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Should I get bangs? Read this first

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Bangs. They can detract a good four years from the face because they make you look younger, girlish even. Every woman, myself included, has one bad bangs story -- typically, it involves a do-it-yourself disaster back when she was 15 years old. What I did was follow Seventeen magazine’s guide for cutting your own ‘wisps.’ What I got, in the end, was a set of sideburns. What the hell are wisps, anyway, but uncertain bangs? Sort of like the milquetoast version of a full-on commitment to forehead fringe.

Kate Moss and Halle Berry are no cowards when it comes to bangs. Both women have been spotted with a new curtain of hair above their eyes. Moss went all out with the big bang. Berry opted for a side bang that I like to refer to as the pony forelock. I once asked a stylist at Frederic Fekkai for a ‘pony’s forelock’ and even showed him a picture of a palomino to illustrate what I wanted. Was I laughed at? Yes. Did I get a lovely forelock that I could flip to the side? You bet.

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On the fence about taking the plunge? Know some facts about bangs before you commit:

1. If you have curly hair, stop reading now. Bangs work best for straight or marginally wavy hair. The whole point of getting bangs is to make life easier, so don’t go for it if you will be forced to coerce severe curls or cowlicks to behave every morning.

2. Bangs can disguise a wide forehead or even a receding hairline, if cut properly. They can also make a long face appear shorter and minimize a round face. The good news is that there are as many variations on bangs as there are face shapes.

3. Bangs, like explosives, should be handled by professionals. If you’re not yet old enough to vote, go ahead and cut away. Otherwise, go to a salon and let a stylist create your new look. Always bring a picture when getting a dramatic, new look and tell the stylists how much time you can devote to re-creating that style.

4. Bangs take about three months to grow out for someone with shoulder length or longer hair. All the more reason to reread the last fact.

5. Bangs draw attention to your eyes. Notice how Moss and Berry both opted for a smoky eye to play up that feature? I like a heavily kohled punk rock eye with long bangs -- it’s as tough and sexy as my idol, Chrissie Hynde.

Got a bad bangs story? Tell us about it. Don’t skimp on the details. And if you know of a great stylist in Los Angeles who can cut bangs like nobody’s business, share it with us here.

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