How to Survive Sweaty Bangs in the Summer

I’m worried about having a greasy curtain over my face all summer, so I interviewed two hairstylists for how to best prepare.

Summer is coming. I feel it in the air and my spirit — but most of all, I feel it in my bangs. After one absolutely disastrous fringed-up summer seven years ago, I fastidiously avoided cutting in the vicinity of my forehead until, in February, I decided I needed a Major Change and bangs felt like the best option. And they were! I love my bangs. But also, I am afraid. I have always been a prolific producer of facial sweat, forehead included, and I dread having a stringy, greasy, sweaty curtain of hair above my eyebrows all summer, especially since I plan on biking everywhere.

Part of the reason I got bangs in the first place was that I felt so much care from and trust toward Rubi Aguilar Jones, founder of Salon (which is not only a hair salon but also a community center and hair-research library) and the hairstylist who cut them. Trained in several techniques and tools, Aguilar Jones’s philosophy embraces her clients’ natural hair texture. So instead of expecting me to use heat tools to iron my bangs into place, she expertly shaped them so that they usually air-dry into a flattering, undone style without much effort on my part.

Still, now that New York humidity is ramping up, I’m worried about how my bangs will react to being sandwiched between damp air and a damp forehead. So to prepare myself, I got some advice from Aguilar Jones and Nylza Yepez, a senior stylist at Jenna Perry Hair. In addition to their hairstylist expertise, both Yepez and Aguilar Jones are currently sporting bangs themselves, so they also had firsthand experience to share. For context, I have wavy hair prone to frizz, and Yepez has a lightly wavy texture similar to mine, while Aguilar Jones has a curlier texture. Here’s what they said.

If you don’t have bangs, don’t get them now.

Yepez cautions against getting bangs for the first time during the summer months. “For people who have never had bangs I will not recommend just doing that,” she says. “I always tell people, ‘Just wait until the fall, and then we can see how you feel,’ unless they’re super sure about it.” Since bangs are undeniably hardest to manage over the summer, Yepez prefers to help her clients get accustomed to them in the fall or winter first.

If you do have bangs, resist the urge to trim them before summer.

Both hairstylists agreed on growing out your bangs, a bit, in the summer. “Having longer hair in the summer is a little bit easier for people who have a little bit of texture,” Yepez says. She recommends a slightly longer curtain-bangs style. “They’ll still be doing some weird things when it gets really humid.”

Aguilar Jones agrees that humidity levels can completely change your bangs. “You might feel like you need a big trim soon, but the heat’s gonna likely rise, the humidity is, too, and your bangs are going to shrink,” she says.

But she also listens to her clients, like her 3-year-old daughter who hated her bangs and begged her mom to cut them as short as possible. She honored the request — and the result was actually kind of a serve. “A micro bang will always lay in place and would be super chic if you want to go for that in the summer,” says Aguilar Jones.

And definitely don’t trim your own bangs.

As strong as the urge to trim or cut your own bangs can be, Aguilar Jones recommends against it. Because she’s trained to cut with scissors and razors and can get a bird’s-eye view of her clients’ hair-growth patterns, she’s equipped to cut the bangs into a shape that will lay nicely no matter what, taking into account texture, hairline, and lifestyle. “The consultation is key, and you should try to tell your hairdresser as much as you can about what your summer life is going to be,” she says. “If you’re going to be at the beach all summer long, that’s going to be a factor.”

Yepez agrees. “I always check in with the person who’s asking for bangs: their face shape, the texture of the hair, as well as their lifestyle,” she says. She considers the client’s job and whether they usually go for a more polished, styled look or something intentionally not polished. Working with an experienced stylist you trust is important. Some hairdressers offer short consultation appointments.

Target wash just your bangs.

“I would suggest in the morning, or if you go to a yoga class or the gym, shampooing just your bangs,” says Aguilar Jones. That way, you can style them anew. (I plan on carrying around a travel-size shampoo bottle in case I need to refresh my bangs in the middle of a day of running around.)

Yepez agrees. “When you sweat and they’re on your face, there’s really not much you can do about that, other than just pray and hope for the best,” she jokes. But she does recommend a bit of careful styling on especially hot days. “Part them a little bit in the center so they don’t get wet, and then once you settle in a place where you’re not exposed to the weather, you can just push them back where you want them to be,” she says. But ultimately, part of the fun of having bangs is that you never quite know what to expect from them. “Some days, my bangs are doing weird things, but I embrace it. I’m like, Well, they have a little bit more character.”

Use product but sparingly. Here are some products to use:

Use dry shampoo or salt spray to prevent grease and add weight.

Yepez is partial to Living Proof’s Perfect Hair Day dry shampoo as well as the ones from R+Co. “When they’re super clean, they’ll get really poof-y, so you need a little bit of weight,” she explains.

Aguilar Jones opts for a sea-salt spray over a dry shampoo; her favorite is the one from Captain Blankenship. “A salt spray is similar to a dry shampoo in the sense that it will absorb oil. But in the summer, salt is a great alternative to dry shampoo because if you put dry shampoo on top of sweaty bangs, it’s just not going to give you the same effect that you’re looking for.”

In this case, sweat can actually work to your benefit; misting your hair, dabbing it with wet hands, or simply sweating into it can help to reactivate the product. “You can just rinse it or dampen your hands and zhuzh,” she says. “If you’ve got the right cut, your shape will come right back.”

Try a curl cream to style non-straight bangs. 

The best products for you depend on your texture, but the three that Aguilar Jones loves for a range of clients with bangs are Skimdo, a curl cream that she uses as a styling cream for almost every hair texture; Bumble and Bumble Grooming Creme; and the Captain Blankenship salt spray. For gel, she recommends the classic Eco Style brand. And sun protection becomes especially important in the summer regardless of your texture or style. To protect your scalp, Aguilar Jones recommends the scalp sunscreen by Supergoop.

Or an anti-frizz product on super-humid days.

Yepez has a few go-to anti-frizz products when she is styling her bangs with heat. “If it’s gonna be a really humid day, I’ll blow them out a little bit; I’ll use a little bit of product, like Color Wow Dream Coat, just to help me with the humidity. I also use Olapex No. 6 for smoothing,” she says. But when air-drying her bangs, Yepez attaches creaseless hair clips to the ends to weigh down the shorter hairs so they’ll dry the way she wants them to.

Buy some cool headbands or colorful hair clips.

This way, pulling your hair back becomes a chic, intentional summer look — because some days you will just want them out of your face. You can also part your hair and braid your bangs back on each side, or use clips for a Y2K-esque style. You can even do a slicked-back look with hair gel; in that case, Aguilar Jones says the key is to separate your hair into one-inch sections and work the gel into your roots before smoothing it all back, so that it’s sleek and not bumpy.

Since Yepez’s bangs are a little longer, if she wants them out of her face, she’ll usually go for a center part with her bangs pushed to either side. To stop her bangs from sticking up at the ends, she’ll use a touch of hair spray or a more heavy-duty dry wax like the one from TIGI to combine the shorter strands with her longer ones.

Lastly, just accept sweaty, sticky bangs.  

I already don’t style my bangs much, but any styling I might partake in doesn’t stand much of a chance against my forehead sweat. Ultimately, I just have to be okay with having wet bangs sticking to my forehead sometimes. Especially in the summertime, having bangs means letting go of any semblance of true control over your strands. “The biggest thing, I think, is not fighting what your hair wants to do in this humidity,” says Aguilar Jones. “I’m all about less is more.”