Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Bangs made easy

Hi everyone. Before I get started talking about cutting your own bangs I thought I better take a minute to introduce myself. I've posted on Bloom a few times now, but the Holidays were so busy for me that I was lucky just to get my posts up.

My name is Sally, I live in Oklahoma with my husband who is a fourth year medical student and will be graduating this May. (yippee!!!) We have three children. Our oldest daughter is 7, we have a son who is 5, and a daughter that will be 2 on the 16th of this month, but when she was 18 months old I had people asking me if she was 3. I blog about them frequently over here. And if that didn't keep me busy enough, I also spend hours searching through antique shops so that I can make re purposed jewelry which I blog about here and sell over here. And I also work part time out of my house as a hairstylist which brings me to today's topic of bangs.

The one thing I hear from women more than anything else is, "my bangs were driving me crazy so I chopped on them myself. Can you fix them?"

For some odd reason bangs seem like a scary thing to a lot of people and they really shouldn't be. So, I'm going to show you how in just a few simple steps to cut your own bangs and keep them trimmed in between hair appointments. No more hacking and chopping!

If you want bangs that go straight across your forehead, the first thing you need to do is figure out how much hair you want to cut. As a general guideline you should hold your fingers at the corners of your eyes and then move them up and in until your fingers touch.


Resulting in something like this. Remember, this is just a general guideline so play around with it a little if you want more or less bang. I would not recommend moving this line too far back though. We don't want any mullets.

Here is the easy part. To cut your bangs or trim them up, simply pull all of the hair to the middle of your face and cut. Cut long at first though as the hair tends to pop up quite a bit when you let go.


Pulling all of the hair to the middle will result in slightly arc shaped bangs. Meaning they will get a tiny bit longer towards the outside. If you don't want them arced...no problem. pull the sides straight down and cut off that little long part.


If you want side swept bangs you will start out in the same manner. Only this time, use just one finger and stop the line when you get to your part. The section of hair you are going to cut should look like this.


OK, here is the secret to perfect side swept bangs. Simply pull your section of hair across your face to the other side and with your fingers parallel to the ground cut the straight across. When they fall back to the other side you will have perfectly angled side bangs.

Do not cut them up to your eyebrow though as my finger shows! A good starting off point would be your cheekbone. If you still want them shorter just pull them back over and trim a little more until they are the length you want.

One more small tip about cutting any type of bangs. Unless you want super straight blunt cut bangs, don't hold your scissors parallel to the ground and cut straight across. Any little error you make will show. Instead, hold your scissors perpendicular to the ground, angle them slightly and use the tips to make small cuts, being careful of course not to cut your fingers. It hurts! They will lay nicer and it helps to cover up any errors in your attempts to make a straight line.

See how easy bangs can be? If you're still feeling timid just take it slow and always remember to start long.

Thanks a million, Sally! What a great skill to have!

23 comments:

Abbie said...

Sally!

I like you a whole lot already for 3 reasons: 1) you just taught me how to cut my bangs the right way (i cut my bangs all the time and freak out cos I go way too short) - thank you! 2) you have 3 kids! And 3) you husband is in med school! Us too. We (he) just started in august after working for 3 years. So, pretty much I might have to become your blog buddy, since, you know, I never see my husband and need women to chat with:).

Caren @ The Attic Studio said...

Bloom, I love this post! I clicked the "take care of yourself" at the bottom of the post to find that this is the first one with this label. I really hope it's not the last. What a great idea!

Honey said...

I LOVE this! I cut bangs (on myself) a couple years ago and I searched all of the internet to figure it out. I didn't find anything too helpful, so this is awesome! I just might have to give this a try. Thanks Sally!

Sally said...

Abby, I would love to chat with you. My husband and I are actually going to NY the first of Feb, and I would love some hints about fun things to do.

Jessica said...

This is such a great post. I have side bangs and I always have a really hard time cutting them on my own. My husband usually does it for me. But not anymore! Thanks so much!

Sassy Salsa girl said...

Awesome!

Jesslyn said...

Love this post! Thanks for the great tips. I have 3 little girls and it'll help me keep them from looking shaggy too.

Lindy Johnson said...

Awesome tutorial! It always seemed like such an easy thing to do--but I've never been brave enough to actually do it myself. I think you've inspired me to go trim my bangs.
Thanks!

Miggy said...

I really could have used this post last Friday night when I impulsively cut my bangs...but great info!

Tricia said...

I have been thinking about cutting bangs for awhile. I saw this post and PRESTO CHANGO! New bangs. My husband told me it makes me look younger. :) You rock.

Marlo said...

Anne this reminds me of that time I cut your hair in college, the same night I did the gallon challenge with whole milk. That wasn't our best night ever. Thanks for still being my friend after that!

Trina said...

Such excellent timing! My 11yo just asked for side-swept bangs. Thanks for making it easy and painless!

lindsey. said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I read this and immediately marched in to the bathroom to fix last week's attempt at the side-swept bang. It totally worked! :)

Sarah said...

I did it and in my opinion they look fantastic! Thanks for the info!

Anonymous said...

I love this post! I have a few questions tho, and I don't know where I can contact you. I'm new to blogger! and I'd love to follow your posts!

Anita C said...

I read, re-read and looked this post up so many times over the last two weeks as something was different about my last haircut. My bangs didn't want to sweep to the side...then it hit me...she didn't cut them the same way. I found your blog and FINALLY got the guts to do it this afternoon! My husband's response was "Much better!" :)

Yours was the best description on how to do this. Thanks!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much!!!! Needed to make a little change, with my overgrown side bangs. Now fluffy fringe!!!!! Great instructions super easy to follow!!!!!!! Thanks Thanks Thanks!!!!!! Michilyn

Megan said...

Wow, I just cut my way too grown out bangs using these instructions and again, WOW! Thank you so much! My bangs look way better than any time Ive ever had them cut by a stylist. Your rule for how much to grab was exactly the amount of bang I needed. As well as I started at the cheekbone when cutting and they were instantly perfect. Thank you!

Jennifer said...

This how to was exactly what I'd been looking for. I "Accidentally" dyed my hair blue and cut these blunt uma Thurman bangs and, after coming to it, began frantically searching for a fix. Three days later, I found your blog. Thank god for that. I'm now no longer embarrassed to leave my house. My hair is still partially blue, but the worst is over :) thanks much.

Anonymous said...

Question for side-swept bangs... When you pull the section you want to cut, to cut it, do you pull it over to the side you want your bangs to fall, or pull it to the opposite side, cut it and let it fall over to the original side that you wanted the bangs to fall? Please advise? Thank you so much for your time!

Anonymous said...

Same question as above poster asked about side bangs. Please let us know asap! I want to try this but want to want to make sure I know the answer first to do it correctly! Thanks in advance for your time and thankyou for this article.

Anonymous said...

Just did the side swept instructions...turned out great. A million thanks!!!

Anonymous said...

Just wondering why the finished side swept bangs were not shown after the cutting instructions? It would have been nice to see them.

Cathy