The Great Internet Bangs Smackdown of 2010

For most of my childhood, my mother insisted on styling my hair based on the firmly rooted tenet that I should be wearing bangs because I suffer from five-head.  Bless her, she never actually used that term, but I was painfully aware of my high forehead and therefore I wore bangs all the way through high school.

I had a love-hate relationship with my bangs, and with my baby fine super straight hair in general.  As a child, the bangs were the blunt-bowl-cut-straight-across-the-forehead variety.  Then in seventh grade I became the proud owner of a curling iron and I would curl those suckers and spray them up within an inch of their life.  Then there were the unfortunate perm years.  Oh the frizz, the shameful, shameful frizz.

Anyway, when I grew into adulthood, I let go of my five-head insecurities, grew out the bangs and thought little of it for a while.

However, recently I felt a tug to change my hair, which I've been wearing pretty much exactly the same way for damn near ever.  I won't dye it because I don't want to mess with the striking blond color - my hair's best feature.  I've worn it in short layers - hated that.  I've worn it long, but it tends to suffer under its own fine, tangled weight.  And recent consternation with forehead wrinkles, which I can indubitably attribute to a severe sunburn sustained on a 4-day houseboat trip on Lake Shasta when I was 25, led me to the conclusion that I should try wearing bangs again.

I did this once before, about 5 years ago, and the husband?  He hated it.  At the time, I was wearing them in a "fringe" (the British word for bangs) straight across.  This go round, I showed my stylist a picture of Reese Witherspoon's sideswept bangs and hoped they'd meet with the approval of the husband.

The response was lukewarm - but that's far better than before.  And to his credit, regardless of what he thinks of my hair he is quick to assure me that it's what I think that matters.  I think I like it, but I dipped my toe ever so gently into the water, with the bangs cut long so that I can quickly revert to my old boring style if need be.

So internets, help a girl out.  Don't sit on the fence, people.  Get out the vote and let me know what you think.

Before (passport mug shot, excuse the harsh lighting)

After

Leave a comment and let me know - should I go all in on the bangs?

A) No way.  D's right, what were you thinking?

B) For defs - this is a much better look.

C) OMG - get over yourself - nobody cares!