Bangs just scream fall to me. These days it’s like mine are all grown up. Where they were once short, blunt and to my brows, they are now long, blendy and past my chin. They do what they’re told and they stay out of my way. They give me a little shape around my face, part easily from center to left or right, and go back into a pony with no pins. So, why am I dying to cut a short little fringe again?

I cut my bangs short in January of 2011, and aside from texturizing them, they haven’t been cut since. That’s pretty slow growing, wouldn’t you say? I guess that’s where my hesitation comes from.

Do you vote bangs or no bangs for me?

PS bang slang. (I’d go shakies or curtainies)

I’m having bang envy right now. I don’t want to cut them, because I’m worried about the summertime sweaty bang. So holding out for fall it is!

In the meantime, I thought I’d show you my bang terminology. I get a little carried away sometimes…

First up..

Block-y Bangs. I call Zooey’s bangs “Blockies” or “Block-y Bangs” because they are a big block of hair right there on your forehead. Don’t worry, this is the kind of block that is sexy and cool.

(ps the above one of Zooey is maybe the greatest photo of hair ever)

Next up..

Shake-y bangs. These are similar to blockies, but they are a little messed up. They have more texture and separation and you can see forehead skin. Kate Moss perfected the shakies.

And another.

Then we have..

Sweepies! These go to the side. They are for the girly-girl. Or the girl growing out her bangs.

Lastly….

Curtain-y bangs. These are parted in the middle and sweep outwards like a curtain, unveiling your forehead for possibly the first time in blocky bang months. I was going to post a photo of my two Queens of curtainies…Alexa Chung and Brigitte Bardot, but I thought that would be a wee predictable. So we are going with random hot girl below! She kills the curtainies! And I miss that length of hair.

There are several bangs not mentioned. Straighties, Betties, Pointies, Featheries, Softies…

I’ll do a part two for them.

(All photo sources lost in translation, unfortunately)

(img from painting the roses black)

Something I fully believe in, is complimentary bang trims for my regular clients. It’s a win win win win win (endless wins!) situation. This is not your run of the mill two win occurrences.

Don’t believe me? Let me count the wins.

Win 1- The haircut is suddenly fresh again! You can feel beautiful instead of miserable because you don’t have a hair curtain in front of your eyes!

Win 2-The stylists’ client’s haircut is suddenly fresh again! They are going to get hair compliments and probably tell people that you did it! Then you will get more business!

Win 3-It only takes 10 minutes, so you can squeeze them in (get squeezed in) almost any time, any day.

Win 4-It’s a free and nice way to show your clients you care about their hair and are grateful for their business.

Win 5-You don’t have to do it yourself and possibly ruin your entire haircut!

I think Win 5 is the biggest winner of them all.

May I make a suggestion? Don’t see a stylist that doesn’t offer free bang trims.

And on behalf of stylists everywhere I would like to casually mention that tipping your stylist for a bang trim is an extremely kind and welcomed gesture.

Here’s to beautiful bangs!

I recently got an email about brides wearing bangs, asking if I thought it was a good look. Yes, I do! But I don’t know if I’m the type of girl who says you should completely avoid dating your wedding. I mean, it will be kind of fun to look back at the pictures and know know that what you wore was what you wanted, instead of not wearing what you wanted because you were too afraid of the occasion being dated. I wore my hair long, down and wavy with a nod to the 1940s (with sort of a victory roll on the side). I also wore a big champagne colored sash which will forever go down in 2007 wedding history. The point is, it was what I wanted to wear. (Actually, I got married in Vegas and it was the only dress I tried on. But I did my hair myself and I did like it.)

So, maybe sweepy bangs wont be around forever. Maybe you have Zooey Deschanel hair and that wont be around forever either. But if you love your bangs, and you don’t feel like yourself without them, you should just wear the bangs.

But..

