Here's Why Lucy Hale's Fake Bangs Look *So Real*

While I'm all for Lucy Hale (opens in new tab) cutting permanent bangs because girl looks fierce, I get there's a real commitment behind having a full-on permanent fringe.

Fortunately, Lucy works with mane magician Kristin Ess (opens in new tab) who knows how to make a faux bang look real AF. Here's how she does it:

"First of all, I only use V Bangs (opens in new tab)," Ess told Cosmopolitan.com. "These types of bangs are intended to worn with a high bun hairstyle, but end up looking really natural when your real hair falls over the sides of them. To make them lie even flatter against your head though, I take the clips out and apply Super Tape (opens in new tab), which is a double-sided tape, to the netting on the underside of the bang."

From there, Ess parts Lucy's hair down the center and tucks the face-framing pieces behind her ears. "Then, about an inch and a half back from the hairline, I part the hair diagonally and clip those pieces back — the part should look like a Y-formation," she says. This is important for two reasons: (1) creating the "Y" part is what helps the V Bang fit perfectly; think of it as a puzzle piece fitting perfectly together and (2) the hair that you clip away by parting your hair diagonally is the hair that you need to cover the sides of the bang to make it look ~rEaL~.

After the bang is taped down, you let your hair down over the sides of the faux bang, and then hide the line of demarcation, which is visible along your part. To do so, Ess suggests cutting a thin layer of your real hair to blend over the fake bang. "This can be kind of tricky to do on your own, which is why I recommend having a stylist pop on these kinds of fake bangs for you," Ess adds. "But the cool thing is that with this type of tape, you can wear it for an entire weekend, since it's waterproof." Another way Ess hides the faux bang evidence is with a colored dry shampoo.

Finally, style your hair and boom: You look like Bombshell Lucy Hale with noncommittal bangs that are Instagram gold.✨

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