(Late) Sunday Salon #3: To Fringe or Not to Fringe??

So this is a bit of a fail before i even START!! I'm a day late with my 3rd Sunday Salon as i was beavering away at uni work last night as well as shouting very loudly at the TV (Sinitta..... FFS!!!)

It has come to my attention that fringed hairstyles are RED HOT for the Autumn/Winter season this year and so many of you on twitter seem to be having the same dilemma.... "Shall I, shan't I?? Will it suit me?? I had a bad fringe when i was younger...."

Well i'm blogging tonight to, hopefully, educate you a little bit that you CAN do a fringe and that there is a style out there for EVERYONE. We've all had that one fringe trim too far in our time. I once had a hairdresser cut my fringe sooooo SHORT I looked like a total fashion REJECT! Telling your hairdresser EXACTLY what you want is so important and a good stylist should instinctively be able to see what shapes will suit your face.

First and foremost, the look that will flatter and suit you best is the look which makes your face look most like an oval shape. Those of you who are lucky enough to have a naturally oval shaped face are, more than likely, going to be able to get away with almost ANY style. I'm ALMOST oval... but any hairdresser who has ever looked at my face shape has said that it's neither one shape nor the other. Bit of a mish mash really. Lucky me..... FREAK!!

The best way to find out your face shape is to stand in front of a mirror with your hair scraped back and then DRAW a line around your face (on the mirror not your face haha)  using a non permanent marker pen (or your least favourite lippy). Then stand back and look at the shape you got. 

Here are a few celeb/fashion looks floating around at the moment....

Thought i'd start off my MY new fringe haha (not pretending to be a celeb OR fashionable by the way).... I've had mine cut back in after 2yrs of growing it out. I do not have a strong jawline, nor do i particularly like my neck so its not a good idea for me to have a wide fringe as it just exposes TOO much. I also have VERY thick hair so I have mine chipped into ever so slightly at the ends to separate it out a bit and combat the 'pudding bowl effect'. My fringe trim only cost me £2.50 and has totally changed my look!!

This kind of fringe, sported here by the lovely Frankie Sandford, is a great 'wimps way out'. It's very soft and kept long. A good style for swapping around and creating different looks with. Great for a short cut as a strong fringe can make them look too harsh and masculine. Also, keeping a fringe long and side-swept can be a great way to disguise a stubborn calf-lick.

For those of you 'strong featured' ladies who want a bold style then this angled full fringe may be for you. On  square face shapes and/or angled jaws a bang-straight fringe can be just a bit too much. The soft, curved shape which has been cut into this fringe softens the look whilst still giving you a dramatic style. 

Of course there are always those girls that can just pull off a super blunt fringe with ease. Jessie J is certainly one of these. She is very strong featured so the strong cut is just PERFECT. The wide fringe is cut very accurately to match the jaw making it perfectly symmetrical for her face. 

This is probably the fringe we are seeing the most of lately. Kelly Rowland (along with one of her acts, Sophie Habibis) has been ROCKING the fringed look on this years X Factor. Kelly's is definitely a longer, softer version of the Jessie J and has been textured to move with the rest of her style. Kelly's fringe does not incorperate a lot of her hair. It only includes the very front sections of her hair (if you look at Jessie J her fringe reaches way back into her cut) and appears more 'broken up' as it falls onto her face. It also looks as if it has been textured with a razor to soften it even further (but don't quote me). I think she has had even more cut off her fringe in recent weeks but that is just my opinion. Kimmy K has also sported this type of fringe in the past. Its very versatile as it can be worn forward as well as swept slightly to the side. 

Vanessa Hudgens is rocking the most easy to wear kind of fringe here. Its very long and is styled to just fall naturally in with the rest of her hair. It's almost a grown-out kind of look. It's a soft, sexy 'peek a boo' kind of look. The beauty of having it this length is that you can part it wherever you like and it will fall softly. If you are REALLY unsure whether a fringe is for you i would definitely consider going for something like this just as a starting point. That way, if you don't like it, it will grow out before you know it. Or if you like it.... you can always just keep going a little bit shorter until you reach your comfort zone. 

So have you made the decision yet?? Have you worked out your face shape?? There are even more styles of fringes out there but this is only one blog post and i could only pick a handful in order to not bombard you. If anyone has any questions or are unsure feel free to quiz me. Just in case any of you hadn't twigged, yet i AM a hairdresser so am open to any hair dilemmas you need help with. I am also toying with the idea of doing a DIY fringe trimming post when mine starts to creep into my eyes so let me know if that is something you'd be interested in seeing.

What are your favourite hair trends this season?? Did you already get a fringe or considering getting one?? Do any of these styles appeal to you??