Hey everyone, Kayley, your friendly neighborhood hairstylist, here and today, I’m going show you a bunch of different ways to style your curtain bangs.
Table of Contents
Intro
Whether you have already gotten curtain bangs, or you are about to get them, you may be very confused as to how to style them. That was me as of a couple of months ago.
I have watched every video I could find, I have played around with a lot of different methods and I am here to bring you the ones that have worked for me, that I really enjoy and I really wanna cover a lot of different types of tools, because I feel like each of us either own different tools, or feel more comfortable with some tools versus others.
So I’m really hoping that not only am I gonna be able to give you lots of different ways to make your bangs look, but I’m also gonna be able to find ways that work for you.
So I am really excited to take you guys through this.
Quick little curtain bang update, if you guys saw my videos on my curtain bang getting processed, you know that they were actually cut uneven at the salon.
That was not ideal, but as they’ve been growing, I’ve been trimming them to be more and more similar.
So this side started here and as it’s grown, I’ve kind of like let these outside pieces grow and cut the shorter pieces, so it makes more of a diagonal, and then on this side, I’ve just kind of shortened it a little bit, so that it’s closer to this.
So now they’re a lot closer to being even, but there’s a lot more bangs in this side than this side. Do if it ever looks different in the video, that’s why. I do my best.
It’s just kind of right now, it’s a waiting game for growing out the rest of these shorter pieces, so that everything is totally symmetrical.
Anyway, that little disclaimer aside, let’s jump to wet bangs and let me show you how to prep them.
Prep Your Bangs
First, I just wanna talk about some products, that I recommend putting in your curtain bangs before you style them.
Heat protectant is a great idea. You’re going to be using heat on them now and in the future. So let’s just go ahead and get that in there.
This is the Bumble and Bumble Glow Thermal Protection Mist. If your hair has a hard time holding its shape, putting in a product with hold and memory can really help.
That can be anything from a mousse to a blow dry bomb that has hold in it.
I’ll have some recommendations right here. I’m not gonna be doing that today, just ’cause I’m gonna be re-styling these hairs a lot.
And then I’m actually adding in another protectant. This is the PCA Bond Repair Hair Treatment, and the reason for that is that these hairs get styled more than anything else, and I also want them to grow.
So I’m doing as much as I can to make sure that I’m really protecting and caring for them, so not just with the heat protectant, which we obviously need, but something that’s actually rebuilding any broken bonds and protecting them from breaking again.
So I’ve added in two protectants. You don’t have to do two.
The very last thing I’m gonna add in, is something that’s gonna add some slip and some moisture to the hair, to make my brush go through easier and just hydrate, moisturize the hair before anything happens to it.
So I’m gonna use the Virtue Healing Oil and mix it with a tiny bit of the 6-in-1 Styler.
You don’t have to use both of these, you could use one or the other. I am being extra because I am about to just torture my bangs.
Okay, so there you go.
That is my extra bang routine, because I’m gonna be styling my bangs so much today.
Normally it’s the PCA Bond Repair, the hyaluronic acid from INKEY List, and the Virtue Healing Oil. Those are my normal three.
But today I’m pulling out the stops. And then if you need hold, you can add in a hold adding product. So there’s the prep.
Blow Dryer
Now, let’s talk about how to use a round brush and a blow dryer.
This one is not my very favorite, but I do it sometimes and a lot of people like it.
So I’ll show you how to do it.
You bring your bangs forward and check it against your hairbrush, if it can all easily fit on your hairbrush, you can do it in one section.
If not, you wanna create your center part and then do it, one section at a time. This is where having a nice, like slippery moisturizing product helps, because the brush glides easily through.
So what you’re gonna do, is kind of brush the hair to get it smooth and then you want it pointing forward, like a unicorn horn.
You’re gonna place the brush at the roots of your hair and you want to twist it and then slide it up, twist a little bit more, slide it up until the ends are wrapped around the end of your brush.
Then you can roll it down and you’re ready to hit it with the hairdryer.
Once you get a little bit more advanced, you can actually do that while you have the hairdryer. But if you’re new to round brushing and using a hairdryer, this is a good way to start.
All right, and now I’m brushing the hair and like picking it up with my other hand to see if it feels dry, not quite yet.
So we’re gonna get it back in place and keep drying.
As you’re drying, you can loosen up the twist and push the brush out and retwist, loosen, pull and retwist and that just gives you a chance to expose more of the hair to air and it can help it dry a little bit faster.
