How to wear- The New Wave Fringe
Is there a better start to the day, than your fringe drying well in the morning ? We would argue it is up there…
Among many of the great questions in life, why does sometimes feel like a game of Russian roulette avoiding the gun when it comes to drying a bang.
Okay enough of the witty comparisons.
Drying fringes need’t be that complicated. In fact, we find the more you try and do to it, the worse it will want to sit. If you are spending more than 4 minutes on styling your fringe, something is not going right.
Blowdrying a fringe completely straight, before ironing it flat puts so much tension on the hair to sit in an unnatural position; that any hint of moisture, wind, sweat- it’s going to drive you mad. The more you touch it, the worse it will go. We have all been there, whether you are a hairdresser doing the blow-dry or the person beneath the hair.
On the contrary, allowing the hair to air dry, encouraging it in to the shape it was cut with two large rollers, or a quick bend a round a hot brush before leaving it to its own devices is often we find, the secret to a beautiful fringe. No want wants to look like lego, good hair should move a little.
When we dry a fringe, we comb it side to side and down to knock out any kinks. We add a smidgen of mousse or sugar spray with our hands.
We then rough dry down and side to side with a nozzle-less hairdryer on a medium heat and speed, pushing with our fingers or brushing with a regular hairbrush to one side for a few seconds, then across to the next. All while keeping the hair drying down.
Finally finish for a few seconds blowing straight down, then when the hair is roughly 75% dry turn off the dryer. Spritz a little sugar spray on to the hair then leave it to finish drying on its own. Tuck any whispy Bardot pieces behind your ears
Padded clips are great for cowlicks and post pregnancy regrowth (aptly named baby hairs). These hold the hair to dry in place as it Air dries; If you keep trying to straighten these hairs down with an iron- being a lot weaker than all the other hair on your head, they tend to snap and break and stand up even more. The cycle continues…
A hairline Keratin treatment is a great alternative for particularly stubborn cowlicks or really really pronounced baby hairs, though most people really won't need this.
You are not trying to control the texture of the hair, i.e. make a curly fringe straight- leave it to be curly!
It is only really for very stubborn regrowth issues that are pushing the fringe in to a weird position unnaturally, where your only other option other than growing the fringe out is putting a straightener to it every day. The benefits will outweigh the damage caused by excessive daily straightening on the already weakened hair.
Remember like we said, you are not trying to make your wavy or curly fringe straight- leave your fringe wavy and curly, frizz and all! That is the charm of your hair.
A little product to give your fringe some texture, and a few tips and tricks is all you need to dodge the gun on bang roulette.
Start your day well, get your fringe to sit right.
Marissa -
How I style my hair depends on the occasion but what I mostly do is:
Apply L’Oréal Professional Tecni Art Liss Control Creme all over.
Then I apply Charles Worthington Thicker and Fuller Densifying Mousse
Dry the fringe with a hairdryer focusing on brushing it forward and to each side then I just scrunch the rest with my hands and let it air dry.
Gemma -
Before I had my first haircut with The Hair Bros, every morning I was armed with a round brush & hairdryer - a sleek 60’s blow dry kind of gal. I still adore that style but knew that
a) The heat. It wasn’t doing my hair any favours
b) It began to feel too polished and a little too much effort for an everyday style
c) TIME.
I used to dream of having that effortless, tousled, French-style bob that was actually as effortless as it looked.
The Hair Bros made me realise that was all down to the haircut itself, not the time spent on styling.
Since I started having my haircut with THB’s, I now spend very little time styling my hair, which lends itself well to my lifestyle as I have recently become a new mum and time is most definitely of the essence when it comes to my morning routine!
After washing my hair I lightly pat dry with a towel - just to take away the drips, brush into place and then leave it to dry as much as possible without touching.
When my hair is roughly 80% dry I use a small pump of bumble&bumble invisible oil to tame fly always, provide a little shine and voilà!
Every now and again if I’m feeling fancy I’ll use a hot brush to add a little more definition and finish. I love this simple routine because now I have time to do the million & one other jobs that have to be done everyday as a mother and still feel confident and my best, which is so important to me.
Coplan -
I only wash my hair once or twice a week, and I never use shampoo, only conditioner, which is why I invest more money in a nicer conditioner since I only use one product to wash my hair- I use Oribe Gold Lust Repair & Restore conditioner.
I do not use shampoo.
Since getting a fringe, my hair routine has changed a lot. Here are my main takeaways since getting the fringe back in December.
I now always have a tiny spray bottle of water with me- I’ve noticed that my bangs tend to get greasier looking way faster then the rest of my hair, and b/c I only like to wash my hair once a week, I find that wetting my bangs and letting them air dry is an easy fix to this problem (especially after I wake up or even wear a hat).
Another solution I have found to be helpful is Amika’s Perk Up dry shampoo - I carry a small bottle around with me at all times. I am not sure if this is something a hairstylist would approve/recommend of but I have found that putting a bit of dry shampoo on my bangs while they are still wet (before blow dry) helps them from sticking to my forehead. I also carry around oil absorbing sheets so that my bangs don’t look oily/greasy.
If I want to tidy them up a bit, I lightly go over them with a straightener. (I use Moroccan oil hair protect & prevent spray)
Amber Jean- I love my bob wig with bangs, I get so many complaints when I wear her!
When I wash my hair pieces I always use a mask & leave it in over night.
As wigs don’t receive any natural oils from your scalp they can get dry and damaged much easier than bio hair. So you need to give them extra care & attention! Feed them with moisture!
My favourite hair Masks include :
They leave my hair piece feeling super luscious & hydrated.
I always leave my wigs to dry naturally on a wig head- its better for the hair & also lets the natural texture come through.
After I wash out my mask I use some serums & texture cream’s:
Kérastase Elixir Ultime - to give the piece that shine & softness
Bouclème Curl Cream - to add texture
I scrunch the hair to give it that bed head texture which I love!
With wigs the messier the hair the better! It always looks more natural that way!
I encourage people to invest in good products for their wigs as that means the hair piece will have a longer, happier life :)
Follow Amber at @hairfreelife - It is a wonderful page she has set up taking the stigma and scariness out surrounding hair-loss. It gives a safe space empowering those going through or have suffered hair loss, providing much needed advice and a community to talk too.
Hannah -
In terms of styling, I always left it natural to do its own thing and always air dried it but i did occasionally did put a salt spray for texture or a bit of frizz ease just to tame it down a bit on more wavy/curly days.
I kind of just tousled it a bit to get some movement and make sure it wasn’t too stiff in place.