My Long-Haired Shag // Beauty Picks and Tricks
When 2023 started, I really wanted to be intentional about how I was going to start this new year. Aside from picking a word and a verse theme for the year, getting back to the things that filled me up and highlighted my joy for life is also a mission I accepted for 2023. My creative side seemed to be stifled in the last 2 years and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why. Being in this new season, I realized I needed to remove some things from my life entirely to make room for the things that would allow me to show up in this world as my best self. Now, how does a haircut tie in with all of this? The running joke with women in society is when something life-changing happens, we always have the urge to cut our hair. And one of the biggest rules with that is to NOT get bangs. But here I am to tell you: It’s okay to get bangs. I did.
I kicked off the new year with making the leap to cut my hair into a long shag but wasn’t sure what kind I wanted to do. So naturally, I put a board together on Pinterest (LOL) to have some reference shots to show my hair stylist, Sierah.
At first, I wanted to have longer curtain bangs to go with the shag cut. I debated back and forth on whether to go shorter but didn’t want to do something too drastic that I’d regret. What I did know was that I wanted to keep the length of my hair long and knew that with this cut, it would look like I had a bit of a mullet before it was styled. This didn’t bother me too much as I knew I’d generally wear my hair in curls and it would all blend in nicely.
Before
After (Jan 9th)
I remember looking in the mirror and just gushing to Sierah about how much I loved my hair! I went home and quickly realized that because the bangs were hitting my eye line, they were getting into my eye. I just knew that I’d eventually get sick of my bangs and want to chop them more. But I decided to give myself time to adjust and train my hair more before calling up Sierah again.
jan 17th
After a few days of styling my hair, I just couldn’t get it to the look I wanted. Also, since my hair grows faster than most, my bangs were getting longer by the day. I became frustrated. Something just wasn’t working for me. I look back on the pictures above and know that the bangs didn’t necessarily look terrible, but just not what I wanted. I went back and forth in my head about what to do until finally….
jan 19th
…the morning of Jan 19th, I texted Sierah and told her the trouble I was having. Luckily, she had a small opening that same day and I made it to the salon. I asked for shorted bangs and she suggested cutting them shorter with more texture. MUSIC TO MY FREAKING EARS! The cut took me back to when I use to get my bangs razored in college. After the look was completed, I felt a sigh of relief and just knew this would make styling my hair so much easier. And let me tell you, it did!
Sierah then gave me tips on styling my bangs and long-haired shag:
With my cut, I basically have 2 different haircuts on my head. This means I need to style them separately, not together.
To really get the shag look, the longer parts of my bangs should not be styled with the back of my hair. If anything, they should remain straight or slightly curled with my bangs. This was a game-changer for me and it helped me achieve the look I was going for!
When drying my bangs, I can finger comb them or use a paddle brush. I should also style my bangs in layers versus in large sections. This has also helped tame my bangs and achieve the long-haired shag look I’ve been wanting.
So there you have it! The whole process of how I got to my new haircut for the year haha! I love my new cut and am finding it is so much easier to manage day-to-day versus the long long locks I had before. Surprising right? You’d think it’d be the other way around. What I love about the long-haired shag is that it’s providing me with the opportunity to take full advantage of the messy look. As long as my bangs are styled, I can pretty much get away with my hair looking tousled and undone as it’s part of the shag look. it’s nice!
If you’re looking for a wonderful, talented, helpful, and stylish hair artist in Las Vegas, check out Sierah’s IG page to see all of her work. I’ve lived in Vegas for 11 years and have not had the best luck finding a hair stylist that really understood my style. Sierah KNOWS hair and has grown up in the industry. So she REALLY understands hair. If you decide to give her a shot, you can book with her here!
Xo