Fix mah hair!
August 26, 2011 3:54 PM   Subscribe

Please help me decide how to cut my bangs (or otherwise banish this pernicious hair from the front of my face).

I'm kinda-sorta growing my hair out from a pixie cut. For the last few months I've been trimming the bangs and the back myself (so I can see/so it doesn't get mullety). I intend to keep doing that. (I don't really care that much, 1, and 2, I can't afford to go get it cut forreals right now anyway.)

I made a video demonstrating my hair's current state.


I am looking for suggestions (with pictures!) of styles of simple bangs that won't make me look like a lost Beatle or Susie Derkins.

Alternatively, I am looking for suggestions of how to keep my (thick, unruly) too-long bangs back until it's long enough to tuck behind my ears/get into a ponytail. (My hair is far too thick for clips and bobby pins.)

Thanks!

Just to reiterate, please do not tell me to go to a stylist. If I were planning to put this in the hands of a professional, I wouldn't bother asking the question. Have scissors, will travel. :)
posted by phunniemee to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (18 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Your hair already reminds me of Karen O's. Why not look to her for some inspiration?

(Disclosure: I think she's awesome and I dressed up as her for Halloween).
posted by too bad you're not me at 4:21 PM on August 26, 2011


I'm not sure if you've really left yourself any options. You don't want them down or to the side and can't pin them up. So, you'll just have to awkwardly grow them out until you can/want to do one of those things.
posted by greta simone at 4:22 PM on August 26, 2011


I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the "mullet". Jane Fonda totally rocked it (images here a bit down the page). I'd trim the bangs and start growing out the back.
posted by Go Banana at 4:25 PM on August 26, 2011


Response by poster: You don't want them down or to the side and can't pin them up.

I think you misunderstood my video. I would love to have them down or to the side (which is to say, I would love to have functional bangs), but they're so long right now that they just hang into my eyes and blind me.

I am looking for bang styles that will work with my current length of hair and not hang in my eyes.
posted by phunniemee at 4:25 PM on August 26, 2011


You could always keep your hair pulled back with an 'Alice band' or a 'hair band'. I use them all the time, and I love them.

Pics: Example 1

Example 2
posted by spinifex23 at 4:30 PM on August 26, 2011


I have super thick hair and I swear by these when I want my bangs out of the way. I usually just go to Walmart or something and buy a set of 6 (or 8?) from Goody. I tried to find a link to the exact ones I use, but Goody has somehow managed to develop The Most Annoying Site on the Internet. Pull a section of bangs straight back and clip. It's the basic idea of those pompadours that swing in and out of fashion, but deliberately flat (though I suppose you could puff them if you wanted to!)
posted by brilliantine at 4:42 PM on August 26, 2011


Best answer: Something like these could be really cute. Basically a choppy across the forehead bang? Not sure how simple it is to cut though.
posted by grapesaresour at 4:55 PM on August 26, 2011


Best answer: Might be a bit Beatle-y for you, but the first thing I thought about was the examples provided by Kinoco Hotel, particularly the singer's.
posted by rhizome at 5:04 PM on August 26, 2011


Yup, this hair is familiar. So far the only thing that has worked is to step out of the shower, brush my hair straight back and let it fall as it will (with constant tucking behind the ears).
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:41 PM on August 26, 2011


I have been there. If you aren't committed to bangs in the long term, just stick it out--otherwise you are just putting off this awkward phase. I think it looks cute as-is, if that matters.
posted by thinkingwoman at 5:44 PM on August 26, 2011


Bang twist. Bobby pin should do the trick even with thick hair.
posted by ephemerista at 8:18 PM on August 26, 2011 [2 favorites]


there's no such thing as hair that's too think and unruly for bobby pins and hair clips - if you want to pull your bangs back, you totally can - you just need more practice.
posted by moxiedoll at 8:29 PM on August 26, 2011


Part it on the side, Twiggy style. This will take 1) goop, 2) pinch/alligator clips, barettes, or bobby pins. There are thick hair versions of all these things. you maybe able to use setting product and just pin it back until it dries.
posted by oneirodynia at 8:30 PM on August 26, 2011


Twiggy is not doing goop. Twiggy must have a flat iron. Here is how to achieve something similar:

0. Buy flat iron. A cheap one is $20 at Target.
1. If hair is wet, blow dry. Pre heat flat iron
2. Comb bangs straight down
3. Take two swoops straight down with the flat iron, make sure those bangs are flat
4. Take a couple more swoops with flat iron. This time, go down and then finish by flipping the hair to one side.
5. Use hair spray to secure the bangs out of your eyes

This will give you the Twiggy-like look for the backs (without the severe point up at the top, they will be more swept across).

You can go 2-3 days in between hair washes, but iron the bangs every day. The extra hair spray on the bangs gunks up the flat iron a bit but it still works fine.
posted by crazycanuck at 10:17 AM on August 27, 2011


By the way - my bangs are way down almost to the end of my nose and I can still sweep them over this way. I get my hair cut like this on purpose! (the back of mine is short, though). Hopefully your hair is not too thick for this. I have thick hair and my stylist thins it a bit with those funky razor scissors.
posted by crazycanuck at 10:21 AM on August 27, 2011


Response by poster: I'm back! And I still have all my fingers!

You people slay me...flat irons? Goop? Like I'm gonna spend more than 14 seconds on my hair. (Just kidding, Twiggy is awesome.)

I really love the choppy bangs on Karen O and the pic that grapesaresour linked to, but I fear that without professional intervention, those would end up looking more like "unfortunate thresher accident" than "styled it this way intentionally".

So I went with some side bangs; not quite as severe as the ones worn by the Kinoco Hotel frontwoman, though, since I want them to be, y'know, out of my face.

The result! Thanks, everybody!

On the clips and pins front: my thick hair is an odd mixture of baby fine and coarse. The course strands stay back in pins just fine, but the fine strands always flop out all over the place. Seven years of dance recital hair proved that this mane just cannot be restrained. I made peace with it a long time ago.
posted by phunniemee at 12:23 PM on August 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


Yay! Good hair!
posted by MonkeyToes at 12:32 PM on August 27, 2011


Very cute! I was thinking the choppy bangs might be trouble without a professional, so I think you made the right choice.
posted by grapesaresour at 2:16 PM on August 27, 2011


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