bangs on long, thinning hair?

[hennared]

I've always worn bangs for as long as I can remember, and right now they are about 'end of my nose' length and I wear them sideswept (a typical style for me). However, as my hair has thinned all over, but especially in front, the past few years, I've had to cut them back further and further. I pull forward about 2 1/2" depth of hair going front to back (and mid eyebrow to mid eyebrow, side to side) and cut bangs myself from that. I don't mind the 'thickness loss' to the rest of my hair, as, trust me, that bang region ain't got a lot to it!! :rolleyes: Overall, I don't have a lot of hair in the area from ear to ear over the top my head and forward of that; it's all pretty straggly looking and grows poorly. The hair behind that is more dense and grows much better.
Anyway...
My question is this: with my current bang length, it is a REAL STRUGGLE to figure how to part them without emphasizing the thinness. They like to 'split' funny no matter how I part them; I have a cowlick on the side my hair likes to part on and it's quite sparse at the hairline there. I am tempted to cut 'straight across' bangs that don't part at all to solve the problem. I think I have just enough hair to do it, and I wonder if that hair might look 'fuller' once cut that short? but I'm not sure I'll like how it looks. I do feel I look better with some kind of bang on some of my forehead. And I have a very asymmetrical face from time to time (I had Bell's Palsy, a kind of facial paralysis, some years ago, and when I am tired, one eyebrow 'droops' about an inch lower than the other and it looks weird!!) So.. I feel I need bangs, but I'm afraid straight across is too severe, or that my temple area loss will really jump out, in that style. And I'm not sure 'straight across' bangs look good on an older face as mine is becoming (I'm near 52).

Your comments?

[Lady Stardust]

My hair does the same as yours, it grows more densely at the back. I have a straight across fringe at eyebrow length, and it looks thin to me. The alternative though is a longer fringe or no fringe, which doesn’t suit me, and sits funny because I have a cowlick.

Over the years I’ve managed to get my fringe to sit more or less straight, but it does part itself a bit because of the cowlick. When I first had a shorter fringe though it drove me mad because my hair wanted to part itself all the time.

My hair doesn’t start to wave until about ear level so my fringe sits quite straight, unless I particularly want it to look nice and then it will curve off to the side :) Your hair is wavy though so do you know if a shorter fringe will behave?

I’ve had just about every length of fringe over the years and I only think of it as being thin when it’s eyebrow level or shorter. Above the eyebrows (half an inch or an inch) looks thicker but is quite a stark look. It’s edgy, not as flattering for me, but sometimes edgy has won out over flattery!

All I can say is, I’m the only person who pays the slightest attention to how thick or thin my fringe is. I would suggest going with whatever will lay nicely with your texture.

ETA: Forget about your age, not an issue. I’m 7 years younger than you and intend to have a fringe, or not, as my preference takes me :) If you’re self conscious about your eyebrows, I would say don’t cut at the eyebrow line or above. I have one eyebrow lower than the other and I always worry that my fringe looks wonky!

[lapushka]

My question is this: with my current bang length, it is a REAL STRUGGLE to figure how to part them without emphasizing the thinness. They like to 'split' funny no matter how I part them; I have a cowlick on the side my hair likes to part on and it's quite sparse at the hairline there. I am tempted to cut 'straight across' bangs that don't part at all to solve the problem. I think I have just enough hair to do it, and I wonder if that hair might look 'fuller' once cut that short? but I'm not sure I'll like how it looks. I do feel I look better with some kind of bang on some of my forehead. And I have a very asymmetrical face from time to time (I had Bell's Palsy, a kind of facial paralysis, some years ago, and when I am tired, one eyebrow 'droops' about an inch lower than the other and it looks weird!!) So.. I feel I need bangs, but I'm afraid straight across is too severe, or that my temple area loss will really jump out, in that style. And I'm not sure 'straight across' bangs look good on an older face as mine is becoming (I'm near 52).

Your comments?

Personally, I wouldn't do it. I would keep the side-swept bangs, because that is what you are used to. It will be easier to learn how to part them than it is to get used to a different "set" of bangs. Also it might be better with your health issues too, if you care about "hiding" them to a certain extent. :flower: