Curly Hair Bangs are Back in Style

Back With a Bang

For many curlies, bangs have become the dreaded five-letter word. Some have resigned resigned themselves to the belief that they can never have them.

But that doesn’t have to be the case.

Stylists specializing in curls say bangs are hot this year. And if done right, they can be a fashionable, sexy option for wavy and curly hair.

“If the hair is textured, bangs can work,” says Diane Da Costa, a New York stylists specializing in textured hair. “Just make sure you have a stylist cut the curl to define the curl pattern.”

Jonathan Torch of the Curly Hair Institute in Toronto prefers to call the look “face framing” rather than bangs.

“And when it’s cut right, everybody can have bangs because they frame the face,” Torch says. “But they’re nothing at all like straight-haired bangs.”

MORE: How to Wear Curly Bangs

Not Your Childhood Bangs

And these are different from the bangs of the past.

“God save us from the resurgence of the mall bang,” says NaturallyCurly.com Curl Master Amie Zimmerman of Dirty Little Secret in Portland.

Curly Girl author Lorraine Massey likes to call the new look “non-committal bangs.” They should be on the longer side — almost too long — for a sort of retro 1920s look.

“I want almost a side bang,” Massey says. “It’s not sexy when it’s just sitting there.”

Cutting curly bangs isn’t easy, Torch says. No two people have the same curl pattern, and the way the hair falls on Monday may be completely different from how it looks on Tuesday. Length is also key when cutting bangs. They must be long enough to allow for a Plan B.

“You want to be able to get them out of your face when you don’t feel like having bangs,” Torch says.

Err on the side of longer rather than shorter, Massey stresses.