How To Grow out Your Bangs

Last month, I cut bangs. Also last month, I regretted cutting bangs. I wanted straight across but shaggy bangs and that is exactly what I got. Two points for my hair stylist for always getting it right. Zero points for me wandering down the avenue of regret that is bangs on my face. Are they terrible? Absolutely not and you guys gave me so much love for them which really helped me stave off my regret for a solid week. But do they feel like me? Absolutely not and that’s weird to look at yourself in the mirror and you can’t quite get used to your new look. But it all came to a head when my stylist (who is always a close friend) texted me about them.

It went down like this:

That’s right I ignored my friend for an entire four days. I was ashamed to admit I hate them. She had to hound me for the truth. She knows I’m a people pleaser and she’d have to twist the truth out of me. But once I told her she was right — let’s fix it. So that’s exactly what we did and I picked up a few tips along the way if you find yourself with bangs that you are either growing out or regretting.

So did I really cut bangs and am now writing a post about growing them out 4 weeks later? Yes, yes I am.  Besides the obvious choice of taking hair vitamins, there really is nothing much to do but to let your bangs grow on their own. But while you are waiting for time to pass, there are ways to make the process much less annoying.

Get them blended!

When Lauren, my stylist, suggested blending them I immediately thought ‘no, no — that’s going to make them way shorter.’ But after enough arm twisting,  she was right — going from a blunt bang to a soft, side swept bang is a much easier way to grow them out and actually to style. She parted my hair a bit deeper and told me to ‘train’ the hairs to lay to the side. (More on this later.) Eventually this side swept bang will become a long layer; bangs of a distant past. I am able to blow dry them and push them to the side effortlessly now. Blended bangs for the win! They don’t bother me at all any more. Crisis avert.

Side tip: always be honest with your stylist with any hair cut and not just regretted bangs. This is straight from my stylist’s mouth: you are the client and they want you to be happy with your results! My stylist did this free of charge and I was out within 5 minutes and it made a world of difference. And even if they charge you — it will be worth the $5 or $10 or whatever amount it is. Trust me. Regret is not cheap.

Blow dry them immediately.

So you want your bangs to cooperate with you? You’re going to have to make them first priority. My routine once out of the shower is to let my hair naturally dry while I put makeup on, drink coffee, and slog through my general morning slowness. But with bangs, if you want them to act right, you’ve got to teach them. I immediately blow dry my now side swept bangs to the side and pin away from my face to continue on with my makeup routine. It’s made all the difference in them staying put during the day and away from my face.

Train your bangs.

Essentially your hair likes the path of least resistance — meaning it’s always going to do what it’s always done. With my hair, my natural part isn’t too deep so this new deeper part, my bangs were very against it. My stylist instructed me to pin my bangs to the side at night for a few nights, up to a week. This would ‘train’ those hairs to stay to one side, instead of falling back to the place they once preferred.

Not to brag, but with the blow drying and the pin trick, it only took my bangs one day to train. #humblebrag aside, get you some bobby pins, girl. Which leads me to my next point…

Get creative!

Before I had my bangs blended, I would simply pin my bangs back underneath my hair so you couldn’t really see them or the bobby pins. You can also visually pin them to the side for a sweet look or pull them back into a half top knot. I noticed early on that my bangs were long enough to be pulled completely back into a pony tail or bun, so those were staples in the first few weeks. Here are a few other ideas to work those bangs:

Braid them back.

This is one of the easiest ways to blend bangs into the rest of your hair, just braid them back and pin with a criss-cross bobby pin. This look also works for the gym, if you are tired of them in your face.

Half-Top Knot!

Since my bangs are just a teeny-tiny bit too short to go all the way into a bun without bobby pins, a half top knot does the trick! I use a rubber band and pull my hair into a half pony tail with my bangs included. Then wind up my hair and I pin my bun up! Easy easy.

High pony tail!

This one I can wear with my bangs down or up — it’s darling both ways. If my bangs are cooperating with me, then down they go. If it’s a Saturday (or a lazy day) up they go with the help of some bobby pins at the base of my pony tail, so they don’t stick out up top.

It might take a few extra minutes of experimenting with new styles, but you can always find different ways to work with your bangs. And before you know it, they’ll be grown out  and you’ll be looking in the mirror saying to yourself “should I cut bangs?” once again. 😉

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Special thanks to my friends at Skylight Salon in McKinney for letting us photograph in their space and for the bang emergency help! I’ve gone to them for years now (before they were Skylight!) and have always been in love with my results. Yes, even the bangs. 😉