How to Blow Dry Your Way to a Perfect Fringe EVERY TIME

Every week a lot of us get bangs or our thoughts turn to getting them without the slightest idea how we’re going to style them.

Is it any wonder so many are bummed the morning after they walk out of the salon with a freshly cut fringe?

Problem is too often you end up with bangs that fall flat or puff out when you blow dry them yourself.

Or you can’t get them to hold their shape or stay out of your eyes.

Still bangs done right can change your look without sacrificing length.

They will frame your face drawing attention to your eyes and facial features. (And when was the last time you read a post about bangs that didn’t mention that?)

They can literally be the difference between a good high ponytail or updo and a great one.

So how do you get them to look great?

I’ve found that knowing what matters when it comes to blow drying them will help you to produce the look you want.

So the following professional bang blow drying and styling tricks will help you get that perfect look – or a fringe that lays flat much like the rest of your hair.

These hacks will help you keep them in line and make them look great. Of course if you’re in a hurry just jump to the Unwritten Rules of Bang Blow Drying at the bottom of this page.

10 Things That Matter When It Comes to Blow Drying Bangs

#1 Why Blow Drying Bangs Matters:
Applying heat helps to shape the fringe and defeat any annoying cowlick. It’s your chance to mold them into the shape they’ll hold the entire day.

Hack: To accomplish that you want to always hold the dryer over your head blasting the hot air downwards.

#2 Why How Wet Your Bangs Are Matters:
Fact is it’s easiest to get wet hair to do your bidding. That’s when it is most cooperative and open to styling.

So the wetter they are when you start the better the outcome will be. Plus the less frizz you’ll have to fight. Which is why you should deal with them immediately after stepping out of the shower.

Now if you choose ignore this advice and dry the rest of your hair first, put on your makeup or whatever then you’ll just need to spritz your bangs to get them back to pretty wet before starting on them. Just clip the rest of your hair back and out of the way if it’s already dry.

#3 Why When You Blow Dry Your Bangs Matters:
Your bangs will dry faster than you think. Letting that just happen allows them to assume whatever ungodly shape they please.

Result? Hard-to-handle hair that can’t easily be rescued. So don’t dilly-dally when it comes to blow drying them. Your makeup can wait. Your bangs can’t.

#4 Why Product Used Matters:
You need to know what product to use to help you get the bang you’re looking for.

Different style fringes require different products. Without getting specific…

• Some find a pea sized bit of styling lotion applied before blow drying works best.
• Some like to spritz a bit of volumizing spray.
• Others recommend using a style extender since it will keep your bang feeling and looking cleaner longer.
• Girls with curls may want to apply styling gel.
• All can benefit from a dose of dry shampoo once they’re dry and before the grease sets in.

No matter your preference apply the product of choice then comb through.

The one product rule to honor no matter what is to avoid too much product. Doing so will just weigh your fringe down.

#5 Why How You Blow Dry Matters:
Some suggest high heat but low air flow. Others go for all the air flow their dryer can put out. You’ll want to experiment to see what works best with your mane.

Now you want your bangs moving when doing this. And you want to take care to focus the heat on the roots.

You can brush through them, comb through them or use your fingers to tousle them while unleashing the nozzle armed blow dryer on them.

This next one is vital if perfect bangs are the goal. So pay attention now if you’ve just been scanning through the first five points.

#6 Why Wrap Drying Matters:
You want to do something some stylists call wrap drying. This is simply where you create a repeated X with your bangs.

That is you brush the hair to the left, then to the right, then cross over to the left again and so forth alternating sides until the bang is dry. This back and forth helps to best disperse the heat.

Here’s a video segment that demonstrates the technique perfectly.

Got it? Back and forth and back and forth.

This is EXACTLY how you want to blow dry any fringe of yours.

This technique works especially well with both side swept and blunt, straight across bangs.

Being a relatively small amount of hair it will dry in no time. I mean did you see how fast her fringe dried?

Remember to never aim the heat from underneath the fringe. Especially with side swept bangs since doing so will only create a rainbow effect which is definitely not the swoopy look you’re going for.

Also remember to let the hot air and your brush do all the work.

Added bonus of all this back and forth? Brushing or blowdrying hair in the opposite direction it normally lays, or over-directing, creates sexy, full bodied hair with volume to spare.

#7 Why Sometimes Splitting Your Bangs Matters:
Those with a thicker fringe may find that splitting it in half horizontally and clipping the top half out of the way works best. Each half will dry faster.

Focus on the bottom half first. Then unclip the top half and dry that.

Hack: The more you lift the bang the more volume they’ll have. The closer the brush is kept to your forehead the less volume you’ll end up with.

#8 Why the Brush Used Matters:
Since you want your bangs to lay flat not the least bit curled the brush of choice is the paddle brush. You want to get a grip on your hair at the root. That tension is what will help to smooth it out.

A flat brush with boar bristles is ideal if pricey. Of course the gold standard would be a Mason Pearson brush from England. But such a cult classic comes with a classic price tag that would buy a decent amount of gold.

A suitable alternative would be one with a mix of nylon and boar bristles close together. These are way less expensive.

Now brushes like these work best because you want one that will keep your bang from going all stringy on you. And a bang full of gaps in the strands isn’t the look you’re going for unless it’s a piece-y bang. So you need a brush that will keep the strands together to form the curtain shape we all know as bangs

Another way to avoid bubble bangs is to step away from any mid sized round brush in your bathroom. This will keep you from wrapping the hair around it while blasting it with heat. Twirling your hair around the barrel of a round brush like that is the approach bubble bangs are made of.

But you can use a medium round brush like that to pull the hair forward from the roots down while hitting it with the heat. This produces a full smooth voluminous shape and keeps them straight – sans the bubble.

#9 Why Using a Nozzle Matters:
Three words – more targeted drying.

One advantage of the concentrator nozzle is you can dry a specific section of hair at a time – in this case your fringe.

Plus the air comes out with much more force.

Both work to make it easier to blow-dry your bangs fast, straight and smooth.

#10 Why a Final Cool Shot Matters:
When you’re just about done with blowdrying, give the cool shot button a hit. This will cool and smooth your strands while helping to flatten them against your forehead.

Unwritten Bang Blow Drying Rules

Okay so to review let’s hit the high points so you too can blow dry your way to your best bangs ever.

• WET the bangs thoroughly either in the shower or by spritzing them
• COMB the wet hair forward and straight down over your forehead
• NOZZLE up your blow dryer to best control the direction and force of the air flow
• SIDE TO SIDE movement of the hair either using a flat brush or your fingers while the blow dryer is directing the hot air straight into the roots. Think of it as creating an X pattern over and over. To build in volume you want to keep the hair moving. This back and forth is also how you can gain control over a cowlick that’s in an unfortunate spot on your hair line.
• AIM DOWNWARDS ONLY is the direction you want for the hot air

Even if you are blow dryer challenged following these simple steps should produce the desired effect – aka perfect bangs that look as sharp as a paper cut. Because now you know what matters when it comes to blow drying bangs.

And if you’re looking for more help with your styling technique why not follow our boards on Pinterest?