THE NEW ‘DO
Inspired by the chic locks of Parisian It girls, Lucy Slight takes the plunge and gets a fringe
Why French-girl fringes are oh-so chic
I’m hazarding a guess that as I write this, humidity levels are around the 100 percent mark, it’s raining and I’ve just finished a lunchtime gym session. This trifecta would normally have zero effect on how my afternoon played out but, last week, I went and got myself a fringe. Before The Fringe, I was that girl who could complete a sweaty Grit Cardio session, then pull my hair out of its ponytail and go back to my desk as carefree as a kid at camp. If my locks turned limp post workout, it was nothing a spritz of dry shampoo couldn’t fix.
Now, I have to shower, wet my fringe, blast it with a hot hairdryer and tackle it with a straightener. It may sound like I’m in the midst of haircut regret, but I’m actually okay with having hair that’s a little more high maintenance than usual, because when it’s done well, it’s my favourite makeover to date. One glimpse at my Pinterest board will show you where the inspiration for my hair transformation came from – Paris, mais bien sur! I’d spent too much time taking Instagram screenshots of Caroline de Maigret, Lou Doillon, Jeanne Damas et al to know that I had to stop lusting and get chopping.
The French-girl fringe is all about natural beauty and kinks are encouraged. “This type of fringe may round off from the edge of the brow bone towards the temples, but ultimately it’s characterised by being longer and not having a freshly cut look to it,” says Monique Hoareau,
Asenior stylist at Ryder salon in Auckland. “Fringes are usually a softening feature so they suit most people,” she adds. “The only situation where they don’t is where the area of the forehead to the hair line is not very high and a fringe could have the effect of closing in the face too much. But even then, in some cases, this can be alleviated by making the fringe wider.”
One glimpse at my Pinterest board will show you where the inspiration for my hair transformation came
from – Paris...
fter quizzing Monique further on the pros, cons and style need-to-knows about all things bangs, it became clear that she was the best person for the job. A thorough look through my Pinterest board of fringe-spo had her schooled-up on exactly the look I was after, and with that, she started snipping. Now, I’ve had fringes before, but no one has ever taken as much time and care as Monique did. As she said to me with scissors poised at my forehead, “cutting a fringe should take just as much time as the rest of the hair” .
Left to fend for myself post-salon, I’ve discovered that if you are blessed (or is that cursed?) with wavy hair and a cow-lick like I am, you need to allow an extra five to 10 minutes in the morning for a wet-to-dry restyle. But in the grand scheme of things, that’s a small price for a little more je ne sais quoi, don’t you think?