These Hacks Will Fix The Most Annoying Part of Having Bangs

My biggest gripe with having bangs isn't the fact that they require a once-a-month salon appointment, or even how they stop me from wearing a beanie because of bedhead — I can deal with those daily annoyances. But what I absolutely cannot deal with is when my bangs split in the center.

I know that curtain bangs are very popular, but my bangs are not cut to be curtain bangs. They are blunt, and they are cut straight across without any angles helping to frame them on the sides. They are only ever parted when my hair gets so long that they turn into side-swept bangs my Laguna Beach-loving, 17-year-old self would adore.

Thankfully, celebrity hairstylist and Dove brand ambassador Mark Townsend has all the solutions. After all, he's the king of cutting bangs, and it's why stars such as Dakota Johnson and Reese Witherspoon trust him with theirs. And his simple solution for my bangs-parting issue: a few spritzes of dry shampoo.

"I always say that hairspray sticks hairs together and dry shampoo separates them," he shares. "That's why hair looks so much fuller after putting a ton of dry shampoo in there — because it literally keeps the hair from sticking together."

So, by spraying dry shampoo in my bangs, even when they're not oily, it'll prevent the hairs from clumping up into two sections and parting down the middle.

Now, if you've spent any time on TikTok recently, you may have seen a viral video that suggests perming bangs to prevent them from splitting down the middle. To find out more about this seemingly quick fix, we tapped more celebrity hairstylist: co-founder of IGK Hair Care, Aaron Grenia, and Howard McLaren, co-founder and creative director of R+Co.

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Grenia agrees that perming is an option, but says it works best on coarser or stronger hair types, as they tend to handle perms better. That said, for people who have finer or thinner hair, he has some suggestions.

"Another option that we offer in our salons is a keratin smoothing treatment," says Grenia. "We can do 'spot' treatments to just the hairline if [the middle part] is the only real issue. This helps to control unwanted cowlicks as well."

McLaren adds that while it may be effective, he considers it a short-term solution. "Within a couple of weeks, the root is back in control and has to be redone," he explains. He also emphasizes the importance of the hairstyle itself, saying that the growth patterns in the natural hairline are important to take into consideration, especially if you're considering getting bangs for the first time.

So, as long as I have a can of dry shampoo in my handbag and my hairstylist on speed dial, I really don't have anything to complain about. Well, not related to my hair, that is.