Fringe Care Tips For Fringe-Havers New & Old

After the lifting of lockdown and the return of more of our local businesses, I waited about a month before venturing to the hairdresser. I had been way overdue to have the last of the old black hair dye cut away long before shielding was even announced, so I was glad to go and finally close the door on that particular chapter of my life in hair. What I didn’t expect, was to decide to have a fringe.

What can I say? Maybe my mental state is a little more fragile than I realised, because it felt like the perfect time: pre-autumn (never get a fringe for the first time during the summer, friends, sweaty foreheads make for stringy fringes that are swiftly grown out), black hair dye finally gone, a really chill hairdresser who listened to exactly what I wanted, and I just felt in my bones the need for CHANGE. Unusually for me I loved it and decided to keep it this time, and I posted on Instagram asking for some help / fringe care tips. The best fringe havers reached out to me and gave me some incredible advice, so I thought I’d share here what I have adopted to keep it looking it’s best.

This is going to be easier if I take you through a step by step:

1. To wash, I just use any old shampoo and conditioner (opinion was split on whether this matters, btw)
2. Afterwards I put hair oil [affiliate link] on the lengths of my hair, avoiding my fringe completely
3. I leave it all tucked away in a microfibre hair wrap [affiliate link] and do my skincare and / or makeup for the day.
4. Once that’s taken care of, I reach for Living Proof Style Extender [affiliate link] and rub a small pea sized amount through my fringe.
5. I then part my hair properly and tie it out of way.
6. Then it’s time to bust out the hotbrush and part-dry my fringe by pulling it up almost vertically away from my head, I have an old Vidal Sasson narrow hotbrush with a rounded barrel and stiff plastic bristles (this Tresemme one [affiliate link] is very similar).
7. To finish I take my bristle / nylon paddle brush [affiliate link] and hairdryer with nozzle attachment and use this Sali Hughes technique until my fringe is 100% dry, being extra sure to smooth the sides so they don’t flick out.
8. I then just carry a cheap fine toothed comb to fix it throughout the day if it starts to separate, I tend not to bother with hairspray.

In the morning of day two I grab the paddle brush again and use the back and forth technique but with no heat and that’s usually enough. If I’m trying to extend into day three, I have a travel size Batiste [affiliate link] that I spray into the roots and do the back and forth technique to brush out, but you can wash your fringe in the sink any time if Batiste doesn’t appeal to you.

Ultimate Fringe Care Products [affiliate links]

The above step by step may sound long-winded but really it’s very low effort. It only takes me about ten or fifteen minutes, depending on how fussy I’m being, and then it stays ‘done’ until the next time I wash my hair. As it grows I’m adapting how I dry it and feel like I’m getting so much better at it all the time. In conclusion, I love having a fringe and feel sorry for all the other times I’ve had one cut in only to not take the time to figure out how to style it properly and giving up! I’m so grateful to everyone who helped me out with their best fringe care tips on Instagram, you’ve all changed my life in hair forever. I don’t even think about my forehead wrinkles any more! What a revelation!