Growing out bangs thread

[eadwine]

I tried to find a thread for this but couldn't locate it, if anyone else knows one, do share and point in me the right direction please :)


I THINK I have decided to grow out my bangs. It's been YEARS since I had bangs cut in, so this would be a first for me I think for .. at least 20 years. I think I already had bangs when I got married back in '96.

I have been comfortable with them but I am ready for a change. Currently also gathering shed hair to do a dye test with (semi permanent) to make me a blue streak.

There have been so many changes in my life this past year that were NOT controlled by yours truly.. and one big one that is: I am currently losing weight. And I find I want another change as well. Cutting the hair short is something that is NOT going to happen, but the bangs.. yep.. that is something I think I will do. On the 95% certain thing now.

But yeah.. the weird stages, the how am I going to wear them so they are out of the way when things get too long, the comments like "that don't suit ya".. ugh.. All that stuff, I would like to share with fellow grow-out-bangs folks.

Anyone? :)

[lapushka]

Wow, quite some changes for you! I like life without bangs. I'm glad you're trying it. :) :thumbsup: I think you will suit the no-bang look just fine! Don't worry about others. Just ignore. ;)

This could be a nice support thread for those growing out bangs. Nice!
Good luck!!!

[eadwine]

Thanks Lapushka! I have had side swepts, that was in my teens. For the life of me I cannot remember how I had my hair back at the latest school I went to.. could be I had bangs back then as well, which means I had them when I was 19 years old even. It sure is time for a change hahaha!

[Qz]

I'm in!

I'm bone weary of my bangs and have wanted for years to grow the things out, but people commenting that I look older or not as well without them has made me re-think and postpone deciding. I probably do technically look a bit better with them but they are such an annoyance too... I have the same concerns, what to do with the blasted things when they're too long to look decent as bangs, but too short to style somehow, but if you're ready to try then I am too.

And good on you for losing weight, I've been plugging away trying myself for the past half year and have been somewhat discouraged how slowly it goes off. Nobody warned me that when you get older it's far more difficult for some reason to shed it, but I'm sure finding it out now! :doh:

[eadwine]

I have been working on this for a long time now as well, not years, but definitely since August/September of last year. Lost 14kgs so far!

Oh, as far as styles for bangs, I found this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWAK1DFXw2k and the twisted front and front French braid are what I was aiming for. Maybe even a Dutch one. Just turn the sound off 'cause that bleep's annoying :lol:

Oh, and this style is also nice for when they are a little longer: https://youtu.be/mBMiWAQQ1FI?t=1m13s

[Magalo]

Had the same idea last spring. After wearing bangs literally all my life (except when I was 9-11!) I tried to grow them during the summer. In fall I realize there's a reason I had bangs all my life... I don't looka bad without them but I do look much better with them. So I cut them back a bit thinner than before and I'm growing these two little sections now (they are shoulder/collarbone length now)=

[eadwine]

Been there as well.. my bangs are much thinner than they used to be and the section that was making them too thick is growing out, long past my ears now. I also look better with them, I think, but wanting a change is more powerful to me. Besides I can always cut them back in if I want them back :)

[Qz]

How do those ladies come up with all of those ideas!

I'm completely hairstyle devoid myself and usually just braid the stuff.... so I thank you for the links and the ideas :) and haha, you're right, that beep was pretty annoying! I must really, really be ready to ditch the bangs since those two videos really kid of lit a fire under me to stick with the growing out and start experimenting with ways to hide the bangs. I'm actually kind of excited now to see how it will go...

As to weight, losing 14kgs that quickly, I'd say that's very well done and really impressive. I know what kind of hard work and discipline that takes!

When I was at the doctor for my checkup in May I had managed to lose only 7 pounds, of the 40 I need to get off (just over 3 kg I think) since November, but to do even that little bit I really had to restrict my diet, ate a lot of apples instead of things I actually wanted to eat, and walked somewhere in the vicinity of 400 miles, doing several miles of brisk walking every day.

The doc said since I am getting older (not that I didn't know that!) I just need to be patient and cut back the walking to half an hour a day, or I'd be struggling with increased calories needed to do all that excess walking, so I did cut back and am trying to be patient and stick to a sensible and healthy diet.

I'm half afraid now to step on the scale for fear of being discouraged at how slow this really is going, but my clothes feel like they're fitting looser, so I may go by that and not obsess about the actual poundage so much for a little while. Either way I'll stick it out for the long haul and get there eventually...

[Estrid]

There is a thread for growing out bangs, I've been in it for some time, it's this one. (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=109123)

I recently decided (or well, several months ago) to cut back my bangs, a mistake, for sure, but I don't know how to handle the hair at the front, it just falls in my face all the time no matter how long it is. I'm growing it out again, but I'm not sure what I will do when it is longer.

[lapushka]

14 kg is a lot! Congrats. :cheer:

[papayatree]

Those pesky bangs, at least they will make my hair look longer in the front than it really is!

[eadwine]

I changed my diet, choosing better varieties of what I already ate, so .. compare the foods, choose the better ones. Like different brands yoghurt, choose the best one with less calories and all that jazz. So.. still eating it, yet better. If you look at my plate you wouldn't think I was on a diet hahaha.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

This site has been the greatest help for me, it is kind of the in-your-face look at what I have been taking in.


As for the styles, you can do it! It is fun to have something change that you can really be in control of. I am still in the stage of JUSTTT not in my eyes just yet, so.. got a while to go still before I really need to do something about it :lol: The clients I work for though are going to be in for a surprise at some point in time; I have never changed my looks that drastically aside from braiding differently.

[eadwine]

Ahh I see it now.. I wonder why it didn't show up in my searches.

Can a mod maybe combine the two threads?

edit: pm'ed a mod :)

[Qz]

Had the same idea last spring. After wearing bangs literally all my life (except when I was 9-11!) I tried to grow them during the summer. In fall I realize there's a reason I had bangs all my life... I don't looka bad without them but I do look much better with them. So I cut them back a bit thinner than before and I'm growing these two little sections now (they are shoulder/collarbone length now)=

I completely understand you doing that as my bangs are pretty thick now, and that may be the eventual compromise I end up making depending on how I look without them. I do really want to grow them out at least to see how I look now without bangs since it's been at least oh, probably 30 years since I really did grow them out enough to see, and I didn't think I looked as well without any bangs then but I sure hope I like the look better now cause I could use a change.

[Qz]

I changed my diet, choosing better varieties of what I already ate, so .. compare the foods, choose the better ones. Like different brands yoghurt, choose the best one with less calories and all that jazz. So.. still eating it, yet better. If you look at my plate you wouldn't think I was on a diet hahaha.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/


This site has been the greatest help for me, it is kind of the in-your-face look at what I have been taking in.


As for the styles, you can do it! It is fun to have something change that you can really be in control of. I am still in the stage of JUSTTT not in my eyes just yet, so.. got a while to go still before I really need to do something about it :lol: The clients I work for though are going to be in for a surprise at some point in time; I have never changed my looks that drastically aside from braiding differently.

That sounds like what I'm doing as well, trying to make the most of the foods I do pick as far as best protein content too, etc, the biggest for me is just not buying junk food with empty calories. As long as I don't bring it home I don't miss it really... I keep apples in a big bowl on the table to make them easy to remember to eat since they're a little sweet but take almost as much energy to eat as they provide.

I used the fitness pal for a while too, then DH got me a fitbit bracelet so I use that tracker now and I agree, its real hard to ignore how much you are taking in when you log everything. A great help!