..If you are afraid of looking like you are hiding under your big heavy bangs in all the pictures, then maybe you should try curtain bangs. Which is basically the beautiful bangs you already have, just parted down the center. You’ll have the comfort of the bangs that you know and love, but you will also be able to see your forehead!

So I know none of these above ladies are brides at the moment, but I do know that they all have the beautiful “curtain bang” that I love so much. I wear curtain bangs whenever they get too long to wear all the way down. They’ve been too long for that for several months, and I’ve enjoyed so much the curtain look.

I am interested to hear if you wore bangs to your wedding. Or if you will. My friend Maggie has had bangs as long as I’ve known her (6th grade) and she is getting married in just a few months. I am so curious what she’ll do with her bangs. Frankly, I can’t picture her without them!

PS this question came from Bosnia! Crazy!

My bangs have grown out for the most part and are at the point where they are hanging in my face all the time. I can’t decide if I want them short again, or grown out! I saw a girl on the subway New Year’s eve with curly bangs, and she just looked so feminine and pretty. I really love the look, it’s a bit late 70s.

I can’t decide!

What do you think?

Q by Claire: ***I have totally thin hair but I don’t want my hair shorter than ponytail length. Which cut is best for me? Also, I live in Australia. DBJ.

A by Reagan: Not to get all mushy on your Australian a’, but my heart really goes out to people with super duper thin hair. It is hard to feel beautiful when you aren’t happy with your hair. I have some really good tips for you though, Claire! So get pumped!

Tip number one-Get a trim often. Really thin hair tends to lose it’s shape much faster than thick hair. Keeping your ends trimmed up will make it look fuller.

Tip number two-Blunt cuts are best. Don’t let anyone use a razor or texturizing sheers on you. Avoid point cutting too. You want your ends blunt so that it doesn’t look stringy.

Tip number three-Avoid too many layers. It will make the length thinner. You can have long layers if you insist, but nothing shorter than an inch or two above the length.

Tip number four-Bangs (fringe) are awesome. I really try to talk my super thinnies out of lots of layers, like I was saying in tip three, so a straight, square cut with bangs makes for a nice style. Bangs prevent your cut from looking boring, and gives you a beautiful shape. There are many lengths and ways to wear bangs, so find something that you like with your face shape. A round face looks better with sweepy bangs.

Tip number five-Clip in extensions. You could also go for more permanent extensions, but those are very expensive and have to be redone every few months. I have clients who clip in a couple of rows when they go out, and it creates so much fullness. Remember, you can get extensions the same length as your hair if you don’t want your hair longer. Just a few rows will make a big difference. Give it a try!

Here are a few pictures of the ideal thinny hair cut.

Nicol Richie has extremely thin hair. This haircut is perfect for her. She has extensions all over the place for thickness, even in her bangs! I can tell, cause it’s my job to tell.

Agyness Deyn has a very similar cut, but shorter and with a heavier fringe. This look will be best between her length, and just an inch or two past your shoulders. You don’t have to have super short hair just because it’s thin!

***I wrote my own question for Claire, just to get to the point. Don’t be offended, Claire. I want you to be my friend, and one day I’m going to make it down to Australia.

ps, I give up with the pictures. no matter how I try, they never center properly. Boo.

Q by Tracey: I know it’s best to leave hair cutting to the professionals, but my bangs grow sooo fast and I’m always tempted to give them a wee trim myself.  However, every time I take the scissors to my straight, typical Asian hair, something terrible happens to my bangs.  Are there any tips you can share for trimming bangs?

A by Reagan: Sure! Just don’t tell your stylist I told you though, because there is still a chance you might totally wreck your bangs, and I don’t want to be the one to blame! Just so we’re clear, I’ll do anything to avoid blame.

While I say to my clients, don’t cut your own bangs, I also understand that the whole thing is similar to telling teenagers not to make out. They’re all “sure, sure. making out is bad and I believe you a lot. So, not gonna make out. Promise.” but then like half an hour later and a few slow songs and they’re totally hard core making out. Just like bangs. Did that analogy work? No? Ok, cutting your own bangs is like a ship, sailing out to sea…..no? It’s not like that?

