Are you still wondering if you should get bangs? Listen, we’ve all been there. Sometimes we regret the decision to commit to a fringe immediately, but sometimes bangs transform us into our authentic selves. And maybe your own scissors have been sitting on the bathroom counter taunting you, convincing you to make the change yourself.
Bangs come in all different shapes and sizes. Basically, there is a type of bang that suits anyone, any face shape, and every level of maintenance you’re willing to put up with. But the latest bang trend we’re getting hyped over is bottleneck bangs, a longer bang that requires less maintenance than most and, let’s be honest, are easier to grow out if you’re not into the final result.
This hairstyle takes inspiration from the neck of a bottle; starting slim and short in the middle, curving longer around the eyes, and then longest following the line of the cheekbone. This allows the length and angle to be adjusted depending on whether you want to make your cheekbones appear wider or stronger. Many people don’t suit a classic ‘fringe’—the solid horizontal line across the face—but most can wear bottleneck bangs to add softness to the face.
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For bottleneck bangs, it’s important to be specific with your stylist in order to get the style that frames your face exactly how you want. To get bottleneck bangs, ask your hairstylist to create longer bangs that skim your cheekbones at an angle that flatters your face, curving around to create a layer that sits somewhere between your cheekbones and jaw. Then ask for the central part to be cut shorter, keeping the cutting line soft and choppy, with the shortest part in the middle and getting longer on the edges. That’s not difficult and you may even do it yourself at home if you can’t wait to try it. Take a look at more ideas below to get inspired to try bangs in this new year!Considering getting a fringe, but worried it might not suit you? Then you need to know about bottleneck bangs. A style that’s currently at the top of trending lists, it marries a face-flattering cut with an easy-breezy 70’s sensibility – if you’ve previously tried and failed to pull off other variations of a fringe, this one is for you.
“Bottleneck bangs are a hybrid between a full and grown-out fringe, ” says Benjamin, who has cut his fair share of fringes in his time. “It gets longer at the sides, and essentially morphs into a grown-out fringe. Basically, it’s a fringe that offers the best of both worlds.”
Unlike a full fringe, which tends to sit at the same length across the face, the bottleneck bang is differentiated by shorter strands in the centre of the forehead, creating a “bottleneck” shape on the face. These shorter pieces are key to its universal appeal: “They are really flattering, as they break the fringe up a bit, ” and it gives you different options how to style” says Benjamin “It’s the safest style for all face shapes.”
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Those with rounder faces will appreciate how tricky it is to find a fringe that doesn’t emphasise make the face look wider – for them in particular, this is a great fringe to try. “Most people can work one – it’s a universal style in that sense – but if you’ve got really curly or coily hair, it’s also worth noting that it will take some work to blow dry hair straight into a similar shape, ” adds Benjamin
Poster girls for the bottleneck bang include Dakota Johnson, Edgar-Jones, Chung, and Margot Robbie on the cover of British Vogue’s August 2021 issue, all of whom have fringes that look suitably effortless, while flattering their features. It’s a cut that lends itself perfectly to a mussed-up, bedhead texture: “It’s the kind of fringe that blends with the rest of the hair really nicely.”
So how to style the ultimate bottleneck bang? It’s all about how you dry the hair - you have to rough dry it forward, onto the face. If you want lift use a Velcro roller and a small round brush to bevel the ends. Letting it dry naturally is also a good option.
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Another essential is dry shampoo, because whatever style of fringe you have, the likelihood is that it will get oily quickly. If you’ve got coarse or frizzy hair, use a smoothing cream, anti-frizz serum or a little amount of dry hairspray to eliminate flyaways and help hair sit slightly sleeker.Sometimes it feels like you need a beauty glossary to make sense of the hair and makeup terms that get thrown around, especially when it comes to the next best thing.
That’s because it’s quite often a term we haven’t heard before, made up by an industry expert to describe a move they’ve been using of late.
It’s something many of us have pondered from time to time, but if you’ve been put off by the commitment or thinking it might not suit you, there’s a new style that makes the change a little easier. Plus, with the weather starting to cool, a fringe is easier to wear than in the summer months, as you wont have to worry so much about sweat and humidity making it separate or look greasy too soon.
Bottleneck Bangs — 2022s Hottest Trend
‘Bottleneck bangs’ is the new fringe look du jour, making its way through Hollywood celebrities and mere mortals alike, as the fresh and flippy hair trend is flattering, easy to wear and probably most importantly – easy to grow out.
In addition it takes its cues from a soft, sweeping 70s sensibility that has been infusing both fashion and beauty lately, something that’s perfectly aligned to adopt for autumn.
Sidenote: If you’ve never searched for fringe inspiration on Google before you make the chop, you may not know that ‘bangs’ is the term most commonly used for what we call a fringe in the northern hemisphere, but they mean the same thing.
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Unlike a classic fringe that sits across the eye-line, Bottleneck bangs are named because they start shorter at the top and are often parted, then graduate to longer pieces that curve around the eye and cheek line, creating a bottleneck shape.
Those longer pieces, that work kind of like shorter layer, can either sit inwards flick outwards a little, similarly but with not quite as much ‘bounce’ as a Farrah Fawcett’s famed ‘do. There’s a lot of movement and texture involved in Bottleneck bangs which provides versatility for the style, and more ‘lived in’, undone and effortless they look the better.
The difference from the also recently popular ‘curtain’ fringe is that the curtain fringe falls strictly on each side of the face without any fringe in the middle of the forehead. Bottleneck bangs still have those shorter pieces in the middle.
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Recently worn by the likes of Dakota Jonson, Lily Collins and Kaia Gerber, it’s tricky to pinpoint exactly who coined the term but the growth in its popularity is most often credited to London-based hairstylist and international creative/colour director for Evo Hair, Tom Smith, who initially made a clip talking about Margot Robbie’s look on the cover of British Vogue. Smith noted the style had been repeatedly requested since the magazine came out.
In a second video Smith uses the term ‘bottleneck’ to describe the look, picking it as one of the hottest hair trends for 2022, something that’s certainly coming to fruition given the uptake on red carpets and social media alike.
“The shape of the fringe or the bangs is narrower at the top then gets wider, like the shoulders of a bottle, then curves around and gives you that detail under the cheekbone.”
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“The main thing people are talking about is the frame around her face, with the long bangs and the curve under her cheekbones Smith explains. “It’s very 70s but also very now. From a colour point of view, you can see there’s no obvious colour coming from her roots, the highlights are really low contrast and the brightest parts are coming from those points around her hairline, those layers around her face to draw attention to the ‘frame.'”
While Bottleneck bangs are likely to only work for certain hair types – it’s worth asking your hairdresser if it will suit and work for you – fringes in general remain very popular this season – check out these other fringe looks that are also trending.
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