Let’s cover different ways to cut bangs. The first thing to pay attention to is sectioning out the hair because the bangs will be sectioned according to each person’s head shape. So the first step is to lay the comb on top of the head where it starts to curve forward and down. That’s going to be the high point of the section. From there, take that to the center of the recession. The center of the recession is usually going to hit right at the corner of the eyebrow, right at the front of the temple. This has all the hair that has the ability and the tendency to fall on the eyes. So it’s important to get this hair under control. You can always add more hair to the section if you want to. You can go further back or go wider if you want to open the face up more. You can also take less by taking half of the hair if you don’t want a solid bang. So there are different possibilities for bang sectioning but this is the general tendency of all the hair that can fall in the face.

So now let’s cover three different types of bangs:

1. Blunt and heavy bang
2. Layered bang with or without movement
3. Highly textured bang

The blunt and heavy bang is very solid and heavy. It’s cut straight across. To do this use a good quality scissor such as the Jatai Tokyo Scissors 5.5” by BMAC. These are great because they are a smaller scissor which is better when dealing with bangs because you have more control.

It’s a natural tendency to take a section in the center, comb that into the hand, and then cut. If you do this, there are a couple things you have to focus on. The first thing is to notice how thick the section is. The second is how you use your fingers to hold the hair. If you just comb everything smooth with zero tension, lock your finger and then cut blunt, you already have a finger worth of elevation. If you do that, this is going to be a little softer than the maximum bluntness you can get. So if you want it blunt it’s better to use a comb to hold the hair and push the hair into the spine of the comb with the back end of the scissor. Then go through and cut it straight across with a lower elevation because it’s harder to clean this up on the skin. Why? Because you have eyebrows and eyelashes to deal with. You want to be mindful of that. Another thing you want to be mindful of is how much spring the hair has and if there are any kind of cowlicks at the front. That’s why no tension should be used at all. For the sides of the bangs, if you want an arc or a curve, start at the inside of the eye and angle the comb so that it’s curved down. Repeat this on the other side and try to match the first side. The blunt bang is pretty straightforward and easy.

The layered bang with or without movement is also a popular bang style. Usually someone with side swept bangs has an off center part. Find where the head starts to curve forward, go straight down to the center of the recession and pin that hair back. For bangs where you want a lot of movement but still have a solid shape, start off by taking a small section from the middle and pin it to the side. Then take another small section. This is going to be the shortest piece. The rest of the bangs will flow off of this piece. Take the piece and hold it off the peak curvature and find the length that you want to cut it at. Use very little tension. Otherwise, it will make the bang shorter than desired. Point cut the ends to the desired length. Now you have to decide what angle you want to create from the shortest piece to the longest piece. Mirror that angle in your parting. Hold it at the same angle as the parting, holding it in the opposite direction in which you want the bangs to flow. Using your guide, point cut the next section. Continue to take more sections using the previous guide. Once you’ve cut all the sections of the hair that will make up the bangs, let it go and see how it falls to the side. If it looks good, take the center piece that was the guide for the right side and do the same thing on the left side.

The third bang style is a highly textured shape. It’s less solid and more of a softened look. This allows it to be styled in many different ways. This type of bang could be made to go straight across or left or right. Whichever way the bangs flow it will flow in a more piecey softer way. To create this bang, take a center section right in the middle. Pull the section forward and use a thinning scissor such as the JATAI Tokyo Thinning Scissors by BMAC. With the straight blade on the bottom, go through it with thinning scissor. With the curvature of the head, go through and point cut across the section with the thinning scissor. By having the tooth side of the blade on top, it leaves the bangs nice and soft on the top. Take another section of the bangs to the right. Using a small piece of the guide, pull the guide and the new section to the left and point cut with the thinning scissors. Continue to do so until you have cut all the bangs on the right side of the head. To do the left side, take a small section from the middle and a small section of bangs that has not been cut yet. Hold the two sections to the right side and repeat as you did on the left. To finish it off, make sure the sides are matching. This look is not nearly as solid as the blunt bangs but it’s a beautiful fun look.

These are the three major ways of doing bangs. You can mix and match them as you want. You can also do this with a razor which will give a more jagged line. Whichever bang you decide to create, the tool will determine the texture. You are the master of the tool, so choose wisely! To watch this in video format taught by Russell Mayes, Director of Content for JATAI, click here.