Bottleneck Bangs Are the First Major Hair Trend of 2022 (2024)

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Like a curtain fringe, but even better

Ten days into 2022, we’ve already got a contender for biggest hair trend of the year. It’s a look referred to as bottleneck bangs—a phrase coined by London hairstylist Tom Smith—and, unlike the mullets and wolf cuts of 2021, it’s as wearable as it gets.

As their name suggests, these bangs create the silhouette of a bottle, curving inward around the cheekbones before tapering at the forehead. They could easily be confused with their predecessor—the curtain fringe—dripping with the same kind of sexy ’70s cool, but a closer look reveals a few important distinctions.

“The bottleneck bang is softer and more substantial in the longer bits but less fringey in the middle,” explains Kelly Araujo, a stylist at Toronto’s Thic Studio. “It’s very Dakota Jonhson.” Even better: It’s supremely flattering, lending itself to all face shapes and hair textures.

“Curly bottleneck bangs are really nice too because they’re a bit more whimsical than the curtain bangs that we’ve been seeing.” She points to actor Zazie Beetz’s fantastic ’do at last year’s Oscars as proof positive.

If you’re embracing your natural texture like Beetz, you can forgo heat and simply help your bangs along with a little scrunching or twisting. If you’re after a Dakota Johnson-esque look, a few quick passes of a blow-dry brush—“like, not even five minutes,” says Araujo—is all it takes. “Just dry your fringe and let the rest air dry to get that shaggy, effortless vibe with a little polish in the front.” Easy, breezy.

Last item in the pro column for bottleneck bangs is their very low risk level. That’s because of all bang styles, they are probably the quickest to grow out. “Curtain bangs are heavier so you’ll notice those front pieces for quite a while, even when they’re longer.” But with bottleneck bangs, you can cut them once and they’ll just grow seamlessly into your haircut. “They can be fun for a month and then you’re like, ‘That was a cool little blip.’”

Or, who knows, maybe you’ll end up loving them and making them your signature style. Araujo says more and more clients have been asking her for bangs lately. People who’d never had them in their life suddenly want to take the plunge. It’s symptomatic of a larger trend, she says: the return of a true hairstyle. “People want the kind of cut that makes their friends go, ‘Oh, you got a haircut,’” says Araujo.

She posits it has a lot to do with the way we’ve all been feeling these days. “People really view their hair as a part of the pandemic,” she says. “Sometimes you need a haircut to help you get through some major stuff and sometimes you need a haircut just to let go of the past. There have been some cuts in my chair lately that have felt like spiritual cleansings!”

After nearly two years of sameness, it’s no wonder we’re craving change. We can’t control when the world will open back up again or when we’ll be able to travel risk- (and guilt-) free or hug our grandmother. But we can control our hair. “So we do it to make ourselves feel like something is different and to give ourselves a different energy,” says Araujo. “Because when you’re feeling really great about yourself, there’s not a lot you can’t achieve.”

Anyone else want to book a hair appointment right this minute?

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