You caved. You’ve been told by your hairstylist, your quarantine buddy, and only about two-dozen memes to put down the scissors and walk away, but you couldn’t stop yourself — and now it looks terrible. So how do you fix your bangs at home when you messed them up royally?
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First things first: If you’re still in the “considering it” stage of cutting your bangs, we repeat: Don’t do it. Jen Atkin, celebrity stylist to Chrissy Teigen, Hailey Bieber, and the entire Kardashian-Jenner clan, implored her Instagram followers to wait until this is all over before you start chopping away. “I highly recommend waiting for your hairstylist,” she said in an IGTV. “Pre-book them or buy gift cards if you’re able to because no tutorial will ever replace your stylist!”
When I asked Erickson Arrunategui, an industry-leading stylist at Bumble and bumble, if anyone should consider cutting their own bangs in quarantine, he also gave a stark answer. “No. I don’t recommend it.” He continued: “If you have bangs and are in quarantine I would start to experiment with accessories or switching up your part. This is a great time to give your hair a break and let it grow in nice and healthy, maybe you might like how it grows in!”
But say you got so fed up with your bangs poking you in the eyes all day and you went for it. There are a few things you can do to come back from the brink:
“If you cut your bangs and went too short, drop the scissors!” says Arrunategui. “Put on a headband or a cute hat and FaceTime from the eyebrows down for now.” Then, wait a while — days, if you can — to assess the issue. “If you happened to cut them a bit uneven, try flat-ironing the hair, then split it in small horizontal sections and see if you can find the area that may be longer than the other. If it’s an obvious find then I would trim it, but be careful not to take off any length from areas that are already shortened.” Arrunategui recommends the ghp Platinum Plus Iron.
If you have curly hair, you might be in luck: “Curly hair can often hide a bit more mistakes because the hair shrinks up so much,” he says. “But it’s also really easy to cut off too much hair. So I would wash and style hair as normal, and shake it out, if you see any long piece that stands out from the bang area I would cut in to it. But if it’s not a huge deal, I would just style it and tuck in any uneven hairs or pin them back until you can see a stylist.”
There’s one small exception to the rule: If you’re a seasoned bang-trimmer. “If you’ve cut your own bangs or hair in the past and it hasn’t been the worst experience then I would invest in a pair of cutting sheers,” Arrunategui says, reminding me that it should definitely be a last-resort option. Additionally, the wrong (read: dull) pair of scissors can really damage your hair. “Instead, get a pair of sharp new hair scissors and don’t use them for anything else but your hair. Also invest in a good comb to give you control of your hair.” He recommends that YS Park combs, which he calls a favorite.
And if you've managed to restrain yourself from going at it? Congratulations: You can officially start daydreaming about getting one of these trending summer haircuts once quarantine is over.
