What To Consider Before Cutting Bangs
Sometimes a security blanket or an annoying set of blinders, bangs are a hot topic when it comes to your forehead dressings. You can wear them so many ways, all of which change how your face looks quite dramatically—bangs can be the one make-or-break element for your look. That said, if you don’t have them already, should you? Why do they feel like such a big change, even though they technically aren’t? For those on the brink of bangs, consider these questions before making the big chop.
MORE: Insta-glam: How to Style Short Bangs
What’s your natural hair texture? Straight and fine or curly and coarse? These are all things that will definitely make a difference with your bangs. Since bangs are short and a lot lighter than medium-long hair, your natural texture is likely to show up there a lot stronger. By no means is this a bad thing, just something to think about. For instance, if you’re constantly taming your curly strands to be straight, your bangs are another thing you’ll have to constantly style and touch-up. But we think curly bangs are actually adorable, so can you really go wrong?
How committed to styling are you? A lot of times, as long as the front, face-framing parts of your hair look great, who cares about the back? Bangs are pretty much the curtains to your face, so they’ll likely be the focal point of your styling. If you’re a get-up-and-go kind of girl, bangs could prove to be a nuisance to you when you wake up with a gnarly cowlick, for example. It doesn’t take long, depending on the style of bangs, but it is definitely something to consider.
What’s your lifestyle? Are you a gym frequenter? Perhaps you do a lot of things that require not having your hair in your eyes/face (baker, competitive swimmer?) so cutting a swatch a hair right in your line of vision isn’t the greatest idea. Even holding bangs back with a headband can be a pain, especially if they’re short.
How patient are you? Bangs are upkeep that you can see. It’s not like you can go without a trim for months and only notice a marginal difference in length, like the rest of your hair. This will literally be in-your-face changes. If you love your bangs, regular trims will be a new routine for you. And if you don’t love them? The grow-out process is a rather long transition that requires lots of accoutrements in the form of headbands, bobby pins, strong-hold hairspray—you get it. There are implements involved.
Are you using them to hide or show off? People get bangs for all sorts of reasons. Maybe they’re insecure about a high forehead or trying to hide a bad brow job. Maybe they just saw a really good photo of Zooey Deschanel or Alexa Chung and were struck with inspiration. Ultimately this would probably be the deciding factor for what kinds of bangs you get—long vampy ones, perhaps short straight ones, or edgy micro-bangs. Short bangs are actually a lovely way to open up your face and keep all the framing pieces on the sides from draping into your face constantly.
What are you afraid of? But really, honestly now? Bangs can look great on anybody, and while they can be a commitment for a few months, experimenting with hair is practically birthright. After all, you’ll never know if you don’t try it, right?