Ok, don’t cut your own bangs. Please. But if you insist, here are a few tips to keep in mind.

~Parting them off precisely is very, very important. Like, important enough that I should say the eff word somewhere in that sentence. When someone comes in red handed and ugly banged, the first sign is a really funky part. Suddenly there are all these long hairs or weird pieces added to the bangs that just don’t belong. Part off your hair properly with a comb, then clip the hair that isn’t going to be cut aside.
~Cut them dry. Wet hair is longer than dry hair. And you’re like “wow I’m so good at cutting hair, my bangs look rad”. And then your hair dries and you’re like “wow, my hair looks like a 5 year old cut it with plastic school scissors”.
~Cut a little at a time. One swift swipe of the sheers will likely send you to immediate tears. Little by little, my friends.
~Point cut them. Don’t hold your sheers horizontal. Hold them vertical. Cutting blunt is going to show all of the mistakes you’ve made. Point cutting gives a softer, more blended look. Which brings us to…
~Do NOT go near your own bangs if you are rocking the very blunt look. Puh-to the-lease. Many stylists (me included) offer free bang trims to regular clients. People who aren’t my clients are only charged 10 dollars, which is really worth it.
~Thin them out. If you are planning on cutting your bangs often, you might want to invest in a pair of thinning sheers. Once you style your freshly trimmed bangs, I like to thin out the ends a little bit to give them that really soft, uneven (in the right way) look.

I think there is a code that whenever talking about fringe, a picture of Zooey must be near. (ps is zooey nekkid?)

Reese too of course.

I hate to do it, but I might have to do a bang trimming tutorial. We’ve already filmed a bang blow drying tutorial, and we’ll get that up asap.

Do any of you trim your own fringe? It’s time to come clean.

Q by Andea: Is there a limit on the number of questions I can ask you
I cut bangs and I don’t like them.  They are cut in a triangle shape (that’s the best way I can describe it, since you do hair you probably know what I mean) and they are getting too long to really wear as bangs anymore.  When I don’t have bangs I like to part my hair really far over on the side, but now when I do that I get long hairs mixed in with my non bangs and it looks weird.  Is there some way I can tell my stylist to cut it where it won’t look weird while it grows out?

A by Reagan: This is actually a question that a lot of people can relate to. I call myself a “Bang Pusher” because when my clients are getting tired of their hair, I often recommend bangs. Bangs really change your look, but they grow out pretty quickly and can be styled a lot of different ways at each length/stage. I am always prepared for the chance that they might not like them since it is such a big change, so here are some ways to help grow them out!

Ask your stylist to part the bangs in a half circle instead of a triangle. I often cut bangs in a triangle-ish half circle combo myself, because I know how fickle I am with my own parting throughout my day to day styling. The half circle will help it with the blending into the rest of your hair.

Start the framing or angling higher up. Tell your stylist to start the framing (if there is any)  closer to where your bangs end so there wont be so much of a disconnect…making your long bangs look intentional instead of screaming “I’m growing out my bangs!!”.

Lots of texture in those bangs. Make the ends nice and soft. Blunt looks weird when growing out.

Have your stylist cut your bangs dry. It is a much more accurate length since wet will shrink up so much after dried. I am a dry bang cutter. And proud to say so.

Last but not least, try parting your hair in a diagonal, instead of a perfect line so that it starts with a heavy part, but ends up being a center part the further back it goes.

*there is no limit to how many questions you can ask. wink.

ps I hope this answer is easy to understand. I was visualizing a lot of stuff in my head and just writing it down as fast as possible. Like I couldn’t write fast enough for all the ideas. You know that feeling?

Also, bang blow drying is going in my “tutorialize” basket. you guys are in for it…