What you need to know before getting curtain bangs

In case you’ve been living under a rock, curtain bangs are back – with a bang (sorry).

The iconic seventies look has been getting a major revival as shaggy layers and textured waves come back, booting out the sleek, neat looks we’ve all been fangirling over for ages.

We spend way too much time with our hair up in messy buns, thrown out of the way for convenience – we’re in the mood for a change, to do something totally different. And curtains bangs are the textured, sexy answer to our hair prayers!

So if you’re looking for advice or a sign to go for it, this could be it! But as someone who got curtain bangs last week, I’m here with a little advice about the pitfalls and tips of getting the edgy look and how to be sure you’re living your best hair life!

Trust your hairdresser

I was really unsure about getting this style at first. I’d been looking at pictures of it for ages and really liked the look, but a lot of my friends said they weren’t sure it would suit me. I had a fringe during my awkward teenage years so was understandably hesitant about going back to that look (without braces this time, at least). So I showed my hairdresser and told her I was looking to keep my length, but that I wanted this style fringe cut in.

She immediately told me the fringe itself would suit me, but that if I was going for this look, I would need a lot of movement in my hair, which meant getting much shorter layers than I had anticipated.

I was unsure, because I’ve been trying to grow my hair out, but I was so glad I listened to her advice. I have quite thick hair, and I can see how with this fringe I would have ended up just completely dwarfing my face and ended up with a puffy look that would be super unflattering. My hairdresser is amazing and knew exactly what she was doing, so it’s important to trust them – they know what they’re on about.

Consider your face shape

I have quite a square face – a strong jaw, fairly squared off hairline and high cheekbones. The curtain bangs soften those features and flatters my cheekbones, meaning that it suits my face shape.

And while this look is super versatile and works on lots of face shapes, it doesn’t work on all of them. If you have a round face, this might be one for you to avoid. With full cheeks, narrow forehead and jaw, this shape is also known as baby face and has a softened look. Textured long bobs suit you just as well as a volumised pixie cut, but soft rounded bangs make your face seem even more rounded – you need angles, not more softness to your hair. Celebs with rounded faces are the likes of Selena Gomez, Ginnifer Goodwin and Chrissy Teigen.

So if you have a face shapes similar to those women, this may be one trend for you to skip out on!

Figure out your maintenance style

I’ll be honest, I’m pretty easy going about my hair. It’s fairly thick and generally stays straight(ish) whether or not a let it airdry or blowdry it after a shower. I don’t use much heat on my hair, normally it will fall into a style that relatively acceptable to be seen out in public with so unless it’s something I want to be dressed up for, I kind of just let it do it’s thing.

But curtain bangs are another story.

When I was leaving the salon, my hair bounced and fell very naturally into a great shape and I kind of figured it would airdry with a similar amount of movement to it, especially with the layers in it. I knew the fringe itself would require a little work, but I wasn’t imagining more than thirty seconds of extra styling time.

So obviously, this is not the case. The first time I went to dry my hair, I kind of just flipped my head over and left the hairdryer on to rough dry my layers. Cut to a minute later and I look like I’ve been electrocuted. The lightness of the layers means that my hair’s volume was out of control and it was looking more ‘awkward 80s photos’ than ‘cute 70s chic’. My hairdresser had also advised me to use a small roller brush to get the flicking out shape in the fringe, first drying it like a normal fringe, all together and then parting it. But whatever way I worked it, I somehow managed to make it fluffy and full, instead of swept off to either side.

My point is, if you’re not experienced in high maintenance hair, this is a trial by fire. But when it does work – which I feel will happen more often the more practice I get – it is a look that is amazing. But don’t mistake how effortless it look – it is definitely not an easy one to contend with!