I'm all fired up to try these hairstyles, and don't know how many of them I can do just yet since my bangs are just a bit down over the top of my glasses right now, but it will be interesting to see if I can make them stay where I put them since they have a history of sliding out of clips, etc. when they're not real long, which is probably why I haven't just gone ahead and grown them out already. I think I'm properly psyched up now to get though it :D

[eadwine]

Just tried to do that crossover thing, the simplest one. GAAAAH!! This is going to be a learning curve hahahaha

[lapushka]

I think a "pouf" will be a nice way of wearing bangs that are growing out. Once you can manage to get the hair into a pouf, that is. ;)

[eadwine]

I have a long face, no way in hell am I going to wear a poof :lol:

[lapushka]

LOL. Hey, it was just a suggestion. :) ;)

[eadwine]

LOL I know :) My bangs seem to part in two on their own, doesn't look half bad if I say so myself, so.. we'll see if I can use the halves like that :)

[lapushka]

LOL I know :) My bangs seem to part in two on their own, doesn't look half bad if I say so myself, so.. we'll see if I can use the halves like that :)

Ooh that'll be cute! :D

[ladyshep]

Those pesky bangs, at least they will make my hair look longer in the front than it really is!

Yes it does!

Well, I am trying to grow out my sideswept bangs right now. My hair is the Victoria secret hair, so it blends in with the rest of my hair, which is easier for me to grow out my bangs right now...otherwise, I had bangs for 2 years now. Need a change...

[papayatree]

Yes it does!

So does that mean that it will take less time to grow it out?

[eadwine]

Less time than other hair you mean? No.. it will just seem to go faster as you can see them :)

[papayatree]

Less time than other hair you mean? No.. it will just seem to go faster as you can see them :)

Thanks for the information!

[lithostoic]

My old bangs are about shoulder length. Can't wait for them to catch up.

[Qz]

Less time than other hair you mean? No.. it will just seem to go faster as you can see them :)

Ha, I didn't think about it before, but by watching the bangs grow out it's a marker for the additional length all over... kind of neat when you're at waist and it doesn't look like it's doing anything, but it is growing.

[eadwine]

My old bangs are about shoulder length. Can't wait for them to catch up.

I have got a section of my bangs that are now right about that length as well.

:lol: Just realized: when these remaining bangs grow out I will have layers!

[Wusel]

I've managed to grow out my bangs and they are 2 inches below chin now. I was wearing a pouf most of the time but I have a wide face. Sometimes when I had time I wore them french braided to the side. Sometimes a cute 50s headband with polkadots or cherries... It's not THAT difficult to grow bangs out, on my opinion. And it doesn't take very much time until they're manageable. It got really easy when I could put them behind my ears. Little claw clips are great too to put bangs back and they look cute when you wear them in different colors. I had some black ones and painted white polkadots on them with nail polish.
And for me it was the best decision I did with my hair, to grow the bangs out. They are so hard to maintain and it's so difficult to live with them ... When I put some night face cream on my face in the evening I woke up with greasy bangs. When I put them up to do a face mask I had to straighten them down again afterwards. I had to straighten them very often because of a cowlick... NEVER AGAIN. I look very cute with bangs and on my honest opinion I think I look MUCH better with bangs (and many people have told me this) but they're making my life extremely difficult so, GONE FOREVER!
And I have some great clip in ones now. Great color match and they look like my own hair when I clip them in correctly. :)

[eadwine]

I have two cowlicks.. so yeah.. looking forward to not having to deal with that again. Plus at the moment they are making a nice part by keeping the bangs up a bit. It's good.. doesn't look so flat ;)

[morrigan*]

I'm gowing out bangs too.
Now they are longer so i just pin it to side, but when they were shorter i kinda twisted it in side lace rope braid.

[eadwine]

Yay I can braid them into my Dutch braid now. I have been doing this for two days now and both days worked fine. :o Takes some getting used to see my forehead, plus the feel outside.. it's windy!

[lulikrueger]

I'm growing mine as well! They were itty bitty Bettie bangs and now they're at cheekbone length.
I'm waiting for them to reach chin length to get some babylights(which will help blend them a little better with the rest of my hair)

[eadwine]

Good luck!! They'll be there in no time :)

[Silverbleed]

Today they're really annoying me. My bangs have this odd shape to them and I don't understand where it's coming from. It looks like a bump in my hair from an elastic, only really close to my scalp. So ugly :(

I hate them, stupid bangs. I regret them soooo much.

