How to Deal With Bangs in the Summer
By Jenna Rosenstein
(Photo: Maifredi Rennio)
Once, during a summer haircut, I told the stylist I wanted her to recut my full bangs. She paused and raised her eyebrows. “Are you sure?” she asked. Um, yes, I was. But I understood her hesitation. To be blunt, having bangs in the summer sucks. They’re hot, sticky, and frizzy—but they don’t have to be. Here, three tips for making them a little more tolerable.
Know how to use your dry shampoo. There’s a special way to apply dry shampoo to prevent bangs from getting gross, says hairstylist Mark Townsend, who works with the Olsen twins and Dakota Johnson. “After you’ve done your whole routine with your face—your sunscreen and everything else—flip your head upside down and spray the dry shampoo on your bangs. You want to get the underside of your bangs, not your forehead. Once you’ve sprayed, ruffle them with your fingers just a bit.” Keep a travel-size dry shampoo with you whenever possible for midday touch-ups (I like Klorane Dry Shampoo With Oat Milk).
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Work backward. Bangs 101 says that you should blow-dry that part of your head immediately after you get out of the shower, so you don’t give those short hairs a chance to dry wonky. Unfortunately, that typically means tackling your bangs before your makeup is done—and smearing moisturizer, sunscreen, and foundation around them later can make a greasy mess. Here’s how you deal with that: Pin up your bangs until your makeup is done (I always add a touch of face powder in the center of my forehead for good measure). When you’re ready to style them, rewet your bangs with a spray bottle of water (or just dunk your head in the sink) and then blow-dry them. And speaking of bangs and makeup…
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Avoid your forehead. “Whatever product you’re putting on your forehead is going to come in contact with your hair,” says hairstylist Nathaniel Hawkins. “You want to use something that’s lighter on your forehead.” For me, that typically means using about half the amount of moisturizer and foundation on my forehead that I do on the rest of my face (hey, it’s not like anybody can see it, anyway!).
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