But you can also just keep it right here, just depending on what you’re comfortable with. So I went a little bit longer to make sure it was dry.
And then I hit it with the cool air to help set the shape. So at this point, everything is set and ready to go. We’re going to just pull it forward and let it fall off the brush.
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Then you’re going to part your hair. So let’s do the good side first, this side always does what it’s supposed to do. So here you got this nice like, flip and we let this down and it’s like pretty and we love she’s cute, she’s great, she’s doing her job.
So if it flips the wrong way, take your brush and curl it the correct way and then just leave it there for a second.
And then I love to finish it with a little coat of light hold hairspray.
That way, if you wear your hair multiple days in a row, it’s not gonna build up too much, but it is gonna keep your bangs where you want them.
Current fav, is the Virtue hairspray. I was kind of meh about this when I did my Virtue review, but now it is the only hairspray that I enjoy using. If you have a favorite drugstore light hold hairspray, let me know ’cause I need one.
Flat Iron
Moving on, to flat irons / stylers, because GHD does not call this one a flat iron.
Okay, this first one is a Kayley Melissa special.
I came up with this when I was desperate and it worked, so I’m gonna teach it to you.
I call it the Sailor Moon and what you’re gonna do, is tackle each side in two parts.
So we’re gonna split this in half. You’re literally gonna create a C shape with your bangs using your flat iron.
So you put it in, you create a C, here we go. And you let it sit right here, like a sailor moon bang to cool. And with the other one, you do the same thing, but it’s gonna be slightly looser.
So you take it, you make a C and this one goes underneath your eye.
This is the funniest thing, it just always works for me, so I have to teach it to you, even though it looks ridiculous.
And basically to do the C shape, you have your hair out to the side, you put the straightener in and curve at about 45 degrees and then just kind of move it in the shape of a C.
So here, curve and keep it going.
There we go. I’ve do find I have to like put it into this shape and then let it sit there.
I can’t believe I’m showing this on camera. I try to make this into like a perfect circle, so that it will be symmetrical. And once again. Nope, not kidding.
Really do do this. Really do recommend it.
And then once it’s cool, you can take them, hold the top, flip the bottom back and then you brush through it.
And for some reason it does this perfect little swoop here and then like curl under here.
But like on days when I’m really struggling with my bangs and nothing else is working, I can do the sailor moon bangs and it works. It has no business working, but it does.
All right, hold the top, flip the bottom, hold the top, flip the bottom. And on this side, I have to kind of hold the top while I keep arranging it. And then pop this little guy under.
Once you have them, where you want them, I like using these little creaseless clips, you can just get them on Amazon.
And I clip ’em like this and I clip ’em on this side too, making sure that they look as symmetrical as possible.
And you just kind of go about your day for like five, 10 minutes, if you can and that way it gives your bangs a chance to just kind of cool and set where they need to be.
And then when you take these out, they just kind of are a little bit more obedient, like a little bit more where you want them to be.
Plus I find it keeps me from just like playing with my bangs for 15 minutes straight trying to get ’em right.
All right, so I’m gonna pull my hair up really quick, because one of my favorite things about this way of styling my bangs is how it looks when my hair is up.
I have not tested this on longer curtain bangs. Feel free to tag me in pictures if you do, but at least for my length of curtain bangs, this I love. And let’s just take a peek at it with your hair down as well.
The fun thing about this, is that it does make your bangs look more bangy, than some of the other methods, and so if you wanna feel like you have those like shorter, bangs for a day, this is a fun way to do it.
Definitely take you to that more like early seventies, versus late seventies look, I think. While we’re at it, if you wanna just really take this one there, you can take the ones right in the middle here, C shape under like you’re making, kind of like you’re styling normal bangs.
Yes, that was the goal.
Let it cool.
It’s the important thing with bangs. We take it off the curling iron and you immediately wanna start messing with it. But the secret is to not.
Now we can split it and it just brings them a little bit closer together. So if you like that forehead coverage and you wanna kind of fake a shaggy bang, you can do that. This is just like maximizing your curtain bangs basically and I’m here for it.
This deep side part is a big no.
Another way you can use your flat iron, is to create kind of a similar effect to what we did with the round brush, but you got your flat iron.
So if this is easier for you, here you go. Now technically you can do this with your whole bang section, but if it feels difficult for you, you’re always welcome to split it in half.
But we’re gonna go unicorn horn? Put the iron in, turn 45 degrees and slide it out. In, 45, slide it forward.
Because I am restyling my hair so much. I am really making sure that it cools in the shape that I put it into. So right here I’ve wound it back into the role.
