This style is as loose and carefree as a day spent at the seaside. Here, Peter Thomsen (@pjthomsen) gave his client a light new balayage and soft face-framing layers.

 2. Delicate Curtain Bangs

Sometimes less is more, even when your client has long hair, as demonstrated by Chris Weber Mirlach (@chrisweberhair), who describes the bangs as "effortless."

3. Curtain Bangs with Style

Curtain bangs don't just look good when the hair is down--they can really add to the style when the hair is pulled up into a stylish updo or carefree pony, as shown by Rachel Williams (@rachelwstylist).

4. Bardot Bangs

Curtain bangs can add drama and depth to a sleek style, as shown by Sal Salcedo (@salsalhair), who calls these "Bardot Bangs."

5. Romantic Shag

Curtain fringe can add volume and natural wave to the hair, giving it a romantic, old world feel, as shown by the work of Lo Shabino (@classiclois_hairstylist). 

6. French Fringe

Paige Bureck (@pinkdagger) gave her client some decidedly French feeling with this cute cut. 

7. Fuller Fringe

Done correctly, a shag and curtain bangs can actually give the illusion of thicker, fuller hair, as seen on Holly Seidel's (@hollygirldoeshair) client.

8. Bold Color, Bold Fringe

Sometimes a client wants a complete transformation. And while this style from @mageofhair doesn't require lots of length to be lost, it certainly makes an impact—and one that's only enhanced with a bold color choice. 

9. Long Fringe, Short Hair

Belinda Mills (@bel_pipsqueekinsaigon) shows that short-haired girls can wear curtain bangs, too!

10. Farrah Fawcett Fringe

Mick Lewis (@hairbymickk) created this look that harkens back to the '70s when shags reigned supreme—but with a thoroughly modern twist. 

11. Voluminous Curtain Bangs

Go big or go home! Curtain bangs don't have to be subtle, they can be in-your-face, like this gorgeous cut from Brian Hickman (@brianhickman1)

These fun looks are at Beauty Launch Pad

Truth #4: You Need To Maintain Your Color At Home

You leave the salon loving your blonde color, but a few weeks later it’s feeling brassy and coarse—this isn’t uncommon. Color maintenance is KEY. “Light blonde color on textured hair can be the most DIFFICULT to maintain! Colors like this are not for the faint of heart and require major TLC in and outside of the salon,” shares @haircolorkilla.

That’s why Kara always STRONGLY recommends that her clients use a toning washing system like the Matrix So Silver Shampoo, Conditioner and Mask trio to keep color fresh and yellow-free.

For clients with curly and textured hair, it’s also important to add protein and moisture. Kara recommends products like the Redken Extreme Hair Strengthening line that brings protein to the core of the hair fiber.

Truth #5: Here’s How You’re Going To Get That Lived-In Look

When we talk about “root shading,” here’s what we mean: a demi-permanent color tapped at the roots to blur out any highlight lines for a more lived-in look. Here’s why it works.

“Not only does this give a more natural look but it allows your grow out to look SEAMLESS for 12+ weeks,” @hair_by_mallory_ wrote in a recent IG post. “Where as a non-root shaded look would look grown out in anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks! Some of my clients go anywhere from 3 to 6 months with this technique!”
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Pssst… colorists, do you LOVE this blonde? Same. Mallory pre-toned with Moroccanoil® Blonde Perfecting Purple Shampoo to get these bright, clear blonde results. ​

History has dealt a mixed hand to the redhead. Alternatively admired or derided for the color of their crowning glory, attitudes to those with red hair have always been polarized. Throughout time, redheads have been portrayed as beautiful and brave or else promiscuous, wild, hot-tempered, violent or immoral. Gingernut, carrot top, flame-haired, copper head and rusty just some of the nicknames for red hair. The modern mind also associates the hair color with individual countries such as Scotland and Ireland or cultures such as the Vikings.
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The reason for these attitudes and associations is complicated and lies partly in the origins of red hair and the human reaction to things that are different. For although 40% of people carry the gene for red hair, real redheads are rare, amounting to no more than 1% of the population. It requires two carriers to make a red headed child. So why is red hair so rare and unique? What is its history, and is it fair to assigned heads such a turbulent reputation?

All in the Genes

Red hair has always been a question of genes. Clues suggested that red hair could have evolved in Paleolithic Europe amongst the Neanderthals. Scientists analyzed Neanderthal remains from Croatia and found a gene that resulted in red hair. However, the gene that causes red hair in modern humans is not the same as that in Neanderthals. Nor is the red-haired gene of either race found in any of the peoples who are descended from Paleolithic humans, namely the Finnish and most of Eastern Europe. This fact not only rules out interbreeding as a route for Homo sapiens red hair, but it also rules out early Europe, as it’s the birthplace.

Instead, the origins of red hair have been traced back to the Steppes of Central Asia as much as 100,000 years ago. The haplogroup of modern redheads indicates that their earliest ancestors migrated to the steppes from the Middle East because of the rise of herding during the Neolithic revolution. The Steppes were the perfect grazing lands for the herds of the agriculturists. Unfortunately, however, the lower UV levels of the area limited their bodies’ ability to synthesize vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiencies bring about weak bones, muscle pain and rickets in children. So the migrants had to change.

