m so glad that I took the risk with getting bangs and have been pleasantly surprised during the growing out process. 

I’m hesitant to write about hair for a few reasons. First, because I’m not a hair expert by any means. For me, the best hair tips and tricks are those that require the least amount of time and products and result in looking like you did nothing at all. Second, it’s hard to get good hair advise from anyone other than your hair stylist because everyone’s hair is so different so something that works for my straight, thin hair probably won’t be as effective for thick or curly strands. That being said, bangs are an incredibly versatile cut that can work for a lot of different people, and after experimenting with them myself and becoming a full fledged fringe advocate, I  wanted to share some cut and style tips and my take on why taking the plunge isn’t as big of a leap as you think.

Try them On

First up is deciding what bangs are best for your face shape. I was really, really nervous about getting bangs because I have a short forehead and I didn’t think they would work for me. Regardless, I was desperate to prove myself wrong and discovered this handy tool on Pinterest that helped me to really see what I would look like with bangs. This app can be quite silly because it’s very fun sending photos to your mother of you in Sarah Palin bangs, but it’s also really handy for figuring out what style bangs is best for your face shape. With Instyle’s Try On App you can upload a photo of your face and literally try on a large assortment of celebrity hair styles.

The Style

My initial inspiration for getting bangs came after seeing Sienna Miller in the movie Alfie. As a side note: Sienna is my hair idol. Whenever I go in for a cut or color I always have a few photos ready to show my stylist what I’m going for, and about 95% of those photos are of Sienna Miller. A girl can dream 🙂 Anyways, after making the command decision that I was going to get bangs I quickly took to Pinterest to gather more inspiration. Pulling from Alexa Chung, Jeanne Damas, Francoise Hardy, and Brigitte Bardot, I assembled a clear vision for parted, textural bangs that angle down on the sides. I highly recommend going with this type of Bardot bang as opposed to a blunt bang because it suits many face shapes and the layered style is much easier to blend in with the rest of your hair making the growing out process more chic and organic. As an added note, if you have a shorter forehead like me, the best way to make any style of bangs work for you is to have the center of the bangs start at a higher point which creates an illusion of a longer forehead and allows for longer bangs.

As I’m on the tail end of my big bangs experiment, the only images I have of my shorter bangs are from this past summer before I started the blog, which hopefully explains the touristy London shots 😉 . When your bangs are brand new it’s easy to wear them straight down, but after about two months you have to start trimming or doing a side part of sorts. From the get go I was intending to style my bangs parted (see Sienna above) so I was eager to get to this point. However, parting bangs is much more easier said than done. I air dry my hair and don’t apply any products, so I needed a quick go-to trick that would allow my bangs to dry in a nice part without falling flat or in my eyes. If you’re about the same age as me (27) then you may remember the zig zag part that was uber chic in about 7th grade. Well it turns out the zig zag part is equally functional for bangs as it was trendy in the middle school.

The Part

Starting at where you want your hair to part on your hairline, place a comb and do a zig zag part in about 1.5/2 inch increments until you get to about 2 inches past the top of your bangs. This works best when you’re right out of the shower, but if your hair is already dry and you need to redo the part, just put a spritz or two of water to dampen the bangs. I’m partial to the zig zag because it creates a softer near-center part that looks layered and undone, an keeps your hair out of your eyes.

Once the bangs reach mid-length, I prefer a straight, slightly off-center part with a slight angle towards the center of the head. If you’re keen on a center part like I am, I think the most flattering point to start along the hairline is right at the inside corner of either eyebrow, and then take the comb on a very slight angle to the opposite side until you reach the crown of the head. If you have thinner hair like I do, moving your part on a regular basis helps give your hair volume and keep it from drying flat.

 

   

The Gringe

For some reason unknown to me growing out bangs has a bad rap. The decision to get bangs or not seems to be hinged on willingness to endure the lengthy and awkward process of growing them out. But as it turns out this pitfall of getting bangs has quite honestly been the best part of bangs for me. Ponytail and hat friendly, a grown out fringe AKA “the gringe” is much softer and versatile than neatly kept shorter bangs.

You can really do quite anything with a gringe- a deep side part, longer zig zag (about 2.5-3 inch increments), or a sleek part smack dab down the middle. Grown out fringes are less maintenance, easy to style, and a good time cushion for if you’re undecided about whether to trim up or be done with bangs all together. All in all, I would say it’s worth getting bangs in the first place just to get to a good gringe.