She dared to do it—and with fabulous results! Kate Middleton jazzed up her tried-and-true bouncy blowout by adding long bangs, a style she officially debuted on her first day back from maternity leave on Thursday, Sept. 17, and the results are smashing!
“I love the long fringe on Kate,” celeb hairstylist Richard Mannah tells Us Weekly. “It looks thick, healthy, and shiny. The length softens and frames her face beautifully. Plus, it makes it more versatile—she can push it to one side or the other.”
His last point is a particularly crucial one, as the Duchess of Cambridge, 33, just welcomed her second child, Princess Charlotte, in May. With a toddler and an infant, Middleton likely doesn’t have a lot of time to primp, and bangs tend to require patience and a steady hand. (If only we all had Middleton’s hairstylist Amanda Cook Tucker on speed dial!)
So we asked Mannah (who’s tended to Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevingne‘s tresses) to give us three surefire tips to styling fringe quickly—and with glam results. Read on to get the details!
1. Grab the spritzing bottle.
First point: “You can’t style dry bangs!” Mannah, who is also the International Artistic Director of Label.m hair products, insists. “If you have wavy hair especially, you must wet it down with moisture before blowing it out.” It will make everything easier, he promises.
2. Work with nature.
Mannah acknowledges that lots of women have cowlicks—and sometimes, hair can just be plain old stubborn. That’s why he encourages ladies to let the bangs tell them where they want to go. “Grab some smoothing cream, and apply just a tiny bit from the middle-length to the end of the bangs,” he explains. “Blow them out forward, then style them with the hair’s mood. You have to go with the hair [and its natural curl that day], not against it.”
3. Do not underestimate the importance of a good brush!
Last but not least, you have to have the right tools. “You need a good round brush to be able to stretch the bangs out. If you have bangs about Kate’s length, I recommend Label.m’s ‘Large’ or ‘Xlarge’ size round brushes,” Mannah says.
He adds, “If the brush is too small, it will create too much bend and volume. You want bangs like Kate’s to look smooth, natural—not poker straight, but with just a light curl at the end. A big round brush will do that for you.”
One last note from Mannah to new moms: Do not be afraid to try bangs! “[Fringe] is good for mothers—or just people heading to the gym—because a lot of moms [who come into my salon] like to throw their hair up in a ponytail when they’re on the go,” he explains. “The fringe adds just a bit of softness—it keeps the face feminine.”
