And a word of warning for those without a fringe–resist the temptation to cut your own for the first time, that’s best left to a hairstylist. But, if you’re itching to pick up a pair of scissors, celebrity hairstylist and Ouai founder Jen Atkin uses a similar technique to refresh her face-framing layers.
So, gather a fine-tooth comb, clips and sharp manicure scissors (or hairdressing scissors, if you want to go pro) and carefully get snipping.
Start with clean, air-dried hair or a rough-dried fringe to see how the hair falls with its natural body and texture. Next, use a comb to separate the fringe’s existing triangle shape from the rest of the hair, and clip the longer pieces of hair back behind the ears. Whether you have thick or fine hair, horizontally half the fringe and clip the top half back for manageable sections and a more accurate trim.
To create a guide for the length of the fringe, take a one to two-centimetre section from the middle of the fringe between pointer and middle fingers and make tiny, vertical snips with the tips of the scissors until reaching the desired length. Then, comb through the fringe and separate hair from the middle part into two sections. To create a tapered effect, pull the hair towards the space between the brows, making the outer strands longer than the middle and continue chipping away length with vertical snips. Repeat on the other side.
To check the fringe is an even length, comb the hair downwards to find where it naturally sits, and then slowly run fingertips down the outer pieces of the fringe to ensure they taper evenly.
Next, let down the top half of the fringe, using the middle piece of hair from the bottom section as a guide for the top half, and repeat the snipping and tapering techniques.
To finish, release the rest of the hair from clips, combing and massaging the hair to see how the fringe sits with the hair’s natural shape, and continue snipping and tweaking to personalise the fringe to your hair and style.