[lapushka]

Yay, milestone after milestone, eadwine. Slowly but steady. And in a few months, when it's summer and warm out (well, you know... hopefully), you'll be able to wear them in more styles and back and up out of your face some more! :)

[polarnatt]

I'm bringing some life to this thread after a tragic "ooh I love how Zooey Deschanel's bangs look and now I want them too" incident two weeks ago. I went to see a hairdresser and even though I brought pictures and explained what I wanted pretty damn clearly, I was left with too bluntly cut, ridiculously thick bangs.

I wanted a sort of soft, romantic look that would go well with updos - the sides of the bangs longer, down to my cheeks, and the middle shorter to be worn parted in the middle. She cut my bangs so that the majority was between eyebrows and eyes and the sides right below my eyes; with my wavy hair it just didn't work at all and I immediately regretted the whole ordeal.

Oh well, it's been two weeks and the hair has already grown, which is really encouraging! My plan was always to cut longish bangs now and let them grow into face framing layers as the rest of my hair grows longer, so I'm going down that path, just with a shorter starting point. For now I have no other choice but to hide my bangs with braids and twists as they're still too blunt and weird for my hair and taste, hopefully in a month I'll be able to sport some cute side swepts.

[Betazed]

That sucks, polarnatt! I've had bad bangs, too and it's awful!

I'm growing out side swepties right now but I plan on getting them cut again once summers over. I hate having sweaty bangs stuck to my forehead! I've mentioned this before in another thread. I don't cut them after mid-spring and just let them grow all summer. I like to keep them braided up in little dutch braids (2 on each side with a side part) which I then incorporate into whatever style I'm doing. Some days I get tired of the little pokey bits sticking out and I think about growing them out for good. However, I think my face looks weird when I wear my hair loose without bangs. So I'm pretty sure when it's cool enough to wear my hair loose once in awhile, I'll get them cut again.

[Hedera]

Hopefully it's ok to bump this thread - it was the most recent one on growing out bangs that I could find!

I've had bangs for most of my life (apart from a short period where I had a pixie cut, and I think I tried to grow them out once before, but I can’t remember if I actually saw it through or not).
They were always above my eyes / eyebrows, quite heavy, sometimes blunt cut and sometimes more textured and (very) short: think Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice.

Even while I had dreadlocks, the past 7,5 years, I still had my short, straight bangs / fringe.

I like bangs: I like them on myself, I tend to like them on others.
Because my hair is quite straight, I don't need to 'style' them very much; there is a cowlick at my hairline, but just combing the bangs over that after washing tends to make them behave quite well.

Initially, I decided to grow them out because after trimming them myself for... at least 15 or 20 years, they had drifted off a bit to the right.
Also, I would like them to be a bit less thick, I think.

So the plan was to grow them out until they are long enough to be added to the rest of my hair, possibly using bobby pins etc, then get new, slightly thinner bangs cut that are more symmetrical again.

However, lately I have been getting curious about what it would be like to have long hair again without bangs!

Even though mine are relatively well behaved, they are still annoying sometimes; I have to take extra care not to get face cream, sun screen etc in them - and then of course I still do, and they get stringy looking.
I also love wearing hats and caps, and bangs make that more complicated; I basically have to choose between tucking them under or wearing the hat further back and leaving them out, but both options tend to make them look weird when I take off the hat.

Oh, and cycling makes them stick straight up! :D

For a lot of updos I prefer the look with bangs, but with a lot of braided styles, especially ones that go around the head, I think they tend to look nicer without bangs.

My hair is silvering very nicely, especially on the sides and front - I suspect I will like the effect when I can put all my hair back!

Time enough to decide, of course - I cut them even shorter than usual last time (another strike against bangs! I always put off trimming them because it stresses me out, so I walk around with unflattering-on-me eyebrow length bangs for weeks, and then I trim them too much so they look weird for a few weeks as well..) and that was only about a month ago.


In any case, there is an awkward year or so ahead of me, filled with bobby pins and flax seed gel and little clips!


Anyone here switch to all long hair, after a life time of bangs / fringe?


Edit: oh, forgot one of the most important reasons to grow them out: it makes the 'pull it all back and pretend the shine is intentional' method of stretching out washes and disguising overly enthousiastic oiling possible!