Okay, so now we flip it apart, brush them into place. Again, this side, always so silly. We’re just gonna curve it with the brush. Curve it with the brush.
So that’s how to do it when you’re doing the whole section. This side didn’t take very well, so I’m gonna redo it. So if you’re just doing one side, you would obviously pick up the hair from that side and then proceed as we just did.
Unicorn, place the curling iron, turn it 45, slide it through. Bonus points for cradling and cooling.
Alrighty, let’s let these sit and set and I will show you how it looks. This side really wanted to do its own thing for this method. I can’t control it, it controls me.
And there’s our second flat iron method.
This one basically looks like the round brush method, but it eliminates the round brush. If you’re a little bit less comfortable with it. You can always get more of a curl by turning the flat iron more.
And I think this one is particularly nice for a really long curtain bangs, ’cause it’ll give you that nice like, gentle swoop.
Time for heat protectant break. We’re just gonna really saturate the hair and then brush it through as it dries. This doesn’t work for every heat protectant, but it does work for this Bumble and Bumble one.
If I’ve overworked a section of hair, I can saturate it with the heat protectant, let it dry and then the hair is a lot more obedient and easier to style.
Filling out all the tricks for this one.
Curling Iron
So first for the curling iron, let me show you a alternative to the sailor moon.
I’m working with a one and a quarter inch curling iron today.
This is the Bio Ionic Graphene MX. I haven’t talked about it a lot, but it’s one of my favorite curling irons, partially because the barrel is so long, it’s good for all hair lengths, but it’s also just really smooth through the hair and makes the hair look really nice.
Okay, unicorn horn, we’re familiar?
You’re gonna put the iron on the underside and you’re gonna curl down like you’re curling real bangs. Just making sure to watch out for your forehead.
You’re actually just gonna slide this, all the way to the ends and then wind it up.
Alrighty, and then I’m just gonna slide this little guy out. Leave that to cool for a moment. Told you that he protectant made my hair more obedient. Gonna put a little clip in here. Gonna be on TikTok for a second.
All right, she’s cool.
Gonna take this down, let it down the middle. Create the middle part and I’m just gonna use my round brush on the backside of the section again just to twist the hair, in the direction that it goes and look at us now.
It’s a really, really similar effect to what we got from the flat iron, but it’s with the curling iron.
So it’s a little easier.
This is with a one and a quarter inch iron and with a one inch iron, it would obviously be a little tighter. You could go bigger with the curling iron, if you want it loser.
So similar to our little flat iron option, you get the cute little flip out of the bottom, you get the taper, it looks really nice. And I think for some of you guys, it might be a lot easier.
Again, just some days my hair is doing its own thing. And sometimes the curling iron is so good. And sometimes the flat iron is where it’s at.
And I just like having multiple options depending on, what my bangs want that day, ’cause really I’m not styling them, they’re styling me.
All right, I’m gonna put my hair up again, so you guys can see this with hair up and hair down.
Alrighty, now let’s talk about, how I disguise my curtain bangs.
On the days that I don’t feel like having them, this is what I do.
You’re gonna take whatever curling iron you use on the day to curl your hair.
I actually used a one inch Kristin Ess curling iron today, but they’ve fallen, so I think we’re good to go.
You’re gonna work one section at a time on this one and you’re going to pull the hair forward and it’s going to go basically perpendicular to your hairline.
So this is the hairline, perpendicular. And then I normally curl my hair away from my face. Basically, you’re going to replicate whatever curl you’ve just done everywhere else.
So I am going to be putting the iron in, curling it away from my face and letting it go.
On this side, I usually slide the iron out to kind of loosen it a little bit because it’s shorter on this side.
So that’s one option, you can kind of pull the ends out with your curling iron and then you do the same thing on the other side.
Curl it around. And for this one, I’m just gonna let it go. Just so I can show you guys, the difference. This one gives you a much more defined kind of ringletty moment, this one’s a little bit more pulled out, up to you.
My poor little bangs have been done so many times today, I have to clip them and let them cool, before we move on to next step.
I look quite funny. And I’m just telling you guys that because more than likely you will find yourself in a situation where you have also overworked your bangs.
And so these are some of the things that I do. I clip them up to cool in their new shape. I wet and restart or wet with heat protectant and restart and if nothing else,
I have a few hairstyles that I use to hide my bangs, If they’re just really not working with me that day.
Like, if you wanna see that video. All right, she’s cool. Let her down.
