The Great Divide | Cosmetics & Makeup | Parting, Hair, Rdquo, Says, Look

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The Great Divide

From Times With beauty, as with fashion, small details can radically alter your look. On this season’s catwalks, it was the humble parting that added the finishing touch to designers’ collections: swooping dangerously low at Gucci, ruler straight down the middle at Miu Miu and roughly broken to rock-chick effect at Burberry Prorsum. But for many people, changing the way their hair falls involves breaking the habit of a lifetime.

“Getting women to change their hair parting is like asking them to change their religion,” says John Vial, creative director of Realhair in London. “But it’s the one thing you can do to totally change your look without cutting your hair.” And, according to the hairdressing guru Sam McKnight, the parting you had in the playground doesn’t have to be for life. “Everyone has a natural parting, but you really don’t have to stick to it,” he says.

Some partings suit some face shapes better than others. “Side partings are more flattering than centre partings and can soften a wide or long face, complement strong or large features and counteract a square jaw,” McKnight says. A low side parting on short hair can look boyish or cute (think Twiggy in her heyday), while on long, loose hair it imparts a Veronica Lake level of haute glamour.

A centre parting can make you look younger (think sexy rock groupie), but it is also more difficult to wear and can be disastrous (think Neil from The Young Ones). “A parting straight down the centre will accentuate asymmetrical features,” Vial says.

So, while a straight centre parting may have looked minimal and modern on the Narciso Rodriguez catwalks, you might need Sienna Miller’s well-proportioned features to pull it off. The safer, more flattering alternative is a vague central line worn with roughly textured, bed-head hair.

Before changing your parting, it is important to take your hair type into consideration. If you have a cowlick, don’t even attempt to budge it; never force your hair flat with a ton of styling product – it will just end up looking greasy; and never try to move your parting when your hair is dry. “The only way to execute a new parting is to move it when the hair is freshly washed and still damp,” says the session hairstylist Neil Moodie. “ Otherwise, it definitely won’t behave.”

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