B003YL4KS0 EBOK (26 page)

4
Position your fingers right above the area you want to trim. Avoid applying too much tension on the chosen curl unit, so you don’t distort its actual length and therefore snip too much.

5
Cut the hair straight across at that point right above your fingers.

6
Take the curl unit next to it and repeat the above steps. Alternate doing the same thing from the center back on the right side.

7
Occasionally during the trim, shake your curls at the roots with your fingers so the newly cut hair falls naturally. This way you’ll see what other curls need trimming.

Bangs seem to grow out faster than hair on the rest of the head, so it’s often the place you want to trim between cuts. Just be careful when trimming this area, since cutting too much can leave you with bangs that are too short, a style that doesn’t usually work on curly hair unless you want a funky look. (As you well know, curly hair is quite moody, so some days the curls on your forehead contract while other days your bangs appear longer, which do not look as good framing your face.)

Make sure you hold the scissors gently and with ease and apply no tension to the hair. With bangs, err on the side of trimming less rather than more. I know I’ve said it before, but you can’t add hair back if you cut it too short. Also, if you have a very prominent part or cowlick, keep in mind where it is.

1
Stand very close to the mirror. Unlike the rest of your hair, where you hold each curl with one hand while you trim with the other, you’re going to trim your bangs without holding the hair. With this free-hand approach, your hair is lying in its natural position, and you can gauge exactly where to trim it.

2
Starting with the bang section that is in the middle of your forehead, pinch the curl unit from the root and lift it up slightly to see what it would look like when you cut it. Then place the scissors at the spot where you plan to trim.

Snip the hair at the end of the curl unit or slightly below the beginning of the C curve.

3
Hold the scissors gently and with ease. Carefully snip the hair at the end of the bang unit or slightly below the beginning of the C curve.

4
Move on to the curl unit lying next to the curl in the middle of the forehead. Trim it at the beginning of the C, leaving it slightly longer than the strand you just cut.

5
Continue cutting the neighboring strands as though you are going down a staircase. If you have bangs on both sides, cut in this same way on the other side of the first bang section that you cut in the middle of your forehead.

When you’ve finished trimming your hair, check that the cut feels and looks visually connected. Take sections of hair from opposite sides of your head and gently bring them forward between your fingers toward the front of your face so you can see that the lengths are about even and that all the ends have been freshly trimmed. Ends you missed will look obvious as the newly trimmed hair exposes the frayed strands like a neon light. Also, note that as your hair settles in the next few days, you may see a couple of pieces that need a snip.