The New Year is the perfect time to reinvent your style, starting with your most important beauty accessory… your hair. There's no better way to perk up a boring, outdated look or take five years off your face than with bangs. From bold and blunt, to long and side-swept, or short and ingénue-like, 2015 is the year of the bangs. With fashion’s hottest ‘it’ girls and A-listers all rocking the chic look, celebrity hair stylist Richard Collins is here to tell you how to get and maintain the most-wanted bang styles of the season.
The first thing to do before deciding on a bang look is to do your research. Richard suggests looking through high fashion and celebrity magazines for pictures of your favorite bang-wearing fashionistas for inspiration. You can even take a trip to a wig store with your girlfriends and try clip-in bangs to see what you like. Once you have a vision, make your salon appointment and be ready to discuss your options with your hairstylist. Your hair texture and cut, as well as your face shape, will determine what bang style is best for you.
One classic look that never goes out of style, and Richard’s personal favorite, is bold, blunt bangs. This heavy brow-skimming style works best on long, straight cuts and makes oval faces appear thinner. Ask your stylist to cut heavy bangs right at your brow line. Then prep wet bangs with Schwarzkopf Superb Volume Mousse and blow-dry with a medium boar head brush, making crisscross motions to eliminate your natural part. Finish by quickly sweeping a flatiron over the hair in an arc, which helps the ends lay flat against the forehead. If bangs begin to separate later in the day, spritz with Schwarzkopf Volume and Vitality Dry Shampoo and massage through them with your fingertips.
Long and side-swept bangs are ultra sleek and flattering for every face shape. The most important thing to get right with this look is making sure they blend in with the rest of your hair. Have your stylist cut long bangs at an angle, to be sure they do. Then tuck your wet bangs behind one ear and let them air-dry. If they aren’t quite long enough to tuck, comb Schwarzkopf Crystal Shine Polishing Cream through wet bangs, pop your attachment on your blow-dryer, and direct the airflow straight down from the roots.
Finally, short bangs work well with shorter hair or pixie cuts, making the cuts appear more feminine. They also slim a round face and make a small forehead appear longer. Ask your stylist to cut blunt bangs two inches up from your brows. Let them air-dry, and then use a pea-size amount of Schwarzkopf Crystal Shine Polishing Cream to create an undone, piecey texture and control flyways, and push bangs to the side.
It’s official, bangs are back in a big way this season, and no matter what type of hair you have there’s a style that will work for you. Whether you go for bold and blunt, long and side-swept, or short, adding bangs to your cut will instantly upgrade your look. Just remember to keep your beauty arsenal stocked with your favorite Schwarzkopf products and you are ready to take on the New Year!