And basically with this one, you’re just going to take your bangs back and kind of arrange them so that the ends go with the piece of hair next to it that’s full length and is already curled.
So it can even help to pick up that section of hair and kind of like move them together with your hand. Same thing on the other side.
So you take it, you grab your long section next to it and just kind of work them together. And there you go. This is for the days when you’re like curtain bangs, I don’t know her.
I wanna pretend like I never made that decision. This is also a really nice, just gentle option for when you have your hair up, but you wanna wear your curtain bangs forward. It makes them a lot softer. So if you don’t wanna go for that full like, curved shape that we did earlier, this is a lot more gentle, if that’s your vibe.
Okay, we have one more curling iron option. This one is to replace the round brush. As before collect the hair together, create your unicorn horn.
And now you’re gonna curl away from the face and you’re going be putting the iron in, sliding it up to the ends of the hair and then rolling it back down.
If you want bonus points, you can do a little sit and set. Alrighty, they’re starting to get the idea.
Split it in half, move it to the side.
It’s essentially the same look as we’ve already created with a round brush and a flat iron. Just giving you the curling iron option.
Refreshing Your Bangs
Now let’s talk about how to refresh your bangs.
You might’ve gotten them perfect on day one, but if you’re anything like me, when you wake up the next day, goodness knows what your bangs are going to be doing.
I have woken up with them sticking straight out from my head before, that was impressive ’cause they’re a few inches long.
I’ve had like a Bieber situation going on, I’ve had everything.
So what can we do?
Obviously, any of the things, that I already showed you can work, You can re-wet your hair and round brush it.
You can use any of the heat styling, but I understand if you want to avoid that. So my current favorite are Velcro rollers and I really believe you have to figure out the right size for you and how your hair holds a curl.
So I recommend getting a pack of Velcro rollers in different sizes, so you can play around with that. I will link them below, so you can check it out.
We want to section off your bangs. Once again, brush them to our favorite unicorn spot. You’re going to place your Velcro roller towards the end of the hair and slide it out. And this way you catch all the little ends on it. And once you can feel that your ends are on the Velcro rollers, you just kind of pull out to create a little bit of tension here.
Basically, you just wanna feel like you’re pulling on your hair the tiniest bit and then roll it down and it will stick to itself here and you can let it be.
Once everything’s rolled up, it can be nice to put a little clip in there, just to help everything be super secure. Then you want to dampen your hair so that it can dry into its new shape.
So I’m just gonna use a little slow release spray, it does this, it’s so nice. We’re just gonna go, and I do this and put on my makeup and when my makeup’s done, my hair is ready to go.
But if you’re in a little bit more of a hurry, you could grab your hairdryer and even put it on cool, If you want to avoid heat and that’d work too.
Once it’s dry to the touch, you can take your clip out and then just gently unroll this.
Here we go, split it down the middle.
So there’s one example of a Velcro roller refresh. Obviously curling away from the face is one of the options that I showed you throughout the video, but you can also use the other options, that we talked about as well.
So you could curl down and towards your face, for that more swoopy bang, or if you want those more camouflaged bangs, like we talked about, you would just treat this like it’s your curling iron.
So you would wrap the hair around perpendicular to your hairline and just stick it in place and wet and dry and take it down and it would be all ready to go.
But the other cool thing about these, is that when you do heat style your hair, you can immediately put it onto the Velcro roller, after the curling iron or flat iron and allow it to cool using this.
And that will help the curl set to be a lot better. I’ve really touched on that a lot throughout this video. This can be a really helpful way to really make sure the curl is holding nicely and setting well.
You can also play around with the size of the results a little bit, because like you’ve got these two different sizes of Velcro here and maybe just one size of curling iron.
You do the curling iron, put it on the Velcro rollers, you’ll get a different result, either a little smaller or a little bigger, depending on which ones you use.
And that’s super good, because it can help you have more versatility even with just one styling tool.
Same curling iron, two different rollers, two different results. Okay, those are the ways I like to style my curtain bangs. It has been a journey getting here. There have been so many times where I have just, raged screamed at my mirror, that’s a little dramatic.
I’ve been very frustrated though, by the curtain bangs and I feel like, I’ve found a few methods that really work for me and I do find like on a specific day, if one method that usually works, isn’t working, I can just switch to a different one and that ends up working for me.
So I hope all these different options, end up helping you in a similar way.
Samantha is a hairstylist with over 12 years of color and stylist experience. She enjoys using her knowledge to create what her clients really want when they sit down in her chair. Her passion is creating unique looks that her clients feel great in.