[Bat]

I didn't cut in bangs to grow out just what shaving my head gave me but I've got enough to call them bangs now and I'll be growing them out out my goal is to get all my hair one length so I can help motivate you too

[tuanyiji]

Apart from kindergarten, the only other time I had bangs was in college, for some reason I thought a perm and bangs was a good idea for a new semester. It was NOT. It only looked good on me for that five minutes in the salon mirror. Something like this except with black hair:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1001725273378668557/1008237363291492453/IMG_9058.png

The rest of the time was such a pain in the ass to maintain the curls and the bangs. I ended up going back to my trusty high pony and hair band to get the hair out of my face.
I have since grown out of my bangs and cut all the perm curls. My hair is 100% virgin for many years now.
Never bangs or perms for me again.

[rosenester]

Hopefully it's ok to bump this thread - it was the most recent one on growing out bangs that I could find!

I've had bangs for most of my life (apart from a short period where I had a pixie cut, and I think I tried to grow them out once before, but I can’t remember if I actually saw it through or not).
They were always above my eyes / eyebrows, quite heavy, sometimes blunt cut and sometimes more textured and (very) short: think Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice.

Even while I had dreadlocks, the past 7,5 years, I still had my short, straight bangs / fringe.

I like bangs: I like them on myself, I tend to like them on others.
Because my hair is quite straight, I don't need to 'style' them very much; there is a cowlick at my hairline, but just combing the bangs over that after washing tends to make them behave quite well.

Initially, I decided to grow them out because after trimming them myself for... at least 15 or 20 years, they had drifted off a bit to the right.
Also, I would like them to be a bit less thick, I think.

So the plan was to grow them out until they are long enough to be added to the rest of my hair, possibly using bobby pins etc, then get new, slightly thinner bangs cut that are more symmetrical again.

However, lately I have been getting curious about what it would be like to have long hair again without bangs!

Even though mine are relatively well behaved, they are still annoying sometimes; I have to take extra care not to get face cream, sun screen etc in them - and then of course I still do, and they get stringy looking.
I also love wearing hats and caps, and bangs make that more complicated; I basically have to choose between tucking them under or wearing the hat further back and leaving them out, but both options tend to make them look weird when I take off the hat.

Oh, and cycling makes them stick straight up! :D

For a lot of updos I prefer the look with bangs, but with a lot of braided styles, especially ones that go around the head, I think they tend to look nicer without bangs.

My hair is silvering very nicely, especially on the sides and front - I suspect I will like the effect when I can put all my hair back!

Time enough to decide, of course - I cut them even shorter than usual last time (another strike against bangs! I always put off trimming them because it stresses me out, so I walk around with unflattering-on-me eyebrow length bangs for weeks, and then I trim them too much so they look weird for a few weeks as well..) and that was only about a month ago.


In any case, there is an awkward year or so ahead of me, filled with bobby pins and flax seed gel and little clips!


Anyone here switch to all long hair, after a life time of bangs / fringe?


Edit: oh, forgot one of the most important reasons to grow them out: it makes the 'pull it all back and pretend the shine is intentional' method of stretching out washes and disguising overly enthousiastic oiling possible!

I keep my bangs eyebrow length or just above. I realized they were a little thicker than necessary and lopsided thickness toward the right several months ago as well!

Instead of growing them completely out, I carefully and slowly made, and remade, a new triangle of slightly less hair, and cut them a little short on purpose to have a clear distinction between the parts I was growing out, to guide future trims. The rest have been growing out towards the sides and are slowly blending with my face framing layers.

In the past, I’ve grown them out as far as the tops of my ears, but never enough to tuck behind the ears, got frustrated & cut them back! So far, I plan to stay a life-long bangs wearing person, i cut them in my early 20’s (can’t remember when or why) during an experimentation phase after keeping long unlayered hair through my teens, so most of my adult life I’ve kept bangs… now they hide my very deep forehead wrinkles very well.

Showing off silvers is a great reason to try!

[Lesley8]

I've been growing my bangs out for a while. They're at my chin and I can't wait till they get long enough to tie back. Definitely won't cut mine back in again, I got fed up having to trim them and they got greasy fast.