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Switch it up: how to cut curtain bangs

Here's what you need to know…

curtain bangs
Orin Carlin
Content Writer
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Cutting your own bangs? Surely not. Unless you're an aspiring TikTok star, you might want to take a step back and chill for a minute. Don't get us wrong, we're all for hair experimentation, but there are some things that really ought to be handled by the pros, especially if you don't have a clue what you're doing.

MORE: The Prairie Girl Plait is this season's most romantic hair trend

But life is short, and if you're seriously considering going for the curtain bangs look sans a hair professional, who are we to judge? Although, before a surge of impulsiveness overwhelms you, the least you can do is brush up on some of our top tips to prevent your sweepy bangs fantasy from turning into a real-life hair nightmare.  

READ: The 3 biggest haircut trends for autumn 2022

RELATED: Emily Ratajkowski debuts new hair transformation at New York Fashion Week

Hello! Fashion caught up with Brixton Cowie, hairstylist at Neil Moodie Studio, to find out how to cut curtain bangs.

"The cutting is done in three main stages," Brixton explains.

1. Sectioning

Kaia Gerber Curtain Bangs© Photo: Getty Images

Kaia Gerber is forever our curtain bangs inspiration 

"Section the hair into the parting and then choose how much hair you wish to create into the fringe. The final section should be triangular from the top of the head to around the temples."

2. Choosing Length

Curtain Bangs Emily Ratajkowski© Photo: Getty Images

Emily Ratajkowski showed off her latest style at New York Fashion Week 

"The hair should be cut in sections, so starting with the underneath nearest the forehead, flip the centre sections upwards and cut the length that you desire. Never cut shorter than the bottom of the eyebrows."

3. Cutting

Curtain Bangs Lily Collins© Photo: Getty Images

Lily Collins' fringe game is unreal 

"Now work outwards on each side, and cut the hair at an angle, towards the chin so it becomes longer than the middle section. Point-cutting the sections is better than blunt cutting as this leaves the edges softer and not too hard. 

"Now bring down the next section and use the underneath section as a guideline to cut to. Repeat until you've finished cutting all the hair in the triangular section that you first created.

"Before this process, it's a good idea to have a think about how you'll style your hair and any products/tools you might want to prepare to make your new look work."

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