3 coats of *this* hairspray keep Sabrina Carpenter's bangs in place on-stage

Sabrina Carpenter's music may be our #1 favourite thing ever, but if we're being super honest, her bangs are hot on its tail. Like, yes, "Juno" is obviously a gift to modern music, but Carpenter's flippy fringe has started a (beauty) revolution all its own. It's even more iconic than her blush combo!

And just like we have to shout out her creative collaborators Jack Antonoff and Amy Allen for the no-skip album that is 'Short n' Sweet' (thanks, guys), we'd be remiss not to wax lyrical about the man behind the mane: Carpenter's hair stylist extraordinaire, Scott King.

Considering he came up with the secrets behind how her bangs look so damn good, like, all of the time, we were all ears when he spilled the 3-step routine behind getting them to bounce and behave just the way Carpenter likes (including the 3-coat hairspray he swears by for locking them into place)...

Sabrina Carpenter's fringe

If you're an OG Sabrina fan like *ahem* us ("Thumbs" walked so "Please Please Please" could run), you'll remember the pre-fringe era well, but for those who don't, allow King to fill in the blanks.

"The first time I worked with Sabrina was nine years ago", King shared in an interview with Allure.  "I remember it was the day before her sweet 16. It’s crazy to have seen her grow from that to where she is now. Back then, her hair was long, thick, very beachy... It was similar to her character at the time on Girl Meets World." Remember Carpenter's Disney Channel days? We sure do...

It wasn't until the start of her last album cycle (another 10/10 release), that the fringe came to fruition. "Bangs came into the picture only three or four years ago for the 'Emails I Can't Send' album", King explained, noting that whilst he's the (fitting) king of styling them, there's a separate wizard behind the scissors. "I don't [cut] her bangs  — her colorist and the person who cuts her hair, Laurie Heaps, who worked with her on Girl Meets World, does — so it was just a new look one day when I saw her. I feel like the bangs definitely started a new era for Sabrina and a new form of self-confidence came out."

How to get a Sabrina Carpenter curtain fringe

If you're headed to the hairdresser, or ready to recreate Carpenter's aesthetic at home, allow us (via King) to break down exactly what her bangs entail. "I think curtain bangs work so well for her because they really soften her features," he noted. "They’re shorter in the center and get a little longer as you reach the outside of her face which opens her face up, like a curtain. She's also a girl who, when she puts her hair up, loves to have pieces down, and I think it just is the perfect way to just keep it soft and frame your face and enhance the cheekbones."

He has tips for anyone making the curtain bang chop, too: "Sabrina has shorter curtain bangs, so they also offer a lot of flexibility — we can split them in the middle or slightly off to the side. I recommend somebody who's newer to bangs go longer, and then you can gradually go shorter if you want. But I always say the shortest piece in the center should be right at the bridge of your nose and then angle [the rest] outward."

How to style Sabrina Carpenter's bangs

Now onto what we've all been begging for: Sabrina Carpenter's bang-styling routine, including the hairspray that leaves them looking perfect even amidst a windy Coachella performance.

Over to King, the man behind it all: "To style Sabrina's bangs, I blow dry with a round brush or use a Dyson Airwrap ($849 at Dyson) with the round brush attachment. We sometimes put a Velcro roller in [and turn it forward] to give her bangs more of that fluffy bend. We like it to have a little bit of a curl under, which makes the bangs more bouncy and 60s-inspired." Whilst King didn't drop the exact rollers he uses, we're big fans of the Mermade Hair Velcro Roller Kit ($19 at Adore Beauty); and isn't the aesthetic so Sabrina?!

As for the hairspray, here's the good news: it's actually not too expensive (Carpenter has a taste for a certain $25 moisturiser, so we knew we could trust her), and it's clearly worth every cent. "To keep [Carpenter's bangs] in place, I love to use Redken Max Hold Hairspray ($40 at Adore Beauty), which is also an anti-humidity spray. It has a really fine mist, which is important when you want coverage," said King.

But no, they don't just do one set and forget layer; in fact, the pair have discovered that three is the magic number for how many coats lock everything down for the long haul. And they're timed very strategically! "We do probably three layers of it before Sabrina hits the stage," King confirmed. "There’s the initial layer, another one maybe a half hour before she goes on, and then, right as she’s about to walk out, we’ll do one final mist."

We advise nabbing a can before this stuff sells out; which exact hairspray enables Carpenter to flip her hair around on stage without a piece of her fringe even falling out of place has been a beauty mystery for months now. And with that conundrum solved (and the Redken magic mist revealed), we doubt they'll be able to keep it in stock for long...

Image credits: Getty Images

Want more Sabrina Carpenter-inspired beauty intel? Here's the lippy she was wearing in her iconic "Taste" music video...