Bangs are the quickest way to add longevity and a little spice to your client’s current color and overall style. When choosing the right bang and technique for your clients, consider 4 main factors — face shape, styling commitment, aesthetic, grow out. Read on for expert tips and keep these staples in your arsenal to give any client the perfect customizable accessory.
Fringe Tips Before You Snip:
- Pick a side, any side. When cutting a ‘swoop’ we have to pick a dominant side. This means focusing on our client's favorite qualities about themselves and possibly trying different parts. When cutting a chic blunt bang or curtain fringe we have slightly more flexibility with the part because that is usually based off the middle.
- Styling matters. For low maintenance clients, work off of their natural part. For clients open to training their hair, determine what they feel is their “good side” and leave that one open while swooping the bang in the opposite direction. For clients with challenging hair growth patterns, focus on teaching them how to style their fringe and even suggest a keratin treatment for that area to direct hair growth.
- Subtle or pronounced. The next step is to determine how full of a bang your client wants. Are they going for barely-there wisps or a pronounced bang that creates a ‘look’. Take density, maintenance, and face shape into consideration here. Is the hair too fine to create a full bang look? Will a parting too far back overly lengthen the face?
- Bang there, done that. Talk all of these scenarios with your client and make sure they understand grow out options. The better informed a client is the more they trust their stylist.
Tricks For Getting The Perfect Fringe:
An easy go-to guide for cutting 3 of the most requested fringe styles.
Side Swept
More often than not when a client first dips their toes into the world of bangs it is with a soft side swoop. That is because it is the easiest grow out, blend into existing layers, and can be cut long enough to reach most ponytails. When cutting a sweeping fringe follow these important steps:
- Select parting and determine the length desired.
- Take diagonal partings and over direct the sections across the face to establish guide. Use medium tension.
- Use a guide as a stationary blueprint and bring remaining sections towards the guide, elevate for a layered bang.
Blunt Bangs
This is not for the commitment-phobic. The blunt bang creates a statement at any length. The most crucial aspects of a blunt bang are sectioning and length, here are our most used tricks:
- Select triangular parting spanning from eyebrow arch to eyebrow arch. The deeper the triangle, the fuller the bang. Determine the desired length.
- Take a horizontal section to establish your guide. Place hair in a comb at zero elevation and cut slightly longer than the desired length.
- Use this section as a guide and bring reminding sections down maintaining zero elevation.
Curtain Fringe
While the curtain fringe isn't new to the fashion world it has only recently made a comeback in the day-to-day salon world. And now, with Bardot Bangs coming into the limelight, we might see an increase in requests for curtain bangs. With many roads to this desired look what is a foolproof way of achieving this lived-in aesthetic? Hint - its a combination of the two techniques above:
- Similar to the blunt bang select a triangular section, the deeper the section the thicker the curtain. Extend the width of the triangle from the end of brow to end of brow.
- Divide the triangle in half and treat each half like a side-swept fringe. Using diagonal sections and over directing to the opposite side.
- Once complete take a small triangle in the center of the larger one with a width spanning from inner corner of eye to inner corner of eye and a depth of one inch. Cut this portion with the same technique as the blunt bang.
- Elevate and point cut to blend together.