To survive their environment, people living in northern regions, in general, had begun to evolve to suit their environment and to allow their bodies more access to the limited light. As a consequence, their skin and hair started to become much lighter. In the eastern steppes, however, things occurred slightly differently. A mutation occurred in a gene known as M1CR which caused hair color not merely to lighten but to change entirely- to red. The skin of these new redhead people was well adapted to absorbing the much-needed UV light. It was, however, a little too sensitive to the sun- which is why redheads often sunburn and are more prone to skin cancer.

These pioneers of red hair then began to spread to the Balkans and central and Western Europe in the Bronze Age as they migrated once again, this time in search of metal. The majority of the migrants remained in these regions, although some spread further west to the Atlantic seaboard, and fewer still moved eastwards into Siberia and some as far south as India. However, these latter migrations were scant- which explains the rarity of red hair in these areas.

​The Balkans and Western Europe now became established as the geographical and historical homeland of red-haired culture. It was one that was observed by ancient writers who began to form their conclusions about the red-haired peoples they encountered.

It brings me no pleasure to type these words, but center parts are tearing the internet apart.

That's right. The timeless middle hair part is at the center of a recently sparked generational feud of dramatically epic proportions — one that's driving a wedge between members of Gen Z, millennials, and really anyone with a head of hair.

How could people be arguing about the placement of hair parts ever, let alone in 2021? Amazing question. As with so many viral trends these days, it all started on TikTok.

Basically, a decent number of Gen Z TikTok users decided to start roasting millennials for doing ~millennial things~ like wearing skinny jeans and refusing to abandon their side parts. (It's a whole thing.) The Gen Z argument is essentially that side parts are less flattering and make a person look older, so they're urging all millennials rocking side parts to do themselves a solid and reclaim their youth by achieving that elite scalp symmetry.

For the past few weeks I've watched in horror as my fellow millennials took the Gen Z middle part TikTok narrative as a deeply personal attack. Some broke down in what appeared to be mid-life crises, wondering if their side parts had been aging them for years. Others caved to peer pressure and temporarily switched to center parts as an experiment. Then, after being wildly disappointed by their trials they stubbornly switched back to side parts and rudely argued things like middle parts are "STUPID!" or "scream, 'I'm in elementary school!'"

The debate, quite frankly, is getting out of hand. So I'm here to settle it.
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As a rare millennial who has proudly — without a single shred of shame — rocked the middle part for my entire life, I feel I am the utmost authority on this particular topic.

First things first: Do I think the middle part makes me look younger than I actually am? Almost certainly. In 2016, when I was 23 years old I got carded when trying to buy a ticket to the famously inappropriate PG-13 movie La La Land. Upon realizing the film wasn't rated R like she'd thought, however, the woman let me slide. To this day I still occasionally get asked if I'm in high school or college, and the middle part may be to blame. But hey, if anything, I'm taking my youthful appearance as a compliment!
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Do I personally agree with members of Gen Z who are going to bat for my beloved middle part? Of course! But as I've learned from years of enduring light center part shaming from classmates, friends, and family members, the middle part is not for everyone. And if there's one thing I can absolutely attest to from having had a part down the center of my head for the past 27 years it's that Gen Z didn't invent and doesn't own this hairstyle by any means.

When I told my mom — the woman who first bestowed my iconic middle part upon me — about this generational feud, she got a bit defensive. "You've worn a middle part your whole life. Sounds like, if anything, they stole it from you!" she said. And you know what, she's got a point.
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Members of Gen Z may rep and worship the middle part, and I love them for that, but they shouldn't act cocky about it, as if they're the ones who made the center part what it is today. I've been repping the middle part since before Gen Z was born, and before I was born people older than me were doing the same. (Editor's note: Before this late Gen Xer switched to a buzzcut, I was a middle parter going back to the late '70s.)

When I was younger my signature look (straightened hair with a middle part and face-framing angles) was inspired by former center part queen, Amanda Bynes. Crucially, Bynes is not a member of Gen Z, nor are other famous middle parters, including but not limited to Cher, Meghan Markle, and Megan Fox. It's worth noting, too, that there are countless other public figures born before 1996 who occasionally switch to and look great in a center part.

If you're a millennial who's a fan of the middle part, that's fine. If you're a member of Gen Z who's a fan of the middle part, that's also fine. If you're a fan of the side part, the same rules apply. Do you see where I'm going with this? If you're 87 years old and want to rock a zig-zag part you should be able to go for it without anyone else weighing in as if it impacts them at all. 

In the wise words of my mother, "You should be able to part your hair anywhere. Wherever makes you feel most comfortable." Again, she's right! I'd very much like to continue rocking my center without people assuming I'm doing so to look younger or because a younger generation bullied me into wearing one. As a die-hard middle parter I simply don't feel myself when I part my hair to the side. And I imagine that's how die-hard side parters feel when they try a middle part, so who am I to tell them otherwise?

To members of Gen Z: Please stop telling other people how they should wear their hair. To my fellow millennials: Don't feel pressured to succumb to middle part peer pressure, but don't you dare insult those who have one, either.

Wear one part forever or switch your hair part up every once in a while, but just stop fighting about it. There are far more important things to ask of people, like to wear a damn mask.